A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) making the donation a reality was signed on Thursday, May 15, 2014 at a ceremony held in Istanbul, Turkey.

Monrovia City Mayor Mrs. Clara Doe Mvogo signed for the MCC while Mr. MiminKahveci, Deputy General Manager of the Istanbul Electric Tramway, and Tunnel (IETT) General Directorate signed on behalf of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

According to the MOU, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality willprovide assorted spare parts for the buses over a one-year period andalso dispatch a three-man technical team (one mechanic, an electrician and driver) from the IETT (the company responsible for public transportation in Istanbul) to Monrovia to conduct onsite training for a period of one month following the arrival of the busesin Liberia. The donation of the 20 buses is a result of the sister-city relations between Monrovia and Istanbul that was agreed upon in2013.

It is expected that the buses will bring relief to a good number of Liberianstudents, workers, marketers, and ordinary people who huddle on the streets for hours looking for means to go to or from school, work, market or elsewhere

Speaking through an interpreter during the signing ceremony,Mr. Ibrahim Kapaklikaya, Deputy Secretary General of the Istanbul Municipality, said, “With the signingof the MOU between IETT and the City of Monrovia, we have  finallyconcluded the legal process of delivering the buses.”

Mr. Kapaklikayasaid he sincerely hopes the buses will serve the intended purpose inMonrovia, as the gesture was a positive beginning that will lead to stronger and broader cooperation between the two cities.

For her part, Monrovia City Mayor Clara Doe Mvogo thanked the Mayorand people of Istanbul and the Government of Turkey for the donation.