INTERNATIONAL TRADE : Liberian Fighting Delays Dam Project Led by Orange County Building Firms

Birtcher Construction Ltd., the Laguna Niguel subsidiary of Birtcher, said Wednesday it has postponed its $300-million project to build a hydroelectric dam in central Liberia because of political turmoil in the West African nation.

News reports Wednesday from Liberia said heavy firing erupted in the suburbs of Monrovia, the nation’s capital, as rebels prepare for an assault despite last weekend’s cease-fire agreement in the six-month civil war between rebel forces led by Charles Taylor and forces loyal to the beleaguered President Samuel K. Doe.

The Liberian project, announced in May, was a joint venture between Birtcher and Arciero Bros. of Anaheim. Construction was supposed to start in November but now has been postponed until June, 1991, said Andy Youngquist, president of Birtcher Construction.

Senior advisers to the government and the rebels “are in agreement that the country needs the dam and no matter who will become the governing party, the project will go ahead,” Youngquist said.