By Bill W. Cooper
Bong County District 2 Representative, Josiah Marvin Cole has stressed the need for US$10,000,000 to be aside from the fiscal year 2020/2021 Budget to purchase additional quantity of the Oxford ExtraZennica vaccine and testing kits.
He said there is a need for the country to procure an additional quantity of the Oxford ExtraZennica vaccine and testing kits and therefore urged his colleagues to see reason to make the necessary adjustment for said amount to be appropriated.
Addressing a news conference yesterday at his Capitol Building office in Monrovia, Rep. Cole who is also a senior member on the House Committee on Ways, Means and Finance called on the Executive and Judiciary Branches of Government to join his advocacy by reducing their salaries and other benefits to secure said funds.
According to him, there is nothing more important and worth fighting for than the lives of every Liberians, emphasizing, “We were all elected to represent our people and this is the time for us to exhibit that responsibility by ensuring that we get that money for the purchasing of more vaccines and testing kits for our people to take and get tested.”
The Bong County District 2 lawmaker named the budget lines to include road maintenance and security among others and added that said funds can be taken from within the same budget because those areas are not very important as the fight against the pandemic right now.
He wondered, “What is more important now than the lives and well-being of our people? If we build the roads, schools or carry on maintenance and our people are not well or fall prey to this deadly virus, who will then use or benefit from those infrastructures?
Rep. Cole maintained, “This is a national call to all senior members of government to ensure that the lives of our people are protected and if we cut our salaries for harmonization purpose.”
“We need to purchase more testing kits to place those at the Robert International Airport (RIA) that were used by travelers to bring this new variant of the virus back into our country and other entrances for the rapid testing of people coming into and leaving Liberia.
“And if this money is set-aside, I will also recommend to the Health authorities to avoid the struggling Liberians free testing, even if they are to travel through the RIA or by roads or sea; we should not be taking any money from our already impoverished Liberians,” he said.
Commenting on the recent allegation of lawmakers being involved in the act of dealing drugs and being involved academic frauds, the Bong County lawmaker stressed, “I will recommend that said lawmaker be expelled and be made to face the full weight of law because the House is a place for individuals with moral conduct and high esteem.”