By Gideon Nma Scott, Jr.
Following the election of Amb. Joseph Boakai as President of the Republic of Liberia, many Liberians, including some of his followers and well-wishers, voluntarily began clearing stuck pile of dirt that sat comfortably at various street corners, market places, burial sites, and even the Capitol Building and the Executive Mansion in Monrovia as well as the Red Lights Market in Paynesville. These cleaning up exercises were intended to give Monrovia a facelift as the nation was in readiness to see the inauguration of its 26th President.
Many persons, including myself, had blamed the past government, through its white-collar city mayor, who said that he was not a ‘Dump-pile Hero’ as city mayors are referred to in Liberia, for the different dumpsites that toke over Monrovia and Paynesville cities. We also blamed the Liberia Water and Sewage Corporation (LWSC) otherwise refer to as ‘wotor and pupu’ for not cleaning various drainages and waterways for the free disposal of waste from within the city center.
In few days, Monrovia stood bright and shinning with a smiling face like a bride marching to the altar with her face powdered in different colors with long eye lashes covering her face. “At least, for once, I have not seen pupu plastic in on Mechlin Street, my wife, Oral, said while we walked down the street to Waterside to board our keh-keh.
“Just wait and see in few days,” a lady walking by us joined our conversation uninvited.
For sure, the lady’s prophecy has come to pass as under the leadership of another lazy ‘dump-pile hero’ Monrovia is now two-time dirtier than what it was under George Weah. (I just bought a new pair of Red Shoes).
Beside the dumpsites at various locations in Monrovia, Duala Market, Carey and Newport Streets, Broad and Center Streets, and the famous Water Street down Waterside, burst drainages in Central Monrovia are spilling out feces and other insalubrious substances that is making the city ghoulish for its inhabitants, while our Monrovia City Mayor is painting his cherished City Hall with rainbow colors. John Siapha’s City Police are who busy running after keh-keh riders, seizing the goods of people selling along Mechlin and Randal Streets; and forgetting to apply ordinances for the cleanliness of the city are another piece of work.
For our Water and Sewage boss, we are still waiting for him to finish eating his fried plantain and grilled (roasted) fish with tomato sauce and salad before cleaning our sewage line for the free flow of feces and other waste materials into the Soni-wein. Until then, we continue to live in a city filled with dirt and breath unhygienic air.
I, without compunction, blame the Monrovia and Paynesville City Mayors, who by our standard, are clothed with the authority to ensure the cleanliness and governance of their respective cities. I blame with the national government too, especially in post-war Liberia, who have left our cities and its governance to the mercy of bluff-boys with no vision and no intention to make an impact.
As mentioned in the Act that established the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC), the mayor is the chief administrative and managerial head of the city who is vested with powers, responsibility and authority to ensure the enforcement of City Ordinances and in general articulation of the goals and aspirations of the residents of Monrovia.
Despite these simple instructions, the two leading city corporations in Liberia, MCC and PCC, are busy running and implementing projects that have no direct impact on the sanitation of their cities nor improve the health conditions of their respective cities. I now realized that with the few cities I have visited, and by my standard, I consider Central Monrovia the dirtiest with no intention from the mayor to clean it.
It is nearing one and a quarter since the current team at the MCC took over with the promise of cleaning the city. But rather than keeping to instillation promises, nothing significant has been done to ensure that those promises of keeping Monrovia and its environs clean are met.
For the LWSC boss, who is running the entity from his FaceBook page, nothing significant is also be done to ensure that pipe borne water return to the city or the sewage system are clean so as to combat the spilling of feces throughout Monrovia. In a smart move to divert public attention from the “made in China sewage pipes” displayed on his FaceBook page, Ali strategically moved to virgin Gbapolu County to spill water from the rock like Moses, which is laudable, but have no significant impact on the larger community. While I do not intend to denigrate Ali’s effort for his outreach to Gbapolu, but supplying water to larger part of Montserrado County would not hit the nail on the head.
For me, I believe that applying these simple methods will help clean and keep Monrovia clean: depopulate the city of marketers in every street corner, taking Keh-keh of the city center like the case with the motorcyclists as well as ensure that store owners account for dirt found around their properties. Keep off car loaders as passengers are capable of find their way out and keep Zoegos from transporting dirt from corner of the city to the other.
Until these few measures are put in place, Monrovia will remain the dirty and for the most part, under mayors who do not prioritize that cleaning the city is their job.
The thought of the son of a professional Kru woman.