Residents of Greenville are calling on government to swiftly launch its costal defense project in the city to stop houses from being washed from away by sea erosion.
The residents of Down Town Community said most of their properties have already been swept away by the Atlantic Ocean.
The rapid sea rise as the result of climate change is taking a huge toll on the world’s costal population and in Liberia, with a long coastline of 350 miles, coastal erosion exacerbated by widespread sand mining, is wreaking havoc on the population.
“We are living on the edge. Our houses and our land are being washed away. An entire community called ‘Heaven is my Home is no more,” said a resident of Greenville.
The crippling impact of sea erosion is so visible that communities that once existed few years back have disappeared. It was observed that part of the historic Mississippi Street has also been cut off.
The Ghanaian Governor, Samuel A. Commena Amadu, a born Liberian said the impact of sea erosion is alarming and if nothing is done, they will lose their homes.
At the cabinet retreat in July 2022, the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Wilson Tarpeh, announced that the Government of Liberia has secured US$17.2 million in grant from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) under the Monrovia Metropolitan Climate Resilient Project (MMCRP) also known as the West Point Coastal Defense Project.
In a PowerPoint presentation, Prof. Tarpeh disclosed that the project has a livelihood component that will provide direct financial assistance to residents of affected communities to enable them start business.
Prof. Tarpeh stated that a US$10 million from the Global Environment Fund (GEF) would also be made available to build a coastal defense system in Greenville, Sinoe County.
Governor Amadu said seven years ago, a community disappeared as the result of the menace, and to stop the recurrence, the government should launch its costal defense project as quickly as possible.
