Monrovia City Mayor, John-Charuk Siafa, has questioned the intelligence of citizens who sell along the streets of the city, saying, had they applied their common sense, the MCC would not stress itself with instituting extra mechanisms to keep the city clean.
This comment comes at the time the Monrovia City Corporation is currently carrying out a rigorous exercise, ensuring that no citizen sells gasoline, engages in money exchange, or involves doing any other business along the main streets of the nation’s capital.
He believes that, to maintain city ordinance, the citizens have a greater responsibility to clean their surroundings and help give Monrovia a facelift without being chased after or coerced by the relevant authorities.
It can be recalled that on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, the Intergovernmental Agency City Cleaning Taskforce signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at promoting and maintaining order in Monrovia and the City of Paynesville.
The multilevel governance task force comprises the Monrovia City Corporation, the Paynesville City Corporation, Ministry of Public Works, Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation, and the Liberia National Police.
Speaking a few minutes before affixing his signature to the MOU, the Mayor stressed that some citizens have failed to apply their common sense to keep Monrovia clean and safe for everyone.
He noted that the building of some unauthorized structures with people residing in them at strategic areas has impeded smooth operations of the MCC, including the Liberia Water and Sewer, and the Ministry of Public Works.
“If you look around, just drive around Sinkor, you will see that the areas that are dirtiest are the areas that you have a lot of trading going on. Where you don’t see all those trading going on, you hardly see it dirty.
So, you know, the MCC started to engage the city these few days and we said ‘look, let us take responsibility and start to clean the place because if you have been cleaning the place and using your common sense to do something, we wouldn’t have to come to do all of this’,” Mayor Siafa said.
He said it is indecent for some group of citizens to sell gasoline, cassava, and other local markets along the sidewalks of the main streets in the heart of the city.
The Monrovia City Mayor stressed that the appropriate way for the citizens to market their products is by going far from the streets to maintain city ordinance and promote decency.
At the same time, Mayor John-Charuk Siafa indicated that the major focus of the just-signed MOU is to build Liberia, in line with President Joseph Boakai’s vision in which he urged citizens to “Think Liberia, Love Liberia, and Build Liberia”.
He noted that the Monrovia City Corporation, in collaboration with its partners, is on the trajectory to bring sanity to the nation’s capital, adding that cleanliness concerns every individual.
The youthful Mayor is however calling for the cooperation of the public during the execution of this initiative, terming such support from the citizens as one of the most important parts to make Monrovia attractive.
Siafa also thanked the Minister of Public Works, Roland Giddings, Liberia National Police Inspector, Patrick Sudue, and the Managing Director of the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation, Mohammed Ali, for their cooperation and collaboration to give the city a facelift.
During the ceremony, Police Inspector General, Gregory Coleman, Public Works Minister, Roland Giddings, Paynesville Mayor, Robert Bestman, and Monrovia City Mayor, John-Charuk Siafa, all reaffirmed their commitment to restoring normality in both cities in the best interest of the citizens.
The MOU authorizes the cities of Monrovia and Paynesville to begin talks on the feasibility of developing a mutual collaborative roadmap aimed at stimulating municipal collaboration via unparalleled cooperation and promoting urban development.
The initiative is intended to encourage municipal changes and provide people in both cities with assurances of enhanced service delivery.
The taskforce now has a well-coordinated obligation to guarantee the removal of markets and makeshift structures along major routes, with the ultimate goal of fostering orderliness.
Its activities will also serve to reduce pollution of all kinds, ensure the renovation of water and sewage systems and drainages, and boost fumigation services in both cities.
These activities, which are part of the intergovernmental Agency City Cleaning Task Force operations, will also promote inclusiveness at the local level and result-focused disaster management, including fire prevention, as well as help promote climate action through flood prevention, biodegradation, encroachment on wetlands and alleyways, and emission control.
The taskforce’s operations include a more thorough inspection of social service facilities such as schools, entertainment centers, restaurants, seashore storages, supermarkets, religious centers, gasoline stations, medical centers, hotels, motels, and gambling centers, among others.
As part of the taskforce’s responsibilities, it will protect the sanctity of cemeteries in both cities, assist in the strengthening of vehicle regulations to ensure public safety, and jointly enforce applicable zoning regulations, city ordinances, and other regulatory frameworks to support the maintenance of law and order.
