PHOTO: Veteran Bureau officials and retired AFL officers Ophelia Hinneh, Andrew Wleh and Alexander Geor
The National Bureau of Veteran Affairs is at about now dispatching a team throughout the country, in a bid create awareness of the veterans of the Armed Forces of Liberia to be peaceful and law abiding, especially in this election year.
The Deputy Director for Veteran Affairs at the bureau, Retired Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) Lt. Col. Andrew Wleh warned veterans that although they are no more in uniforms; but they stand the ricks of prosecution under the Uniform Code of Military Justice if they broke the laws in the land.
Lt. Col. Wleh gave the warning at the first general meeting organized by the National Bureau of Veteran Affairs with staffs, employees and veterans of the Armed Forces of Liberia in Congo recently.
According to him, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia, Major General Prince Johnson, has assured the veterans that once there is peace and unity among them, there is a hope of soliciting the assistance of international partners by the government to tap on the skills of the veterans and undertake programs that will improve their lives.
Lieutenant Colonel Wleh reaffirmed his commitment in the implementation of the what he termed as the ten-count resolution, which include the payment of resettlement to the veterans.
Major Geor directed the Human Resource Director at the bureau to take stuck of all employees purposely to ensure that all report to work at nine am and depart at 4 pm. daily.
The Deputy Director for Administration at the National Bureau of Veteran Affairs welcomed the decision by the veteran community to unite, stop the demonstration on the streets and work with the authority in seeking their welfare
For her part, the Assistant Director General for Women and Children at the bureau, Retired Major Ophelia Hinneh, appealed to the government and the international partners for assistance for widows and children of veterans of the AFL,
She also warned veterans of the AFL against their involvement in political activities in the name of the bureau because they should consider themselves as reservists.
Also speaking, the Director of the Agriculture Department at the bureau, Retired Lt. Col. Peter Bonner, appealed to the government for funding for agricultural sector of the bureau.
According to him, the agricultural department currently has 1,500 farmland in Sinoe County, 25,000 acres of land on the Monrovia Buchanan highway and over 10,000 acres of farmland in Todee, Montserrado County and 850 men trained to work on these various farms.
Lt. Col Bonner assured the public that the agricultural department of the bureau is capable to produce food for the consumption by the Liberian people.
The meeting, which was held at the headquarters of the bureau in Congo Town, was graced by staff employees and veterans of the Armed Forces of Liberia among others.