By J. Peter S. Dennis, dennisrealone@gmail.com
GBARNGA, Liberia- The lack of proper farm to market road continues to serve as major challenge in the central Bong County, as the situation keeps undermining the progress of local farmers, 173 kilometers from Monrovia.
Many towns and villages in rural parts are reportedly said to be out of good road connectivity and other major needs, as citizens continue to appeal for government’s intervention.
Locals in these areas are mostly local farmers and self-sustaining people who are greatly involved into food crops production. But due to the lack of equipment and support, these farmers are being hampered in actively engaging into sustainable farming.
The government of Liberia through the Agricultural Ministry is reportedly not doing much to salvage the plight of the people by creating the avenue as well as providing the needed equipment.
Liberia has fertile soil that almost anything can be reaped without attention or applying chemicals- a God’s gift.
During a recent visit to some of these areas by this Reporter, it was gathered that citizens residing in towns and villages in Bong County could not hold back their peace in appealing to the Liberian government through the Public Works Ministry for improvement of these deplorable roads, one of which is the cover photo of this report.
Citizens speak out
Some districts covered include: electoral district #5, Kpaai district in electoral district#1, Jorquelleh district #2, Jorquelleh #3, Sanoyea, Zota and Panta districts, respectively.
Ma Yamah Togbah, 42, a mother of five children and a farmer says “most of our produce can spoil shortly after harvest because the roads and very bad, especially during the rainy season.”
Emmanuel Flomo, a resident of Naimah. He is 35 years of age and has three children. He feels that Liberian farmers are not getting the needed profits due to the lack of buyers and vehicles to taking their commodities to the market at ease.
Naimah is one of the largest towns in Zota district.
Esther Mubah is 28 years of age and a resident of Leleh, Jorquelleh district #2 with two children. She says “We really need the help of government in addressing some of the challenges faced. Getting to the market is hard. If you intend to take your produce to the market, you don’t easily find cars, because the roads are bad”
She however, complainrd of the hike in transportation with motorbike taxis locally called “pehm-pehm”.
“When you try to take the goods over motorbike, you will be charged plenty money that you won’t realize any profit after the sales.”
Lack of Safe drinking water and better school climate
Additional challenges hampering the people are the lack of safe drinking water and proper school environment.
In angry tone, the citizens of those areas believe that over the years they have been electing self- centered leaders who only lead their families and not in the interest of electorates.
According to them, the situation has made them to vow not to participate in future elections in Liberia if the leaders don’t improve their behaviors.
The citizens also frowned on what they consider as ‘cosmetic development and services’ in the name of love, especially during electioneering period.
“The only time you will see most of them is during elections. They will bring different programs and other services during elections, but if they are defeated or elected, they are lost! They will make the big and empty promises without considering the implementational process,” Ma Musu Larteh and Prince Kolleh of Bellemu in Panta district, like others, shared the same opinion.
“You see this town, we don’t even have safe drinking water. We drink from the creeks, or just anywhere we can get water from. Dysentry, typhoid, diarrheal, and other water borne diseases can affect us daily. We have gotten used to it! We have called on our leaders, but the narratives are not changing,” Mr. Morrison Tokpa, town chief of Volehnyea said in a sad tone.
Volehnyea is in electoral district#5 in Bong County.
Town Chief Tokpa regrets their situation, but said they are compelled to drink of it, if they must survive.
“Our children are not even going to good school, because every morning they will have to walk for hours to the main road to sit in classes- sometimes they can’t go if they are tired and no food,” Andrew Kolliemugaye and Kemah Kanah Suah of David Town explained.
It’s either some of these towns lack school facilities at all or the conditions are dilapidated. Most of them, according to finding, lack chairs, proper environment for learning, among others.
The angry citizens want the government of President George M. Weah who is being considered as bad road medicine to see reason in helping the under-privileged Liberians in the rural areas.
WHO and WaterAid Statistics
In Africa, more than 315,000 children die every year from Diarrhoeal diseases caused by unsafe water and sanitation. Globally, deaths from Diarrhoeal caused by unclean drinking water are estimated at 502,000 each year, most of them are young children while 1.8 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with feces, according to the World Health Organization.
In low- and middle-income countries, 38% of health care facilities lack improved water source, 19% do not have improved sanitation and 35% lack water and soap for handwashing, WHO says.
However, according to WaterAid, 1.1 million Liberians lack access to safe water and 3.7 million don’t have access to proper sanitation. Lack of safe water and sanitation causes over 700 deaths per year in children under five. Liberia is consistently in the bottom five poorest countries in the world according to the UN, the CIA and USAID.