Lutheran Development Service Undertaking The Task
By Moses M. Tokpah, mosesmtokpah@gmail.com
KAKATA, Liberia- In an effort to prevent flooding from affecting residents of eight communities in Upper and Lower Margibi of flooding, the Lutheran Development Service in Liberia has broken ground for a US$24,200 project in Kakata.
The ground breaking ceremony of the ACT Alliance Project: LBR 19: Emergency Response to Flood-affected communities in Upper and Lower Margibi took place at the Benla Bridge on the Bong Mine road on Monday June 15, 2020.
The project according to the Interim Executive Director of the Lutheran Development Service, Dellnot Gardner is in response to call from the eight Communities in relieving them of flooding that is destroying their homes and properties.
“Today we are launching several projects in flood affected areas in Margibi,” she said,
Madam Gardner asserted that the first phase of the project will see the cleaning up of the Bank Stream by an additional 1.5meters in order for the water way to be deep enough to take all of the flood water that is going in something according to her the technician said will be enough to stop the water from flooding.
She mentioned that the cleaning of the stream from the Banla Bridge will go to the DU-River and from the Banla Bridge to the World Bank Bridge on the Kakata Weala High Way.
Additionally, Madam Gardner intoned that in Dennisville Community in Kakata, LDS will clean up smaller drainages where the community will be directly involved so they too can be relief of flooding and will also rehabilitee one hand pump in Dennisville and provide clean water for the community.
The interim LDS Executive Director at the same time revealed that the second part of the project will be the clearing of the drainages in the stream in the Zoclin estate and will be cleaned by 10 meters deep and wide to make it 6,000 meter long in order for the water to de-flood the community.
Dellnot Gardner stated that they will construct a cross drainage in the Zoeclin estate to manage the water and.
She said these projects will take about ten days to a month to be completed expressing hope that it be completed in ten days so as to relief the people as they are promising.
The LDS Interim Boss lauded the ACT Alliance Geneva for providing fund for the project and also the ACT Alliance Forum who is the implementing partner for making things happened.
She gave thanks to the city planner and the resident engineer of the Ministry of Public Works for doing the assessment with them and for assuring them that the intervention will stop the flooding in the eight communities.
Giving a brief history of the institution, Madam Gardner said the LDS was established in 2002 as a development arm of the Lutheran Church in Liberia.
Since then, she explained that the entity has been undertaking community works in Bong, Nimba, Lofa, Grand Cape Mount and Gbarpolu Counties adding that LDS works in development, agriculture, water and sanitation as well as microfinance among others.
She revealed that in 2014 LDS responded to a call from community in Grand Cape Mount County when their City got flooded. She said the institution assisted communities in Lofa and Bong Counties when they were hit by storm which took off many roofs.
For his part, the Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Liberia D. Jensen Seyenkulo said the Church is more than glad to be a part of the intervention.
Bishop Seyenkulo pointed out that the environments are threatened by many ills one of which the ACT Alliance Forum has decided to address as an organization.
He said the fact is that unless they find ways to control the ills that threaten them, their parts of the work will continue to be disaster prone and worse yet these disasters will become lager and occur more frequently.
“You did not make a mistake when you called the Lutheran Church in Liberia to participate in this event, as you are aware; this Church is a Church that intervenes in Health issue and development” the LCL Bishop.
He mentioned that the Church has work diligently over the years to help government in making Liberia a health nation but said why it is truth that they have made some progress as a church, they can accomplish a whole lot more with others of the same mind.
The Bishop says collaboration through the ACT Alliance Forum is one way of bringing about this kind of impact. He commended the LCL Executive Director for what he described as a great beginning and at the same time challenged them to think beyond clearing of water ways and think about more ways they can prevent these water ways from clouding.
He expressed the need of finding ways to cut down plastic use adding that plastic pollution is causing them a lot of harm because it takes hundreds and even thousands of years for plastic to break down and its environmental impact is long lasting.
Bishop Seyenkulo: “We must find ways to control our plastic use, ladies and gentlemen I am very glad to be a part of this undertaken and I am looking forward to greater challenges, there is nothing God cannot do”.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Bank Stream Disaster Management Team expressed the willingness of his team to corporate with the LDS and will do what is required to resolving problem they faced in many years.
Mr. S. Benedict Sackie indicated that they have had lot of constraints but some stakeholders such as District #4 Lawmaker Ben A. Fofana has worked tirelessly with them in resolving some of those constraints.
He called on other leaders of the County to do same in order to solve the challenges they are faced with together adding, ‘together we can make a better result’.
In separate remarks, the Chairman of the Margibi Legislative Caucus Ben A. Fofana; the Mayor of Kakata City Emmanuel M. Goll and proxy of the County Superintendent M. Kpakanay Gbankpala have assured the Lutheran Development Service in Liberia of their supports in insuring that the project is implemented.