After 14 years devastating civil war, the most essential infrastructures such as the water and electricity systems were completely destroyed by the various warring factions.
On top of the nightmare as it is already known in the 1980s, most parts of rural Liberia were without reliable pipe borne water.
Hence, sources of reliable and safe drinking water in most parts of rural Liberia are not conducive and environmentally unhygienic.
However, during the initial start of the herculean post-war reconstruction of the devastated nation, aid and United Nations agencies concentrated on the construction of hand pumps and bridges for the rural dwellers.
What is indeed sad about some of those hand pumps and bridges is there was no sustainable mechanisms put in place for their short and long terms duration.
As a result of bad construction networks in both urban and rural Liberia, most of the bridges and hand pumps had short term life spans.
Certainly, after those facilities short services to rural Liberians, they again returned fetching for safe drinking water to rivers, ponds and streams infested with dangerous water borne diseases.
New Johnsonville Community of little over 4,000 inhabitants outside of Monrovia, such projects as hand pumps and bridges were constructed some twenty five years.
Regrettably, almost all of such facilities have broken down and the socioeconomic hardships continue even up to the exit of the Unity Party led administration.
In spite of extensive public outcries from the residents of New Johnsonville, the situation remains unattended by the current Liberian Government and aid agencies.
It is indeed unimaginable as close as New Johnsonville Community to the seat of the Liberian Government; one would imagine the situations of Butou in Nimba and Lofa Counties.
For almost 12 years of the UP led government, the residents pointed out that they will appreciate for the outgoing administration to rehabilitate some of the hand pumps and the only bridge in New Johnsonville.
Residents of New Johnsonville told this news organ recently in an interview that most of them are highly trained professionals in the areas of education and health; the isolated and neglected community lacked social services such as clinic, school and good road as well as a bridge.
Most of the hand pumps and the bridge were constructed in the 1990s and no form of rehabilitation works had been done on those vital and critically needed facilities in New Johnsonville.
Inconveniently, school age children and pregnant women residing in New Johnsonville are constrained to walk miles to the settlement of Mount Barclay in order to benefit from such vital social services.
“On our own, we have on many occasions mobilized funds to repair a very critical bridge that has broken down few years ago as a result of heavy downpour of rains,” Resident Benedict Stewart lamented.
“We continue to encounter premature deaths and other countless hardships due to the deplorable conditions of the road and bridge that connect us to urban Montserrado County,” Mr. Stewart added.
At the same time, residents of the deprived community of New Johnsonville have sounded clarion calls of all aid agencies, UN and Liberians at home and abroad to assist them rehabilitate some of hand pumps and bridge. Report by Edwin M. Fayiah, III