By D.Enoch Sandoe in Rivercess, Liberia
Government infrastructure including buildings constructed from taxpayers’ money will no longer be abandoned, the newly appointed Superintendent of Liberia’s southeastern Rivercess County has said.
Mr. J. Bismarck Karbiah has vowed to begin actualizing his pronouncement by moving into a building which was constructed some time ago for Superintendents of the County, but has to date not been used.
Speaking on a local community radio in the County following his confirmation by the Liberian Senate recently, Superintendent Karbiah said he will not allow taxpayers’ money be wasted on a building without it being used.
During the administration of former Superintendent Bob Zankian in 2008 citizens at the County Council Sitting made an allotment to construct a permanent residence for Superintendents of the county rather than Superintendents living in rented houses.
Similar situation is said to be existing in other parts of the country, where public facilities constructed from taxpayers’ money have been abandoned while others are left in dilapidated conditions.
The construction work started the same year but stopped at the foundation level when Superintendent Bob Zankian was dismissed by former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and replaced with former Superintendent Wellington Geevon-Smith. At the time, the construction company given the contract pulled out of the county, claiming to have used US$150,229 only for the foundation.
In an interview with former Superintendent Wellington Geevon-Smith he said “when I took over the county, the building was on foundation level and abandoned by the construction company that was doing the work for reason unknown to me”
Mr. Geevon-Smith added: “what happened for which the work was abandoned was not important to me but to have it completed was my focus; which I did and my administration spent a little over US$200,000 dollars to complete it.”
When quizzed by reporters on why he was unable to move in the building, the former Rivercess County Superintendent said, “I could not move in the building because the Rivercess Legislative Caucus never wanted the Superintendent of the county to live a decent life so they refused to make funding available for furniture which was the obstacle.”
Former Superintendent Geevon-Smith said the building was 95% completed with the lack of furniture being the only obstacle to moving into the building when it was vandalized by some individuals in the county.
Since that time, the landing on which the building was built has been covered with bush.
Due to the freezing of the County Social Development Fund (CDF) by Members of the Rivercess Legislative Caucus, the successor of former Superintendent Wellington Geevon-Smith Matthew Zoegar Daniels was unable to complete the already vandalized building until the former ruling Unity Party government’s tenure ended.
Locals in Rivercess County have welcome the new Superintendent’s pronouncement, with calls being made to clear the bush from around the building in question.
The cleanup exercise brought together Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Cestos City Cooperation, the Cestos Central Prison and volunteers within the city limit.
It is a two-story building with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a vehicle garage, two living rooms, back and front porches, among other facilities.