By Alfred Kollie
Swiss based Liberia Organization, Bowier Trust Foundation Switzerland, (BTFS) has named security as a cardinal component in implementing developments in Liberia.
According to the organization, the absence of security would make it impossible for its three years strategy plan on humanitarian services for Liberia to yield a fruitful result.
BTFS said it has received a grant from Rotary Clubs in Switzerland to kickoff initial work that targets five key projects but Liberia security remains crucial to this plan.
The organization statement comes following the climax on a daylong training on the possibility of effectively implementing its plan focused on water, sanitation, hygiene, security and education among others throughout Liberia.
The training brought together people from diverse sectors of Liberia including student from the engineering department at the Stella Maris Polytechnic.
During the training held outside Monrovia Thursday, an Independent Consultant at the Liberia Business Association, LIBA William Montgomery, Jr. said the move by the organization to put security first was important in ensuring the sustainability of BTFS plan.
Montgomery said BTFS plan to help improve the health, sanitation and hygiene as well as the education and security sectors of Liberia will mean a whole lot for the country’s population.
Montgomery who is also a member of the Sinkor Rotary Club named the step as a welcoming development for Rotary; especially where its focus is community base.
According to him, the projects being targeted by Bowier Trust Foundation Switzerland fall within the frame of six focused areas of the Rotary.
“Rotary supports community base projects. We give our time and we give our treasurer to give back to society, and fortunately for Bowier Trust, the project you are doing is within the six areas of focus, that is the WASH Project and the education project,” Montgomery said.
He however expressed the need that the project be implemented successfully because funds that would be used are taken from people who believe in humanitarian services.
Montgomery further encouraged students from the Stella Maris Polytechnic who will be participating in the project to begin thinking about developing new skills that could impact Liberia meaningfully.
“What I will encourage the students from Stella Maris is that you need to think beyond what it is right now. You can begin to develop ideas; right now there is so much traffic, how in the next ten years will the Tubman Boulevard be? We need to be thinking about designing some fly over and sell it to government,” Montgomery added.
At the same time, the Deputy Training Commandant at the Liberia Police Training Academy, Dao Freeman pointed out that though security remains a key component for implementing the project, community dweller themselves must fully be involved.
Inspector Freeman said these plans may not come to fruition if community inhabitants do not feel a part of its implementation.
“Sometimes when you go into the community and think that you are doing well for the community, at the end of the day your plan will fail because the objective of that project, that is its utilization, if community dwellers are not involved,” Freeman asserted.
Meanwhile, survey has already begun on the implementation of health sanitation and hygiene project in the SD Cooper Community in Paynesville but Bowier Trust Foundation Switzerland is calling for more support to fast track their plan throughout Liberia.