Monrovia – The US$50,000 garden park project at Du Port Road intersection is about to be demolished by the Ministry of Public Works just two years after its construction.
Report by Henry Karmo – [email protected]
The park which was constructed by the Paynesville City Corporation (PCC) was intended to beautify the area.
It was dedicated by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on June 30, 2015 during a ceremony during which she lauded Paynesville City Mayor Cyvette Gibson for the transformation of the city under her watch.
But two years after the project was highly dignified by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, it is about to be crushed to the ground despite the thousands of dollars of tax payers’ money invested into it.
Sources at the Ministry of Public Works told FrontPageAfrica that the municipal government of Paynesville did seek Public Works’ advice before carrying out the construction and therefore, violated the zoning laws.
Failure to follow zoning laws is one major problem confronting development in several major cities in Liberia, especially in Montserrado County.
The Duport Port Road Junction project was sponsored by the National Social Security Corporation (NASSCORP) costing a little over US$50,000.00.
Several attempts by this paper to get the PCC speak to the planned demolition proved futile.
The PCC, according to the Public Works source, would receive compensation for the demolition as usually done with victims of demolition.
The Duport Road community, with 10 large sub-communities, has an estimated population of 114,321 residents.
The genesis of the Duport Road Junction Project was conceived during the dedication of the ELWA Junction beautification project in June 2013 when President Sirleaf highlighted the need to replicate the project at the Duport Road junction.
On March 12, 2015 the PCC held the groundbreaking ceremony and planted the illustration as public awareness for this beautification project.
The city of Paynesville in Montserrado County has been considered as one of the fastest growing cities in Liberia in terms of population, commercial activities and infrastructural development.
People are believe to be moving away from old Monrovia to construct residential and commercial duplexes in Paynesville which is ideally located, the first point of entry for people from about 10 of the 15 counties of Liberia.
In 2016 the city of Paynesville embarked on a fundraising campaign to renovate its Town Hall Park, located across the street from the administrative offices of the city’s government.
The city closed the playground, one of two major public parks in Paynesville, nearly six months ago because of its current deplorable state.
The other park, which is situated in the Liberia Broadcasting System Community, is also not in use due to its dilapidated condition.
The city expects the renovation of the Town Hall Park to cost approximately US$45,000 and because the city’s budget caters only to recurrent expenditures, the mayor turned to crowd-funding.