Monrovia – Classes at the state-run University of Liberia Capitol Hill campus were disrupted Wednesday by some students who were calling on the attention of the university’s administration to put an end to the pollution around the TH Building (Tubman Hall Building).
Report by J.H. Webster Clayeh – [email protected]
The pollution is being caused by two damaged septic tanks that have been overflowing with feces near TH Building; the building that hosts thousands on a daily basis.
According to the students, it has been two weeks since the two septic tanks got damaged.
They added that they went to the administration to discuss the situation of septic tanks but nothing has been done about it, leaving the them with the embarrassment of inhaling the stench everyday.
From one class to another, the students which were headed by student Jiba M. Kromah, urged students to abandon their classes, if the administration building was being polluted by the waste, they were going to speedily fix the place.
“If this was the office of the President of UL, Dr. Ophelia Weeks, they were going to fix it speedily.”
“If this was the office of Weade Kobba Wreh they were going to attend to it very quickly,” Kromah told the students as he led a group of students from one class to another.
“They feel that we who are here coming to school are animals, we do not have rights.”
“So, we are shutting down every class at the TH Building and the entire main campus of the University of Liberia so that the administration can attend to the pollution very quickly”.
He went around encouraging students to participate in the boycott of the vicinity.
“So comrades, be very peaceful and leave the classroom now,” Kromah admonished the students.
After the protesting students visited few classes the entire TH Building and other parts of the main campus at the University of Liberia went in to disarray.
Students, including lecturers seemed to leave their classes speedily to avoid any possible attack from the protesting students.
Edward Cuffy, one of the lecturers whose class was disrupted by the protesting students said he had to get out of the class because he knows what the students can do when they are protesting.
Although he was not in support of the students disrupting classes; he said the place has been damaged for over a week adding that it is the responsibility for the students’ leadership to stand up for the rights of the students’ populace.
“I left the class because of the students but I don’t blame them at all because the place is very embarrassing,” he told FrontPageAfrica.
Grace Johnson, one of the students said the protesting students were right for disrupting classes because it is the only language the administration can understand to solve problem speedily.
“This is very bad and the administration is aware of what going on but it does not bother them because their office is not near here,” she said.
Although many students are in agreement of the protesting students disrupting Eric Williams, one of the students who were in class when he was ordered to leave class said the students have no right to disrupt classes rather they should have gone to the administration building and shut it down.
He added that they are not responsible for what is going on at the TH Building.
“They are supposed to go and shut the administrative building down and not to come disrupt classes while people are learning”, Williams said.
Also, when contacted the Head of the University (UL) of Liberia, Norris Tweah who just returned to work after his defeat in the just-ended legislative election in Montserrado County District #5 said that he was not aware of the pollution that has being coming out from the two damaged septic tanks at the TH Building.
“I don’t know about that”, he said bluntly.
Tweah immediately called on the director of the UL Relation Direction Augustine Boakai who himself says he was not aware of the pollution at the TH Building.
Tweah, however, ordered the Director of UL Relation to go and find out the situation of the pollution.