Monrovia – An Executive Committee Member of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), Senator Saah H. Joseph has cautioned authorities of the government to ensure the provision of job opportunities for citizens across the country in a bid to alleviate poverty and combat against numerous challenges confronting Liberians. Lawmaker Joseph is representing the people of Montserrado County in the 54th National Legislature.
Senator Joseph disclosed that many Liberians are experiencing severe hardship due to the lack of job opportunities.
According to him, these citizens continue to complain on a regular basis as a result of the current downward economic conditions in Liberia, and as such, government must help address the situation.
The Montserrado County lawmaker made these assertions in a telephone interview with Front Page Africa recently.
He added that Liberians, particularly residents of Montserrado County, are also complaining about the hike in the prices of basic commodities which continue to worsen their already impoverished condition.
“I been going around visiting parts of the county, a lot of complaints are coming from citizens. Those complaints are basically job creation. Everybody wants to work. There are complaints on the prices of commodities; salaries are not coming on time,” he stated.
Civil servants’ salaries Wahala
The delay in the payment of civil servants’ salaries has also claimed the attention of the CDC lawmaker.
Senator Joseph believed that there is a sharp decline in the purchasing of goods and services as a result of the situation.
“Civil
servants are not taking pay on time. The purchasing power of Liberia comes from
the civil servants. If you notice that civil servants are not taking pay on
time, the marketers; market women will not have businesses going on,” he
stated.
Recommendations
Senator Joseph wants government and others to invest in the agriculture sector of the country.
According to him, vast majority of Liberians will be able to provide basic necessities for them and their respective family members if adequate avenues are created to attract investment opportunities.
“I think that the first thing we need to focus on is the creation of jobs. People will be happy if they have money to spend. Jobs for the people will make them to be able to earn something at the end of the month, and to put food on their table. The reality is, people want to work, but there is no job. So, we need to focus on job creation across the country,” he added.
Senator Joseph continued: “Nigeria’s economy is toppling because of the two major commodities they export-oil and cassava. The market is available now for cassava in China. So, if we can come up to ship cassava out of this country, or make cassava farms we will be able to employ more than 200 persons. I think we need to focus in the right direction, and see how best we can improve on agriculture”.
Keeping the Hope
Despite the challenges, the Montserrado County lawmaker wants Liberians to remain hopeful.
He urged citizens to continue to pray for God’s guidance and protection upon the President to lead the country in the right manner.
“We hope that good news will come in the shortest possible time. I can assure everybody that in the shortest possible there will be some continuous changes in the economy,” he noted.
Senator’s interventions
In 2014, Senator Joseph was nicknamed ‘Ebola Hero’ due to his immeasurable contributions and efforts applied in combating the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Liberia.
The EVD took away an estimated number of over 4000 lives, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Senator Joseph is one of those who canvassed vigorously for the election of George Manneh Weah as President, during the campaign period of the 2017 general and presidential elections.
As part of his efforts to beef up government’s strength in alleviating poverty, the CDC lawmaker has embarked on the distribution of buses and free medical supplies to residents, hospitals and clinics in Montserrado County.
Up to present, five (5) buses have been presented to residents of districts 2, 4, 15, 16 and 17 in Montserrado County, through their respective lawmakers.
“As a leader of a county with the highest population; I am trying to see how best to make things happen. People want to commute from one area to another. So, what I am doing now is an income generating program. I provided buses for few districts,” Senator Joseph stated.
He furthered: “The normal charges from those districts to town will be less. I am still committed to my free educational program. I have four schools that I run free of charge. I continue to make medical donations to some hospitals and clinics in Montserrado County”.