Romeo Juwle Togba, [email protected] & Danesius Marteh, [email protected]
Monrovia – Under the challenging rains during the morning hours, a group of footballers defied the odds to ply their trade at what is now famously known as the Port Harcourt sports pitch in Logan Town on June 19.
Instructions of all sorts are passed on as players called their teammates to pass the ball or watch out for an opponent.
“Give me the ball! Give me the ball! Watch out he’s coming from the back!” exclaimed the players as they basked in the mood of playing what is referred to as tarbellah (football) on this is side of the globe.
This scene would give an impression that all is well at a pitch which was named in memory of a respected Liberian lawyer—Foday J. Massaquoi.
But the current state of the field is a far cry from what it was more than four years ago when it was upgraded, dedicated and turned over to the people of Logan Town by Robert Alvin Sirleaf, then senior advisor to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
Robert had embarked on the construction of mini-football stadia across mainly slum communities in Montserrado County to provide what was classified as friendly–spaces for recreation.
The Logan Town stadium was constructed with stands to hold up to 1,000 spectators.
Dressing rooms for the playing teams and match officials and at least three bathrooms with modern face-basins were also built.
And community leader Charles Nah labeled the facility “a model of excellence” at a handing over ceremony.
But looters are now having a field day and items upon items are going missing by the day.
“Look at what they have done to this place,” Theo Pannoh, a member of the Logan Town welfare committee said with his fingers shivering as he pointed to one of the bathrooms that was looted.
“They removed the door to the bath room; remove the commodes and are now removing the tiles off the wall and floor. This is painful. Imagine how much was pumped into this project to make it successful. And here we are the rogues are just looting this place,” Pannoh, who is popularly known as Vascular Bundle, added with a somewhat teary eyes.
The field is situated on an island on the outskirts of Logan Town and it seems its location in a rather unpopulated part of the community makes it a soft target for criminals.
“This place is isolated. So the guys can easily cross over to this area and take their time to loot. We need to find someone or a group of people to be here at night to watch this field,” noted Victor Weantor, who regularly practices on the field.
The construction of the pitch was viewed as a big relief for the people of Logan Town who, at the time, had no big football pitch as the famous Bong Mines field was reclaimed by the management of the National Port Authority in its expansion project of the Freeport of Monrovia.
“We all said we now have a pitch we could boast of that could be compared to the D-Tweh field in New Kru Town. But see what it has now turned into. This is pathetic,” said Johnny Yobo, a member of the welfare committee, in a draining tone of discouragement.
And it seems that it is not only the thieves that are up against the playing pitch because Nature has also been somewhat unkind to the structures.
Heavy storms recently removed the roof over one of the stands.
“The storm removed the roof over this stand. So when it rains, the water just drops on the spectators,” said Pannoh as he pointed to the open space created by the removal of roof.
“We are hoping that things will improve and people will come to our aid to help us renovate this field as we are now exploring measures to keep it safe from the criminals,” Weator pointed out.
Robert, who initiated the project, expressed his regret but told FrontPageAfrica that it was up to the community to own and manage the facility.
“As with all of our infrastructural projects when we’ve completed them, it is turned over to community group(s) or sub-committee (in the case of football pitches) for management. The only one we actively manage is Blue Field, as it’s home to BYC Football.
“During the initial process, we worked very hard with all the groups teaching and giving them the tools, best as we can for upkeep. The kids at the Executive Car Wash on Old Road have done a great job in not only managing but expanding upon our original plans.
“The same can be said of the numerous markets we’ve completed, and the market women also have done outstanding jobs in managing those. The football pitch in Smell No Taste is managed by that football committee and the LFA [Liberia Football Association] still plays games there.
“The same can be said of the hair bradding project on upper Clay Street and the motorcycle repair stop on lower Clay Street; most recently, we renovated all the bathrooms at UMU (United Methodist University), and the school has the responsibility for upkeep/maintenance.
“As with others, we are always disappointed if some of these projects don’t maintain some minimum standard. We tried very hard and explained to all the groups/community we engaged with that THEY have to manage upon completion. As we only have (4) persons in our office, and don’t have the bandwidth of activity to manage the infrastructure,” said Robert in an email to our reporter on June 28.
For his part, Montserrado County District #15 Representative Adolph Akwe Lawrence regretted the manner and form in which the stadium was vandalized.
Lawrence, Montserrado County Senator George Weah and some former national team players once held a practice match long before the looting began.
“I was told about the looting few days ago. And together with the community, we have set-up a management team to secure the remaining facility. They have submitted an initial budget of US$1,500 to do some immediate repair works.
“I’ll discuss with the district development council to determine whether I should independently finance the project from my salary, look for development sponsors or it should come from the district development funds,” said Lawrence on June 28.
With this hope, one thing that remains realistic is that the people of Logan Town will have to see the field as their own and ensure local ownership as well as protection from criminals.
As they say, goodwill does not always come.