District Two, Bong County – The hopes of residents of Baryarta Town in electoral District Two in Bong county who thought relief was underway with the construction of a clinic have been dashed after a businessman in Bong County, Ansu Sesay, received US$11,552 to construct a clinic, but has failed to do so for more than one year.
Sesay has also failed to begin with the construction of a major bridge linking Baryarta to the rest of the district despite receiving US$ 50, 000 from the County Social Development Funds last year. The money was proposed by delegates at the November 12, 2018 County Council Sitting.
Roads leading to Baryarta, a town with a population of nearly two thousand residents, are in very bad shape, rendering it difficult to transport expectant mothers to the nearest health facility which is approximately 20 kilometers away.
Despite providing a land space and brushing the site for the clinic, there is no sign the clinic will be construction soon.
Baryarta residents plan protest
Residents of Baryarta said they are contemplating on staging a protest at the Administration building of the county to raise awareness about their plights.
Oldman Smith, a town leader, said residents of the town are have become vulnerable to illnesses due to the lack of a health facility. “We will mobilize our people to stage a peaceful protest at the Administration building in Gbarnga to draw the attention of our leaders to our situation. “When clinic is built in our town and there is emergency we will get help as soon as possible,” he said.
“We are left with no option. This is the only way our leaders and the government will listen. We have suffered too long,” he said.
Smith didn’t say the date of the protest.
Sesay: Funds for clinic insufficient
Sesay, manager of the Sesay Brothers Construction firm, received the money on March 21 2019 from the government’s Legislative Earmarked Project.
Sesay, when contacted by FrontPageAfrica as to why he hasn’t constructed the clinic when he has been paid the full amount, said the money earmarked for the construction of the clinic is insufficient, hoping that the county will augment the money to start the construction.
“Yes, I received US$ 10, 000 but the money can’t construct a clinic but the money is too small to construct a clinic. I have hoping that the county will give me additional money to add to what I already have,” he said.
But Superintendent Esther Walker of Bong county said the county doesn’t have money to augment for any clinic construction. “We don’t have money. As I speak to you Bong county hasn’t received its Social Development Funds from government” she said.