Gbarnga, Bong County – In front of one of the several buildings that were demolished Saturday and Monday in Gbarnga, a centrally located city in Liberia, three little children were seen trying to make sense out of the confusion.
Report by Selma N. Lomax, [email protected]
Wearing a sweatshirt and trousers, one of the children, a boy of about 8 years, was trying to fix his father’s broken keyboard, which was damaged during the bulldozers’ visit the day before, while the family’s television set laid on its face among the rubbles.
A few feet away from him, a seven-year-old girl wearing only white singlet was literally trying to lift up her crying two-year-old brother from the rubble.
The little boy screamed as his sister tried holding him. He seemed unwilling to vacate his former residence, now a debris site.
But all that lay before them was a pile of rubble caused by the bulldozers’ rage at noon.
The kids were among the thousands that have either been rendered homeless or jobless by the recent demolition exercise carried out by the officials of the Gbarnga City Corporation (GCC) on Saturday and Monday.
The GCC, the entity responsible to clean the city, has said the demolition was a necessary measure to give the city a facelift.
On Monday, residents, landlords and business owners claimed that about 300 houses and shops in the city had been affected by the demolition exercise.
When FrontPageAfrica reporter visited scenes of the demolition on Monday, the debris, tears and sorrow the bulldozers left on its trail were still visible.
Many watched with awe and despair as the heavy machines raged on. Mattresses, home furniture and other household items were among the rubble.
Many told our correspondent that they lost property worth thousands of Liberian dollars and their means of livelihood to the exercise.
“The demolition has taken place; there is nothing we can do. I have lost thousands of Liberian dollars to the demolition, I had a shop. There is serious economic recession for me,” a shop owner and student of Cuttington University only identified as Beatrice told FrontPage Africa.
Continuing, she added: “This demolition is inflicting more pain on us but life goes on. My point now is, people have been rendered jobless and homeless.”
Dennis Peabody, another resident, lamented that his shop was affected. Dennis, who had lived in the city since 1980, said the city corporation reneged on its agreement with the landlords in the area to demolish structures within a 32-metre marking near the road.
He said, “But the GCC increased the marked area further to about 92 meters which extended to my shop. I thought there was going to be further discussion on the matter.”
Many others are now homeless, like a petty trader, Mrs. Emma McGill. FrontPageAfrica reporter met her in front of what used to be her home, in tears.
“This was the room my family and I used to sleep in,” she said, pointing to a portion in the rubble. “I am so sad; we have nowhere to sleep. Our property is scattered all over the place. I have been crying since. I do not know where to go. There is nothing left for me,” she lamented.
Like many of the tenants in some of the demolished buildings, Emma had lived in one of them for about 10 years. “This is the only home I have known and my father was buried there,” said another resident, who inherited the property from his father.”
At another demolition scene, some members of an extended family were seen huddled up at different sections, lamenting their fate. They could not hold back tears and grief as they condemned the actions of the GCC.
Business owners in Gbarnga also lamented their losses. Structures housing an outlet of Super Petroleum (SP) and Dungan Gas stations were among those affected.
The manager, who did not give his name, said over 10 of his employees lost their jobs to the demolition.
