Gbarpolu County – Kongbor is a small town surrounding by forest and the road leading to the town is greeted by bad roads and broken bridges, with a visit it evident that this part of Liberia is lacking behind in term of opportunity and development.
People have to travel miles by feet to carried information from one town or places to another, mobile communication for them is a dream.
The locals of this area are disconnected from the rest of the country, they are not aware of the happenings, their major sources of information about their capital comes from few business people trading between Monrovia and Kongbor.
This community was blessed with a radio station from International Alert but to keep it operational has been a challenge for the people of Kongbor.
If the radio will be on for a day it means the community has to rally around and collect money to support the radio, visiting this station FrontPage learn that is on air due to generosity from a local business woman.
The station is small structure built by stick and mud cover by cement, it has three compartment waiting place, transmitter area and a tight studio.
Lawrence Gbagbah a broadcaster at Kongba radio said, with lack of support the station is frequent on the air waves adding that community radio is the major source of information in that area.
Gbagbah :” no network here to call, so the radio helping in informing people in the district, to have this radio station it one business down the town that bought us one gallon.”
Gbagbah reveal that an international organization has visited the area and promise to help open the station.
The Radio Kongba broadcaster said that announcer on air have to take out shirt to broadcast due to heat in the tight studio.
“We do not have fan or air condition and for God sake look at how small this studio is, we sweat a lot when we are on air but this what we have,” Gbagbah said.
A research conducted by Mercy Corps and IREX finds that community radio provides a critical source of information for the people of Liberia, including in some of the country’s most remote rural areas.
86% of Liberia’s population listen to radio and most prefer community to national radio for news and information. This is because it features local stories, local voices and dialects, the study finds.
“Our research shows that community radio is not only the most prevalent but also the most trusted source of information in Liberia, and is therefore a vital tool for broadening awareness and education on social issues,” says Laura Keenan, Communications Specialist at Mercy Corps Liberia.
From their facial expression one see the desperation in the locals to have their radio station permanently.
A resident Mohammed Swaray said that the radio is helping to inform them about what happen in the town when they are on their farm.
“We are happy that our radio station will be on, we do not have to walk from Kongbor to Camp Alpha to give news (message), the radio can do it,” Swaray.
Swaray said, the radio has been able to provide information in all of the major tribes in the district adding that keeping it on has been the community worry.
The Officer in Charge at the Liberia Media Center Lamii Kpargoi said that community radio should be taken seriously across Liberia adding help they inform more than half of the population.
“Community radios need to be seeing as priority, the community serve 66% of the people, they help inform those people,” Kpargoi said.
The LMC OIC said, that Kongba radio is one of the radio stations located in the remote part of Liberia adding that the community as a border town where there is no communication a radio station is extremely needed.
“Look at Kongba radio the people have struggle with that station there should be budget line for community radio, USAID funding project by Internews will support the radio but what happens after five years?” Kpargoi said.
Kpargoi continues“Going forward the sustainability of Liberia democracy, community radio will make or break our democracy; we have to encourage our partners to support community radio.”
Most of the inhabitants are involved in artisanal mining, hunting and farming for livelihood which invite people from across the country.
The Kongba district is bordering with Sierra Leone, with no security presence, so information is vital in such area.
“In parts of the country where reliable information is scarce, community radio provides a lifeline to citizens. Stations know the concerns in their communities and are best placed to adapt and relay crucial messages in ways that will be most relevant,” says Colby Pacheco, Project Director for ECAP 2 at IREX Liberia.
The study by Mercy Corps and IREX is the first radio reach survey to have been conducted across all of Liberia’s 15 counties, assessing radio listenership.
It finds that Grand Kru has the lowest radio listenership (44% of the county’s population), followed by Bomi and River Gee (64%). Conversely, listenership in Grand Gedeh, Gbarpolu and Bong reaches close to 100% in all three counties.