Liberia: Monrovia City to Extend Helping Hands to ‘Filthy’ Paynesville

MONROVIA – The Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) is expected to extend helping hands to its sister city Paynesville, following its (Paynesville’s) Mayor’s complain of lack of equipment.

Reported by Willie N. Tokpah [email protected]

This development follows a FrontPageAfrica report few days ago on how filthy Paynesville has become as mountains of garbage, which have been there for weeks, can be seen in most parts of the city. The Paynesville City Corporation (PCC) Mayor Pam Belcher-Taylor had blamed their ineffectiveness on no money and no equipment to remove the garbage.

Well, it is seems her prayer has now been answered as Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson Koijee announced Wednesday, October 10, that his city
Administration’s move to help Paynesville is geared at ensuring good sanitary environment.

“The President has instructed us to make an intervention in the unfortunate situation in Paynesville. By 9 p.m. this evening, we will be committing 16 trucks to the Paynesville City Corporation and will ensure cleaning up process for at least one to two weeks,” Mayor Koijee disclosed.

The trucks, according to Koijee, will be rented at US$400 daily per truck. In Paynesville, Red Light, which is the largest commercial district in the country, has become the new dumping ground. Garbage can be seen everywhere.

Koijee said his team will move into Paynesville to kickoff the cleaning up exercise on Wednesday night.

This latest intervention, according to the MCC Mayor, is the second by President in addressing garbage situation confronting Paynesville City.
“The first was the setting up of a special Presidential taskforce to conduct a one-month, two-week cleaning up exercise to give Monrovia and its surrounding cities facelift,” he stated.

Koijee frowned at those blaming Paynesville Mayor Belcher-Taylor for the garbage situation in Red Light Market and other communities.
He wants marketers and residents of Paynesville as well as Monrovia to be

rational about their own safety, calling on them to desist from throwing garbage in the open.

“When we say the residents should be supportive, we are not asking you for money. It is about the mindset; your sense of recognition that public nuisance is illegal. You can’t be selling on the streets and think that the Mayor is responsible for a stockpile of dirt. There are illnesses attached to that,” he noted.

He furthered that only a collaborative effort by residents and Paynesville City will continue to keep the city clean.

“We should not be quick to condemn our policymakers; we must be supportive because, when situation occurs it is not just about the person occupying the seat but has a rapid effect on the citizenry,” Koijee asserted.

“A situation that concerns Paynesville is a situation that concerns our country. That’s why we are calling on our citizens, the business community and everyone to ensure that Paynesville is redeemed from this problem.”

In another development, Mayor Koijee announced the arrival of a delegation from Washington DC to be doing feasibility study for Monrovia and other cities.