Suacoco District, Bong County – The Suacoco Commissioner’s compound, which was built three years ago with $43,000 from the County and Social Development Fund, is falling apart.
Report by Selma Lomax, [email protected]
The doors are rotting, thieves stole the windows and doors and overgrown grass surrounds the building.
No commissioner has lived in the compound and no district activity has taken place there since former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf dedicated the building in 2015.
Residents use the place as toilet. In December last year, criminals broke into the building and stole doors and windows.
Anthony Sheriff, Bong County’s assistant superintendent for development, said the county had to ask the Turkish MNG Gold for money to renovate the building and replace the windows and doors.
The company provided $4,000.
Sheriff said the compound is isolated from the main road and does not have security. The county, he said, cannot afford to hire security.
The building has three bedrooms and an office, but lacks running water, mattresses and other essential furnishings.
Rep. Edward Karfiah of District Five which comprises Suacoco said the compound was designed as a residence for the commissioner, in case he/she lives far away.
In addition, the compound was intended to host district guests who come for development meetings and other county matters such as county sittings to determine CSDF projects.
The commissioner’s compound was one of the projects approved during the 2012-2013 county sitting.
So, why was the compound built in an isolated area? Karfiah said the decision on the location was made by stakeholders outside of the 2012-2013 county sitting.
Clyde Sual, the late former district commissioner, refused to move in the compound because of its isolation. Sual said he was concerned about his safety.
Sual, who died 2016, was part of the county sitting that approved the construction of the commissioner’s compound during the 2012-2013 county sitting.
Mark Dudu, who was appointed commissioner in March, also has no intention of living in the compound. He said he will run the district affairs from his home in Sergeant Kollie Town, a 10- minute drive from Suacoco.
Dudu said the compound lacks basic necessities.
“Imagine no running water, no mattress and other important things,’’ he said. “ How am I going to move there?’’
Dudu said he can’t move his family into the compound because it is isolated.
“I have been hearing about how the area has come under attack since its construction, so I am not going to take that risk,” he said.
If the county wants him to move there, Scott said the county has to provide security.
“I don’t want to risk my life because I am the commissioner,’’ he said.
Dudu’s predecessor, Arthur Gbelawoe, served as commissioner for four months. He, too, did not move into the compound because he feared being attacked by criminals.
“I have a decent house closed in the heart of Suacoco why I am going to live somewhere that is very far from the road,” he said. “I value my life.’
Bong County Superintendent Esther Walker said the county is strapped for cash.
The CSDF is a major source of funding for development projects, but the Ministry of Finance Development and Planning (MFDP) has not disbursed CSDF to the county for the last four years.
Walker said MFDP officials told her that the country was in transition and so, they cannot make CSDF remittances to counties.
In addition, the three concession companies operating in the county did not fulfill all their financial obligations to the county, she said.
Some Suacoco residents are upset with the county for not thinking critically about the location of the compound.
It is disheartening that no commissioner has lived in the compound since it was built, residents said.
If no one can live in the building because of its location, then it was a waste of money, residents said.
“That is a complete waste of taxpayers’ money,” said Alex Kwakeh. “Two years now, and this building has been here without people making use of it.’’
Jerry Tomah, also a resident of Suacoco, said county officials should be held accountable for not using CSDF money wisely.
Citizens need to be more involved in deciding projects for the county. Most times, county leaders make decisions on how to spend CSDF money that’s why many of the projects don’t impact the citizens, Tomah said.
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