Harrisburg, Montserrado County – Residents of Joe Ricks Town in Harrisburg, along the Mount Coffee Hydro Power Plant road say they are experiencing a serious health hazard. In addition to this health problem, they have also complained that crops are being destroyed as a result of heavy dust and smaller rock particles that pour over their gardens from the massive rock crushing activities by Z & C Investment Company, a Chinese firm operating in the vicinity.
Report by Edwin G. Genoway, Jr., [email protected]
Z & C Investment Company has been operating in the area for more than nine years. Residents complain that the company’s operations
The community, which has more than 500 residents, is worried that neither the government nor advocates have made intervention by checkmating the company’s operations in the area.
A FrontPageAfrica reporter, who visited John Ricks Town, observed that the community does not have a school nor a clinic.
“We are dying in the hands of these Chinese people slowly as a result of the dusts from the rocks they are crushing and blasting here. Whenever they are ready to carry out their blasting, we run into the bushes and hide ourselves until the machine is done blasting the rock. The dusts from the rocks cannot permit us to grow our crops. Anything you plant here will not grow because when the dusts waste on them, they die,” Madam Sarah Swaray, Harrisburg Chairlady, said.
Madam Swaray could not hold back her tears as she explained the severity of the situation to this newspaper.
“Because our Representative, Superintendent, Township Commissioner, District Commissioner and other stakeholders are not living here to experience the situation we are going through that is why they are not taking the situation seriously. There are no benefits. Our houses and livelihoods are being destroyed by the company,” she said.
Many houses in the community have cracks on their walls; at the same time, most homes dubbed of mud have broken down or on the verge of breaking down. The residents blame the situation on the heavy vibration especially from the blast of rock and huge rock crushing equipment.
The dusts from the crushed rocks have changed the color of roofs on many of the homes.
Food crops and other trees in the area have all now being covered with one dusty color, making it difficult for residents in the area to harvest fruits or vegetables.
Health Concerns Heightening
There are also health concerns especially from the dusts that have formed a mist that hangs over the township. Kids can be seen with mucus running down their noses. Strange rashes can also be seen on the skins of people in the area. The residents blame all of their woes on the Chinese company.
Another resident, Ma Korto, called on the county authority to relocate Harrisburg, which has been around for more than a century. She complains that her grandson has become seriously ill because of the air pollution.
“See how the little boy skin is spoiling from the dust; even me, as old as I am. When the chemical within the dust touches my skin, that whole day my skin will itch, what more about this child?
Another resident, Janet Kekula, claims her three-year-old is sick because of the dust.
“Since the operation of Z & C Investment Company, my son has been coughing and experiencing a severe cold,” she claimed.
“When they start blasting, I and my children can go in the bush to hide until they can complete their blasting. The dusts from the site usually cause serious headache for me and my children. Smaller pieces of the blast rocks can fly from the blasting site and hit our houses,” she said.
They told FPA that recently a lady believed to be in her late 70s reportedly went unconscious and later died as a result of the loud blast and or the dust.
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‘Plants Damaged, Water Polluted’
“All of our bananas, plantains, cassavas, potato greens and all of our crops are damaged as a result we are unable to eat any of them. We are confused and don’t even know what to do about this unfortunate situation.”
Janet Kerkulah, 26, is concerned that the water in the area is polluted and that the main water source is contaminated with the dust.
“Our drinking water is polluted. Our crops are damaged and other livelihoods have been damaged, too. It is not easy on us here since the company began its operations in the area; particularly when they began blasting rocks,” she said.
Residents say the company usually alarms a siren before the blast starts.
“Whenever we hear the siren we all will start running to hide ourselves because rocks can be flying like stray bullets. When blasting starts the whole atmosphere can change and get dark with dust. This can last for hours before the place gets clear again for us to come out of our hiding places,” explained another resident.
The company is in the constant habit of not creating any awareness before starting the blasting of rocks, alleged Madam Swaray inasmuch as some admitted that siren usually comes before the blast begins.
“Whenever the Chinese company blasts the rocks, all of our buildings can be shaking. We can get scared like war coming. We are tired of this life because we are living in hell.”
‘Big Hands Behind The Company’
The residents say officials of the company including senior Liberian staffs usually ignore their concerns and say, “The company has big hands behind them so the residents cannot do anything to the company.”
“Any time we talk to the owners of the company including our own Liberians that are working for them, they will always tell us that there are big hands backing the operations of the company.”
The human resource officer of the Z & C Company, who refused to mention his full name after noticing that journalists were inquiring about the situation, insisted the company’s operations are legal.
Only identified as Stanley, the HR confirmed some of concerns of the residents but denied other accounts.
He said the company paid some unspecified sum of money to the residents between 2016 and 2017.
When asked via mobile phone how much was given to each resident, he said disclosing the amount was “not important,” adding that residents have no issue and that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did their inspection and gave the company the green light to operate.
However, the EPA Executive Director, Dr. Nathaniel Blama told FrontPageAfrica that his office has not officially received any complaint from residents in the area concerning the issue.
Dr. Blama, however, promised to immediately dispatch a team to the area to investigate the matter; saying, “If we check and find out that the company is violating the rights of residents through pollution, serious actions will be taken against them,” he said.
Liberia: ‘We’ll Continue to Look into the Matter’
Meanwhile, residents say they have made frantic efforts to get their lawmaker’s attention.
In a letter to Representative Lawrence Morris, a copy of which is in FPA’s possession, they called for the immediate intervention of the EPA, Ministry of Mines & Energy and President George M. Weah to save their lives and save their properties from further destruction.
The letter: “Sir, our lives are ruined, exploited, and made hopeless at the expense of the Z & C Investment Corporation Rock Crusher and we would like for you to visit us and probe into our complaints. If not, we will be swept away.”
Speaking to FPA via phone, Rep. Morris confirmed receipt of the township’s communication.
“They wrote my office and I convened a meeting, we sat with the officials of the area and we promised to go back and we did. Even an MOU was signed that took into consideration all their claims,” he said, while calling for calm and that his office “will continue to look into the matter and find a solution to the problem.”
FPA Reporter Threatened with Arrest
FrontPageAfrica was told by some residents that the land being used by the Chinese was provided by John Ricks, who is a Police officer. Ricks’ family reportedly owns the town. FPA was told that Ricks allegedly takes money from the Chinese in the residents’ behalf in the name of relocating them.
It is also alleged that he recently collected US$10,000 from the Chinese in behalf of the residents and this was allegedly done without the consent of the townspeople.
When John Ricks was contacted for the first time by FrontPageAfrica, he said it was a wrong number that was dialed.
Text: “My name is Edwin of FrontPageAfrica. I am doing a story on Z and C operations in Joe Ricks Community that is allegedly polluting the community with dust and affecting people. We are told you gave the land to the Chinese company and you allegedly took US$10,000 on behalf of the people, can you respond?”
Upon reading the message, Ricks returned a call but threatened to arrest the reporter if he could prove the allegation made by the residents.
“I will arrest you if you ever did that story, that’s how you people can lie, where did you see me taking money from people, anywhere you are I will arrest you so you can come and prove it,” he said and hung off the line.