MONROVIA – Montserrado County District #16 Representative Dixon Seboe has identified with victims of sea erosion in Lagoon community in the Borough of New Kru Town.
By Danesius Marteh, [email protected], Contributing Writer
Seboe donated 40 pieces of brand new mattresses, 50 bags of rice and start-up cash (totaling US$3,000) to 39 household heads at a brief ceremony in Lagoon on 29 June.
He and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) executive director Wilson Tarpeh toured the affected areas on 27 June.
“Kindly ensure that every family head that is on the list you gave me gets their portion. So I have ensured that every single family head will benefit from the donation,” Seboe told the community chairman.
President George Manneh Weah launched a US$2 million coastal defense project to combat the risks of rising sea levels in New Kru Town and other coastal communities in July 2018.
The project is jointly funded by the Global Environment Facility and Liberian government and implemented through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The coastal add-on project is an approach that is being jointly implemented by the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy, EPA and UNDP with the objective to construct 1,200 meter revetments, also known as sea walls, to control the effect of sea erosion along the New Kru Town coastline.
While apologizing for the destruction caused by nature, the Coalition for Democratic Change lawmaker promised to lobby with the executive to complete the project.
“People will talk negative [things]. You were not responsible for the water to come. I wasn’t responsible. That’s nature. So, these things will happen but what do you do as leaders when these things happened?
“That will make our people to say at least our leader has spoken. This is not about the rice, mattresses or cash. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that this project is completed.
“I will work with the central government to ensure that we complete this project or get something doing. If we don’t do this before October, we will know the impact because October, in most cases, is the highest peak of the erosion,” said Seboe.
Receiving the items and cash, community chairman Joseph T. Dennis thanked Seboe for his time intervention.
“Dixon Seboe has brought relief to his people and we believe that he is a man that can talk it and do it [man of his words]. We appreciate him so much and the government for everything that they are doing for this community.
“We pray that they will complete this project so we can see our children and grandchildren relieve of this mess that is going on. And we are happy that Prof. Tarpeh came to New Kru Town and walked in the water to see the damage done to this community. We know something will happen,” said Dennis.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Ophelia Tarr said: “I want to thank Representative Seboe for what he has done for all of us who were affected by the sea erosion. Let God bless him plenty.”