Monrovia – As part of exercises geared towards giving Monrovia a facelift for the July 26 celebration, the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) on Saturday, July 7 carried out a massive cleanup campaign in several parts of Monrovia and its environs.
Report by Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
The campaign was headed by Monrovia City Mayor, Jefferson Koijee and the Assistant Minister for Correction and Rehabilitation at the Ministry of Justice, Eddie Tawalie.
The youthful officials were followed by group of MCC and MOJ staff and volunteers, along with 16 inmates from the Monrovia Central Prison.
Most part of the exercise was centered in the industrial zone on the Somalia Drive where Mayor Koijee and the team visited several residents and businesses including CEMENCO, the Slaughter House at Cow Factory and the Premier Milling Company as well as the Sockton Creek dumpsite.
These firms have been accused of polluting the environment over the years.
At one point, Koijee himself was seen with the whipper (grass cutter) cutting grass at the Stockton Creek dumpsite.
He called on administrators and owners of businesses and residents to clean their respective areas.
Giving hope to inmates
Sixteen inmates were part of the exercise. Addressing the inmates after the exercise at the MCC Sub-Station at UN Drive, Mayor Koijee encouraged them to be hopeful and act accordingly as they serve their prison terms.
He noted that because the Monrovia Central Prison falls within the bailiwick of Monrovia, the MCC will form a collaboration with the MOJ through the office of Assistant Minister Tawalie to launch a rehabilitation program for the inmates.
He called on the inmates to be inspired by the success stories of President George M. Weah and other present and past officials who grew up from the slumps under disadvantaged circumstances and were able to rise at the top to play a significant role in society.
Said Mayor Koijee: “When you go back into your respective cells, reflect in your mind that it is not over. You can still have another chance. We are going to create a working relationship with the Monrovia Central Prison to have you rehabilitated so that when you are given the opportunity to get back in the community, you will come out with skills.”
Also speaking, the Assistant Minister for Correction and Rehabilitation at the Ministry of Justice, Eddie Tawalie assured the inmates, especially those with fewer sentences of helping them become useful citizens when they regain their freedom.
Tawalie said that in line with the Bureau of Correction’s rehabilitation and reintegration program, the inmates will be accorded parole and probation services.
“The essence of imprisonment is not just to keep you at the correction facilities. For us we believe that whenever you fall short of the legal standing with the law, it is our duty to rehabilitate you, correct you and make you a useful person for the society,” Tawalie said.
Speaking further, he disclosed that there are inmates with basic skills who will be completing their prison terms shortly and pleaded with Major Koijee to provide job opportunities for them upon their release to discourage them from returning to their ugly past.
He thanked President Weah for giving the young people the opportunity to serve their country and at the same time call for more support to the Bureau of Correction, adding that “we need a capacity of equilibrium where the police are capacitated, the Court is capacitated, and the correction facility is capacitated.”