Monrovia – Victims of the two communities recently affected by flood disaster in the St. Paul Bridge community are complaining about the economic difficulties they are facing due to flooding.
Report by Willie N. Tokpah/[email protected]
The two communities, Whea Town and Crab-Hole are out of food and other basic necessities in the aftermath of recent flooding according to residents.
Residents in the area complained of losing most of their valuables to thieves who raided homes after the floods hit, mainly under the guise of trying to aid victims.
Although no fatalities have been experienced so far, residents fear experiencing similar situation faced by the residents of Joe-Blow Town in Margibi County where residents lost their lives in a flood disaster.
Residents say the flooding is hindering normal economic activities in the area and keeping students from going to school while hampering commercial activities.
Most of their children are said to be out of school while market women are unable to sell their goods thus creating starvation for residents in the two communities.
Martha Zuo, a resident lamented the need for assistance to ease their conditions which have become unbearable.
Says Zuo: “The Water is disturbing us; no food and place for us to sleep. Our children are not going.
We want government to open the town hall so that some of us who don’t have sleeping places can sleep there until the water gets dry”.
Two institutions badly affected by the flood disaster are the Early World Daycare School and the Bishop Lewis Elementary and Junior High School.
Obediah Guayeah, Principal of the Bishop Lewis Elementary and Junior High School terms the situation as dreadful to the educational status of students since it had created a crackdown in their 2016/2017 academic calendar despite the beginning of school year.
“Most of the students are in different places and are unable to get to school because water is all over the place.
Some of the kids are smaller and in fact, water has entered our school building”, Guayeah said.
Moreover, the residents explain that the flood situation has created health hazard for many inhabitants and there are hitches in leaving their homes to health centers because water has now overshadowed houses situated within the community belt.
Mr. Peter K. Saydee, the Chairman of Whea Town Community, says the flood situation in the St. Paul Bridge Community has been wreaking havoc for some ten years and remains a major concern for them.
Chairman Saydee noted that the flood has posed serious embarrassment for the residents since the beginning of September, 2016 affecting thousands of residents in the community.
“We suffer this flood nearly ten years. They water comes and stay with us for two weeks and this flood situation started since September and had not gone down”, Saydee registered.
He explained that some residents whose homes were affected have vacated the community while others have been left with no choice but to reside with relatives and friends in nearby communities.
The Whea Town Community Chairman admitted that his community has been receiving some donations of food items from outstanding residents including Pastor Whea and Bishop P. Manasseh Conto.
Mr. Saydee stated that people are being forced to use Canoes to get across the flooded region into other communities, a process he termed as untimely.
This year’s flood he maintained is very critical compared to previous years as he urges the government and its agencies responsible to do a feasibility study in a bid to curb future flooding disasters.
“This is the first year that the flood has spent longer time. In previous years it comes and within few days, calms down but this year, the situation is confusing”.
For his part, Crab-Hole Community Youth Chair Charles Chebo described the situation as devastating owing to the fact that it has denied community dwellers from leaving their homes.
“It’s frustrating and we are trying our best to see how best eminent citizens living in the St. Paul Bridge Community and District 16 at large can come to our aid”, said Chebo.
Speaking when he received a donation of food items including 20 bags of rice from the Bishop of the Mission for Today Holy Church, Pastor Manasseh Conto, and the Crab-hole youth chair termed as timely the donation as he made a passionate plea for more food for the flood victims.
The clergyman explained that two houses had already being broken down by the flood, a situation that is posing serious risks to the entire community. “Bishop Conto, we want to say in this manner thank you for your concern.”
Bishop Conto has meanwhile described the situation as saddened and a natural phenomenon which needs quick impact release assistance for residence of the two affected community.
He expressed frustration over the effect the flood has caused for students in the area as he made a plea to the district leadership to open the town hall for residents and students to move in.
“It is saddened that people of Whea Town are sleeping on the streets and over cars in the night because they cannot go back to their homes, so we have come to identify with you people and we will come back to walk into the communities and see what you are going through,” Bishop Conto noted.