MONROVIA — The sanitation department of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus (SCJ) is drawing praise from residents, traders and passers-by for its monthly clean-up exercise at the Duport Road Market, where volunteers have been working to improve cleanliness and public hygiene.
By Patience Jones
The exercise, conducted on the first Saturday of each month, has helped give the market and surrounding areas a cleaner appearance, according to traders and community members who spoke during the September 2026 clean-up.
Bobby Pawee, warehouse controller at the Duport Road Market, said the group’s consistent presence has contributed to noticeable changes in the area.
“I have been here since former President George M. Weah’s time and up to the present. Your presence has brought change to the market. The area is clean, and the marketers are following your example daily and joining you every first Saturday,” Pawee said during a brief interview at the market.
Members of the SCJ sanitation team, identifiable by their yellow T-shirts, use brooms, rakes, wheelbarrows and polythene bags to clean the market, surrounding streets and drainage areas leading toward the Rehab Community and Duport Road Waterside.
During the exercise, volunteers work in teams, with some sweeping and clearing drainage while others collect garbage, load it into wheelbarrows and transport it to designated disposal points.
The organized nature of the exercise has attracted the attention of passers-by, some of whom praised the volunteers for maintaining a regular presence without seeking political support or financial contributions.
Anderson Kiazulu, a money exchanger at the market, said he was impressed by the group’s commitment.
“I feel excited seeing you guys every first Saturday cleaning the environment, and especially the market. It is welcoming,” Kiazulu said. “To see a group doing this is very hard. This can happen only during political time. I will be part of the group because I love to render voluntary service.”
Lackage P. Lether, co-chairman of Block 7 in Duport Road Zubah Town, said he initially assumed the group was affiliated with a political organization.
“I am very impressed. I passed by this morning and saw you people cleaning up. I was wondering whether it was a political organization. Someone told me it is a church,” Lether said.
After learning about SCJ’s activities, Lether expressed interest in supporting the group’s community initiatives and said he would share information about its activities with residents in his community.
“I took your number to call when I recharge. I will call you and encourage other people about the church’s activities,” he said.
Lether also said the monthly sanitation exercise was gradually influencing the behavior of marketers, but urged them to take greater responsibility for proper waste disposal.
“The sanitation exercise is becoming part of the marketers’ culture,” he said, while encouraging traders to use trash cans and avoid dumping waste on the streets and within the market.
SCJ’s Volunteer Sanitation Team describes its activities as part of its broader humanitarian and community-service efforts, including sanitation, charity and other volunteer initiatives.
The Duport Road Market exercise is conducted monthly as volunteers continue to encourage traders and residents to participate in maintaining a cleaner environment.
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