Nightmare!

Nightmare!

Residents Of Cross River Estate Living Dangerously

The kids descending a foot path over a sizeable body of fresh water live in a community in Soul Clinic, called Cross River Estate in Paynesville. Rainy season has often been terrifying for residents; especially during sustained heavy down pour.

Day and night, residents of this community cross over this narrow plank constructed foot path in search of livelihoods amidst dangers. Narratives from victims of slipping incidents over the foot path pinpoint at injury scars.

“During rainy season, we the residents turn to Firestone workers, because you should have a rain boot to walk anywhere you want to go in the community or else…. I don’t know when we will move from this embarrassment,” said Dew, a resident and classroom teacher.

Situated between two bodies of water, the community is still isolated in terms of major infrastructure development from other communities in Soul Clinic under District #4 in Montserrado County.

As rainy season approaches every year, for fears of flood and dangers posed by the season, renters and some property owners usually migrate to other communities waiting for dry season to come before they return.

Identified alleys of the community have not been graded for road connectivity. Even though employees/ contractors of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) have been seen in the community on a number of occasions doing feasibility study to install light poles, electricity is still far reaching to benefit the residents.

However, before the current rainy season stepped in, it was gathered that Electoral District Four Representative, Michael Thomas, lobbied and secured one Public Works’ excavator to open up the waterway of the stream of Bo River which demarcates the Cross River Estate and Nat. Ballah Community in Soul Clinic.

This move to some extent seems to scantily be controlling the flow of water in the community now unless the recent past. Yet, back-filling the bridge being constructed by Montserrado County Senator Saah Joseph still remains a major stumbling block for vehicles to have access to the community during the rainy season.

In spite of the nightmare confronting the residents, they continue to have hope that the government would see reasons to pay urgent attention to bring relief them.