Residents of Ducor Community up Broad Street in Monrovia, are reportedly suffering, “because they lacked safe drinking water.”
The situation has threatened their survival, some of the residents told In profile Daily, on Tuesday, June 7.
In spite of the presence of facility installed by the Liberia Water and Sewer Cooperation (LWSC), residents have complained that the Corporation’s supplies only two households out of the almost 30-40 thousand householders.
The situation, they said, makes it difficult for them to access safe drinking water.
“We are not even sure about the safety of the rain water, and the small amount we can access up here for human consumption, because it comes through the water tank that supplies the community.”
Some of them said, sources of the water are the nearby tankers, which they use for cooking and washing.
One of the residents, Jerry Sumo said, the idea of purchasing water at L$40 per gallon (depending on the numbers of a family-size)
Mr. Sumo said, purchasing water from the tankers is associated with endangering their lives, or has the ability to create health hazard for them.
He added that water store in the tankers have odor, thus which the scent worsening the crisis.
They have meanwhile, appealed to government to bring relief and sanity to them in the Ducor Community.
The community is chaired by Amos Dolo, who was out during Tuesday’s interview.
As of Tuesday, Ducor Community sits in ruins. Perched atop Ducor Hill, this abandoned property, is heavily dilapidated, lacking interior fixtures, and features hazardous open elevator shafts.
While it is guarded and officially closed, tourists can sometimes access the grounds for a fee to view the panoramic Atlantic views.
Key Details on Its Current Condition
The building is gutted and decayed. Vegetation has literally consumed the exterior, and rebuilding the community is often compared to a “Chernobyl-like” restoration due to the severe lack of maintenance.
Inaugurated in 1960, it was West Africa’s first international five-star hotel, hosting foreign dignitaries, international leaders and royalties.
The hotel was forced to close in 1989 at the onset of the civil wars. It subsequently became a heavily looted shelter for displaced locals, and the situation has remained so for environmental concern in the entire surrounding communities.
