(February 12, 2011)- Reclaiming Liberia's Beaches And Waterways..
-
“We must transition from a nation with a leading Maritime Program, to a Leading Maritime Nation.” – President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (2008).This vision suggests that Liberia must now start to strategically focus on areas within the maritime sector that either have a direct or tangential maritime impact on the national (and global) economy. It also suggests that we must begin to expand into areas that may seem outside of the prototypical maritime industry.
In short, we must rapidly develop and enhance our domestic maritime sector and ensure that it is the predominant contributor to our GDP.
Liberia has approximately 350 miles of coastal shores, boasts a 200 nautical mile ocean and an enviably large network of inland waterways. The nation has been blessed with an immense maritime resource base yet, sadly, we have failed to establish ourselves as a true maritime nation.
For over sixty years, we have had a very strong Shipping and Corporate Registry program, the undisputable best program in the world, however, we have yet to fully appreciate the coastal resources and the vast biodiversity that exists within our Maritime Domain.
The Liberia Maritime Authority is fully conscious that the first phase of this vision coming to fruition is the cleaning and maintenance of our national heritage that are our beaches and waterways. To tackle this herculean task, the Authority, in partnership with the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), kicked-off the “Reclaiming Liberia’s Beaches and Waterways” project Saturday February 12th at the beachfront communities of Coconut Plantation and South Beach. After a series of town hall meetings and consultations with community leaders, issues hindering the maintenance of the beaches were identified and logistics to address said issues were put in motion. Illegal Sand mining, garbage disposal and the use of beaches as toilets are factors leading to the deterioration of our beaches in these communities. The campaign will extend to all 350 miles of coastline and waterways throughout the country and will employ no less than 5000 Liberians. CLEAN BEACHES= JOBS is the slogan for the campaign; this will be the first time in Liberia that a Government parastatal employs this number of persons in addition to their permanent staff.
Job creation is the one single factor above all others that will make the people of Liberia take ownership of this project. For the clean-up exercise this past Saturday, 400 men and women, (including supervisors and security team members) were selected with their leaders’ input. The Program began with the handing out of tools, which were later donated to the community for maintenance and job creation purposes, and ended with compensation of the community dwellers for their days work. Several options for sustainable waste management are being considered including self contained incinerators for garbage, bio-fill latrines and/or renovating the existing latrines facilities in these communities. Working alongside with MCC the garbage pick-up service which is already in place will be updated. The MCC has been instrumental in implementing logistics and have already contributed industrial size garbage bins towards the project. The process continues with issuing of biometric ID cards for all workers which will facilitate the payment process through a selected bank.
Links
"We have risen to meet monumental challenges while maintaining and improving our services"