An Open e-Letter to President Sirleaf

November 24, 2010

An Open e-Letter to President Sirleaf
PRESIDENT
Republic of Liberia
Executive Mansion, Monrovia, Liberia


Dear Madam President:

I’ll be honest; I didn’t vote for you. And that is because I wasn’t in Liberia during the Election. I was in the US where I currently reside. Now I’m in Liberia. I’m prepared and ready for Election 2011.

Madam President, during the 2005 Election, I campaigned for another candidate. But I did not vote for him. Again, I wasn’t in Liberia. So I did not register to vote. Maybe that would be the reason why you’ll take this epistolary column with a huge grain of salt.

Madam President, during the 2005 Election you portrayed yourself as a candidate of change. I’ve yet to see any change in at least two areas that mostly need a huge amount of change in Maryland County (my Hometown). One of those areas needing a huge amount of change is the Ganta/Harper Highway. The road to Maryland from Monrovia is a DEATH TRAP.

Laughably, your partisans of the Unity Party on the Maryland Congressional Caucus insist they are doing something about it. It is the same Road, during your Campaign speeches you promised Marylanders you would complete upon your election as President of this great Republic. Marylanders gave you their votes and you won. But the Road has yet to be rehabilitated and completed for use. In fact, the bad condition of the Road is responsible for the deaths of Marylanders on the Atlantic Ocean in ships not seaworthy.

The other area is employment. Each time you approved of a corporation to operate in Maryland County, nothing is gained from them. None of those corporations you approved to operate in Maryland has signed a single concession agreement. Interstingly, this is not the case in your Hometown where all the Corporations you approved are giving back to the community. Why should Maryland suffer for no apparent reason?

The Ganta/Harper Highway is being refurbished every now and then. But when the rain comes, it turns into a “Pig” pan and turns into a death trap. Madam President, Marylanders are closed to the deadly Quicksand, aren’t we?

Madam President, I just don’t get it: The Maryland Congressional Caucus is composed of majority Unity Partisans of your ruling Party. Out of 5 Legislators, your Party has four (4). Maryland County is the ONLY county with two of its Senators from the Unity Party. Yet and still Maryland is in the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to development. These Partisans of yours whine about how many Marylanders die and suffer due to bad Road condition. Yet they support the policies of “Do nothing" – which in the first place puts our people in such a deadly situation. Let it be known, these partisans of yours are not doing you any good.

Here’s something else I don’t get: Can you tell me why there are vessels plying our waters that are not seaworthy and continue to kill our citizens and residents without any redress?

Frankly, the Maryland Congressional Caucus of the Unity Party, Maritime Bureau, and Ministry of Transportation all do nothing but support foreign vessels owners to kill our citizens. Otherwise, they would pursue these shipowners to pay reparations to our poor citizens who are mostly women trying to make “ends” meet. That’s really kind of very embarrassing to you. Isn't it?

I’m sure you know who these characters in these Government functionaries are.

These Institutions are no good to our people and are not good to your administration. We Marylanders do not understand why we have to pay such a deadly price when we were the only county in the Southeast to overwhelmingly vote you into office.

Our workers at The Cavalla Rubber Company are being terrorized by white and sometimes black managers. And the Ministry of Labor sits by supinely watching our citizens suffer.

The administration of Charles Taylor granted several rubber companies freedom to slaughter our people’s economic interest. From one company to another, our people are being used like prostitutes and they do not benefit from their natural endowment – the land God gave them. To date, our citizens who have being declared “redundant” are slowly but surely dying. The Labor Ministry has been investigating year-in-year-out. And there has not been any result of their "investigation". Why?

Madam President, here’s another case: you set up a team to investigate and/or probe all other recent ship catastrophes in Maryland. According to you, the report was expected in June, 2010. We are now in December, 2010. Six (6) months later, no report has been made to us yet. What are they probing? Nuclear energy?

Madam President, our women who are victims of all the shipwrecks have their investment resting deep in the belly of the Atlantic Ocean with no reparation. Each time they hear that you are coming to Maryland they dance with joy. Soon their joy turns into disappointment. Because you have postponed your visit more than thrice. When are you coming to see our women, Madam President? If you do not come over very soon, most of them might be reduced to nothing and some might be dead. Currently, they are completely out of business. Their businesses are completely shut down.

Madam President we heard you are deciding to pay reparation ONLY to the victims of the most recent shipwreck (Havea)? If this is true, you will be very unfair to those women who continue to sing praises to your name to rescue them from banks that are trying to seize their properties. I know the recent ship that wrecked on May 31, 2010 belongs to one of your Cabinet Ministers (Hon. Harrison Karnwea). By placing him on the "Investigating" team you set in place a conflict of interest. Madam President, I hope this is not true what we are hearing – to pay one ship and ignore the rest. Because many of these women will cry out on to the Heavens. And God will hear them!

Is this the kind of change you were talking about Madam President when you ran for the office of President in 2005? I hope not. Because Marylanders are dying by the minute!

Isn’t it time we dropped this whole gbleh-belee-gbleh about PRS? Isn’t it time we stopped saying we are dedicated to Poverty Reduction Strategy when most, if not all, of our women and the rest of the citizenry wobbles in the corridor of despair and helplessness? Wouldn’t you agree, Madam President, the state is not protecting its citizens. And to say anything in the opposite is pathologically insane?

If you really were the president of change, you would change this madness; You would ask The Bureau of Maritime to serve a moratorium on vessels that are not sea worthy to save the lives of our citizens, mostly our women; You would order the vessels owners to pay reparation to our women whose investments, lives and families have been wiped out in a twinkle of an eye.
Madam President, Maryland County is heading into the oblivion with an economic whoosh!

Please do something, RIGHT NOW!

With great respect and Godspeed!

Your obedient servant,

Thomas G. Bedell/Social Justice Advocate/Chair/Shipwreck Victims Action Committee