I am in Harper City right now as I opine this Article. I am here because I came to help make President Sirleaf’s visit to Maryland County grand. The last time, I am told, her visit was not well-handled by those in charge. Few persons missed their assignments. So food was served late. Protocol was behind time. Chairs were not in their proper places. And all the other good things that make a President’s visit grand were a little bit off track. And so this time, I came to help make it better. Marylanders have pride. I know this. And so I’m under obligation to make it better for them. After all was said and done, the occasion was proclaimed “very successful.” The President was happy. Marylanders were happy. I too was happy! And everything was over. So the President left town. She proceeded to Grand Gedeh. But I remained in Harper. I wanted to stick around and get a feeling of how things were evolving in the community. Then the case of ritualistic killing came about. I was compelled me to stick around more. I wanted to see this case to the end.
I saw the case of ritualistic killing in the 70s. That time I was in Harper. I saw the the arrests; I witnessed the prosecution and execution of those who were considered “guilty” in the 70s on the gallow.
I was very young then. So I did not have the experience and academic education that I have today to make any sound judgment. This time, I consider it an opportunity to be here. I can compare notes of both cases and see what most likely went wrong in the 70s and what could go wrong again this time. But as it has always been during my working visit to Liberia, all kind of serious issues erupted just when I was ready to leave Harper. These sorts of happenings always caught me in an awkward position.
Here is one:
On April 21, 2010, I was on my way to complete a Proposal that I’m writing at an Internet café. This café is sponsored by the Catholic nongovernmental organization called, Caritas. On my way, I noticed in the middle of the streets sits scattered asbestos. A piece of zinc fell from the top of the building. And next thing I come to know, asbestos is everywhere in the streets.
See, the prior night, there was wind. It was strong as a bull. It blew so hard, tree branches came breaking like Popsicle sticks. As an Occupational Safety/Health expert, the presence of asbestos immediately captured my attention. I knew right away what was going on. I knew this was a question of life and death! And so I got concerned. I left my Proposal project and began to find the EPA, UNMIL civil affairs offices as well as the City Corporation and Local government. And this is where I found myself in a Those-see-partner- way kind of dance. The UNMIL civil affairs office was closed. When I asked where they were, the security told me they went to a seminar at the City Hall. So I went to the City Hall. I didn’t see them. And no one knew where the UNMIL civil affairs employees were. Somebody said, “They gone to drink some beers, somewhere around the block!” I laughed and the person too laughed. Then I passed on. I went to the Superintendent’ s office. I asked for him. The man behind the desk said the Supt went home. This was around 2pm Liberian standard Time. I asked if he could call the Supt for me. My phone was not with me. It was on charge at a booth Downtown. See, when your cell phone battery runs down and you are not home, you send it to a charging booth. Cause there’s no 24-7 electricity.
The fella in the Supt office told me he couldn’t call the Supt. Why? He told me because he did not have credits on his phone to call. See, cell phones in Liberia are mostly prepaid. So if you run out of credit, unless you purchased more credit, you cannot call out. This was the fella’s condition. So I asked him to beep the Supt. You can ONLY beep a person if you have few cents on your cell. But the fella told me the Supt told them never to beep him. So, he could not help me. Well, I asked him to direct me to the EPA’s office. He did. I knocked on the door. The EPA County coordinator let me in. I presented the asbestos situation. It was in the streets. Cars, including UNMIL vehicles, were running all over it as if it poses no harm to the human person. I impressed upon him how serious this is. While responding to me, I noticed he’s a soft-talking man. He tried to thank me. It took so long to let out his word, I lost patience. The asbestos was in the air already. And the more the asbestos got in the air, the worse it became for all of us including the EPA coordinator and the UNMIL staff. Soon he realized I was inpatient. I wanted immediate attention. So he quit thanking me. He thought we go to the site for him to see the asbestos. I got a bit upset and asked him to join me find UNMIL civil affairs staff. In my mind, these people (UNMIL) understand more about asbestos than the man I was talking to. And the fact that their lives (UNMIL) are also involved in the situation, they would take immediate action. The EPA coordinator agreed. We went to the seminar. He entered. I did not. I told him I would remain outside waiting for him. Soon when he entered, he surprised me. He took a seat. I started tripping. I began to act like a traffic man. I began waving my hands trying to call his attention. He looked and he came over to me. I asked what he thought he was doing. He asked me to wait for the seminar to end. Because by so doing, we can get the UNMIL staff. This was his idea. I rejected it. I went downstairs to find the City Mayor. She wasn’t in her office. I went to the Assistant Supt for Development’s office. She too wasn’t in. Just when I was getting weary and trying to walk out of the City Hall, I saw the Assistant Supt driving in front of the City Hall. I stopped and approached her. I explained the same thing. Then I I’m reminded she too is a soft-talking person. As she was talking, I walked behind her until we got in her office. She was just in jail for falsely being accused of ritualistic killing. And so, her spirit was a bit down. When we got in her office, she asked me what I wanted her to do. I asked her to contact the EPA Coordinator. She did. The Coordinator came to her office. She asked him to check out the situation and take appropriate action. The Coordinator asked me to follow him. We headed downstairs. As we got down, I saw a white girl. In my mind, she should be working for one of these international nongovernmental organizations or UN. I stopped her. I told her what I saw and the help that is needed. You know what she told me? “I work for the Carter Center. I cannot help you!. That’s when it clicked my mind, either she had no clue what asbestos does to the human person or she was just being insensitive to the wellbeing of the people in the area. Or she is just dumb! Whatever the case may be, I know we all were in danger. And something needed to be done ASAP!
The Coordinator came over and asked me what the white girl said. I told him what she said. Then he giggled! He told me his sad experience with white folks in these kinds of situations. We took off to the spots where the asbestos was. At the first spot, I showed him. At the second spot, I showed him. Then he alarmed at the second spot. It was a good amount of asbestos. And it was scattered. He stopped his motor bike. I got off and he did. Next thing I know, he was talking with the owners of the house where the asbestos came from. He asked them to remove it. As an expert, I knew it was wrong to ask ordinary persons to remove asbestos. But there was nothing he could do. His office has no equipment and trained staff. He did what he could do to ask the house owner to remove the asbestos from the street. The person he was talking to is a kid I used to know during my formative days in Harper. But the kid is grown now. He’s a landlord. This guy was laughing at the Coordinator as he explained to him the danger of asbestos. The guy wanted to know why the Coordinator was so concerned of removing the asbestos. In fact, why was the coordinator saying he (landlord) should wet the asbestos prior to removing it? It wasn’t sounding right to him. It was sounding funny to him. So he kept laughing. That’s when I jumped in. I re-emphasized what the Coordinator was saying. The fella anxiously asked, “Is this that serious?” I said, “Yes!” He looked me hard in the eye for a second and then tried to change his attitude towards the Coordinator. He tried to make an effort to work with the Coordinator. While he and the Coordinator were talking, I left. I had some things to attend to. On my way out, I began to convict myself on the inside. And this is what I was saying to myself on the inside, “I am an occupational safety/health expert. But Here I am, I can do nothing besides complain to the Government about asbestos sitting in the streets for several hours. But like the Coordinator, what could I do other than bring this to the attention of the Authority? Virtually nothing! This is the kind of danger we face every day in Liberia.
The next day I discovered something worrisome. The Coordinator himself did not take the asbestos issue seriously as he impressed upon me. How I know? Previously, he told me the asbestos in the streets was finally swept away. When I got in the area to check, asbestos was still everywhere in the front of Methodist Church. I asked him why? He said the Church promised to sweep it. But the Church did not. Then something clicked my mind. His motor bike ate up my shoes. The bike is so old and faulty it has no foot-rest. So while riding with him to the location of the asbestos, my shoes got caught in the spooks. And it ate up the back of my shoes. I showed him my shoes. When he looked at my shoes, he just smiled as if I should have known this is Liberia and that’s how things go. As a soft-talking man, he talked as if he’s nonchalant. But I believe he means well. I suspect because of the lack of national support and involvement in the Environment, he feels helpless.
As I opine this article, asbestos is still flying in the streets of Downtown Harper. Evidently, tens and tens of our citizens including UNMIL staff, local government and myself have by now inhaled airborne asbestos. Who knows? Only God knows what’s going to happen and for how long!
I am Thomas G. Bedell writing from on the ground in Liberia!
Here is one:
On April 21, 2010, I was on my way to complete a Proposal that I’m writing at an Internet café. This café is sponsored by the Catholic nongovernmental organization called, Caritas. On my way, I noticed in the middle of the streets sits scattered asbestos. A piece of zinc fell from the top of the building. And next thing I come to know, asbestos is everywhere in the streets.
See, the prior night, there was wind. It was strong as a bull. It blew so hard, tree branches came breaking like Popsicle sticks. As an Occupational Safety/Health expert, the presence of asbestos immediately captured my attention. I knew right away what was going on. I knew this was a question of life and death! And so I got concerned. I left my Proposal project and began to find the EPA, UNMIL civil affairs offices as well as the City Corporation and Local government. And this is where I found myself in a Those-see-partner- way kind of dance. The UNMIL civil affairs office was closed. When I asked where they were, the security told me they went to a seminar at the City Hall. So I went to the City Hall. I didn’t see them. And no one knew where the UNMIL civil affairs employees were. Somebody said, “They gone to drink some beers, somewhere around the block!” I laughed and the person too laughed. Then I passed on. I went to the Superintendent’ s office. I asked for him. The man behind the desk said the Supt went home. This was around 2pm Liberian standard Time. I asked if he could call the Supt for me. My phone was not with me. It was on charge at a booth Downtown. See, when your cell phone battery runs down and you are not home, you send it to a charging booth. Cause there’s no 24-7 electricity.
The fella in the Supt office told me he couldn’t call the Supt. Why? He told me because he did not have credits on his phone to call. See, cell phones in Liberia are mostly prepaid. So if you run out of credit, unless you purchased more credit, you cannot call out. This was the fella’s condition. So I asked him to beep the Supt. You can ONLY beep a person if you have few cents on your cell. But the fella told me the Supt told them never to beep him. So, he could not help me. Well, I asked him to direct me to the EPA’s office. He did. I knocked on the door. The EPA County coordinator let me in. I presented the asbestos situation. It was in the streets. Cars, including UNMIL vehicles, were running all over it as if it poses no harm to the human person. I impressed upon him how serious this is. While responding to me, I noticed he’s a soft-talking man. He tried to thank me. It took so long to let out his word, I lost patience. The asbestos was in the air already. And the more the asbestos got in the air, the worse it became for all of us including the EPA coordinator and the UNMIL staff. Soon he realized I was inpatient. I wanted immediate attention. So he quit thanking me. He thought we go to the site for him to see the asbestos. I got a bit upset and asked him to join me find UNMIL civil affairs staff. In my mind, these people (UNMIL) understand more about asbestos than the man I was talking to. And the fact that their lives (UNMIL) are also involved in the situation, they would take immediate action. The EPA coordinator agreed. We went to the seminar. He entered. I did not. I told him I would remain outside waiting for him. Soon when he entered, he surprised me. He took a seat. I started tripping. I began to act like a traffic man. I began waving my hands trying to call his attention. He looked and he came over to me. I asked what he thought he was doing. He asked me to wait for the seminar to end. Because by so doing, we can get the UNMIL staff. This was his idea. I rejected it. I went downstairs to find the City Mayor. She wasn’t in her office. I went to the Assistant Supt for Development’s office. She too wasn’t in. Just when I was getting weary and trying to walk out of the City Hall, I saw the Assistant Supt driving in front of the City Hall. I stopped and approached her. I explained the same thing. Then I I’m reminded she too is a soft-talking person. As she was talking, I walked behind her until we got in her office. She was just in jail for falsely being accused of ritualistic killing. And so, her spirit was a bit down. When we got in her office, she asked me what I wanted her to do. I asked her to contact the EPA Coordinator. She did. The Coordinator came to her office. She asked him to check out the situation and take appropriate action. The Coordinator asked me to follow him. We headed downstairs. As we got down, I saw a white girl. In my mind, she should be working for one of these international nongovernmental organizations or UN. I stopped her. I told her what I saw and the help that is needed. You know what she told me? “I work for the Carter Center. I cannot help you!. That’s when it clicked my mind, either she had no clue what asbestos does to the human person or she was just being insensitive to the wellbeing of the people in the area. Or she is just dumb! Whatever the case may be, I know we all were in danger. And something needed to be done ASAP!
The Coordinator came over and asked me what the white girl said. I told him what she said. Then he giggled! He told me his sad experience with white folks in these kinds of situations. We took off to the spots where the asbestos was. At the first spot, I showed him. At the second spot, I showed him. Then he alarmed at the second spot. It was a good amount of asbestos. And it was scattered. He stopped his motor bike. I got off and he did. Next thing I know, he was talking with the owners of the house where the asbestos came from. He asked them to remove it. As an expert, I knew it was wrong to ask ordinary persons to remove asbestos. But there was nothing he could do. His office has no equipment and trained staff. He did what he could do to ask the house owner to remove the asbestos from the street. The person he was talking to is a kid I used to know during my formative days in Harper. But the kid is grown now. He’s a landlord. This guy was laughing at the Coordinator as he explained to him the danger of asbestos. The guy wanted to know why the Coordinator was so concerned of removing the asbestos. In fact, why was the coordinator saying he (landlord) should wet the asbestos prior to removing it? It wasn’t sounding right to him. It was sounding funny to him. So he kept laughing. That’s when I jumped in. I re-emphasized what the Coordinator was saying. The fella anxiously asked, “Is this that serious?” I said, “Yes!” He looked me hard in the eye for a second and then tried to change his attitude towards the Coordinator. He tried to make an effort to work with the Coordinator. While he and the Coordinator were talking, I left. I had some things to attend to. On my way out, I began to convict myself on the inside. And this is what I was saying to myself on the inside, “I am an occupational safety/health expert. But Here I am, I can do nothing besides complain to the Government about asbestos sitting in the streets for several hours. But like the Coordinator, what could I do other than bring this to the attention of the Authority? Virtually nothing! This is the kind of danger we face every day in Liberia.
The next day I discovered something worrisome. The Coordinator himself did not take the asbestos issue seriously as he impressed upon me. How I know? Previously, he told me the asbestos in the streets was finally swept away. When I got in the area to check, asbestos was still everywhere in the front of Methodist Church. I asked him why? He said the Church promised to sweep it. But the Church did not. Then something clicked my mind. His motor bike ate up my shoes. The bike is so old and faulty it has no foot-rest. So while riding with him to the location of the asbestos, my shoes got caught in the spooks. And it ate up the back of my shoes. I showed him my shoes. When he looked at my shoes, he just smiled as if I should have known this is Liberia and that’s how things go. As a soft-talking man, he talked as if he’s nonchalant. But I believe he means well. I suspect because of the lack of national support and involvement in the Environment, he feels helpless.
As I opine this article, asbestos is still flying in the streets of Downtown Harper. Evidently, tens and tens of our citizens including UNMIL staff, local government and myself have by now inhaled airborne asbestos. Who knows? Only God knows what’s going to happen and for how long!
I am Thomas G. Bedell writing from on the ground in Liberia!
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