Maryland is totally cut off from Liberia-Sign of impending Independence?

Well, I have been in Liberia for three years, I am residing in the US. I came here to help in the Reconstruction effort. The Country has been destroyed during a 14-year generalized anarchy of violence. So instead of blaming each other for the destruction, I thought I come in and make my contribution to Reconstruction. All along I have been visiting Maryland off-and-on. Before this current visit that I’m on now in the County, the longest that I have stayed in Maryland is one month and-the-half. This time I have been here for close to eight months. In February I came to help with President Sirleaf’s visit. She came to induct into office the president of The Tubman University, Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Russell. As soon as President Sirleaf left, I was on my way out when the news of ritualistic killing broke out. In no time, something happened. And that thing that happened is what I refer to as arbitrary arrest. I noticed a lot of people were listed on a sheet. And that particular sheet rotated around town several days prior to the arrests. As soon as the dragnet was launched and all of those who were on the List were arrested through a juju man “mojo,” I got deeply concerned. Immediately, I got involved in the call for the immediate release of the detainees.

Please hear me!

I am not demanding the immediate release of the detainees because I think they did not do what they have been accused of. I'm calling for their immediate release because I have no way of knowing if they did or didn’t do what they have been accused of. But the manner in which the arrest was done, made me uncomfortable. I have seen this sort of arrest before in this same Maryland (Harper to be précise).

At the time that I saw this sort of arrest at first, I was too young to know the difference. Today I have the requisite education, experience and exposure to see things differently in a rather sophisticated way. So I decided to stick around in Maryland until the end of all this came along. Because by the end of it all, I will be able to know what may have gone wrong in 1977 and what went wrong now.

So my visit that was intended for a week changed to becoming more than five months. I never complained. Because what I would learn from all this would benefit a lot of people who were in doubt including those who were arrested on cardboard box evidence.

While working on the issue of arbitrary arrest, another ship wrecked. And this particular ship that wrecked did so on the doorstep of the port of Harper. This time, the tension was high in the County amongst the common people, especially women. Several women had their goods on board that particular vessel. ( I think they called the vessel “Havea”).

As a result of the wreck, the women investment went deep in the belly of the Atlantic Ocean. This shipwreck issue was not the first time; It was not the second time; It wasn’t the third time; It wasn’t the fourth time; This shipwreck situation had been going on since 2004. And these women and business people had been on the losing side of things that long. And there has been no reparation.

Besides losing their investments, Marylanders lost lives of love ones including men, women and children. Some died in the wrecks. Up to now, the Government has not provided the exact number of citizens and residents who died on board those wrecked vessels.

The Government for some unknown reasons has not done anything to compensate these victims at all. As a result, there is economic hardship in the County. There’s gnashing of teeth across the County. Men, women and children are weeping! There’s no milk, salt, sugar and other basic needed goods on the shelves in shops across the County. Each time these women placed their goods on board each of those wrecked vessels from Monrovia to Maryland, the vessels would sink. The people of Maryland could no longer bear this. Therefore, in order to send a strong message to the Government of Liberia, we set up a 3-day Mass Protest Demonstration. It was the largest, most peaceful, most responsible, nonviolent and most focused Demonstration in most recent time in Maryland County, in fact Liberia as a whole.

Immediately President Sirleaf sent her officials of government to talk to us. The entire County was shut down for exactly three days. We made Demands: If the Ganta/Harper Highway is not paved and non Seaworthy vessels are not halted from plying our waters and killing our citizens among a host of other issues, Marylanders will refuse to pay taxes to National government, and refuse to partake in the Election of 2010. More so, Marylanders will recall all its congressional representatives from Monrovia permanently.

When the President heard this, she placed a cell phone call and asked us to withdraw our DEMANDS! We agreed on grounds she comes to Maryland in order to understand the plight of the women and business people. She promised to come to Maryland. Up to the moment we speak (four months later), she has not arrived.

Her officials arrived in Maryland. Shamefully, they came by way of Ivory Coast. Why? Because there’s no way to get to Maryland. The Ganta/Harper Highway is completely cutoff. A driving distance that used to take one day now takes two weeks or little more. Business women cannot sit and wait for their goods for that long. If one is lucky to have his or her goods arrive in Maryland by road, 75% becomes "damaged goods."

Some commercial drivers use this situation to rob the women. They lie to the women that because their vehicles stuck in the mud, thieves stole the goods of the women. The business women again become the losers. They are caught between the proverbial scissors - they cannot go to court or just leave alone the matter. It takes too much time to find the driver. And then when the driver is found, it takes ever so long to go through the court process. In the end, the women still remain the victims. Evidently, there’s no redress, no compensation for the many losses the women go through.

Due to the condition of the Road, business women find other ways to beat around the problem by going through the Ivory Coast to purchase their goods. At least, it is closer and the Ivoirians keep their roads in good shape.

Then the other obstacle becomes the Cavalla River. It swells to overflow. All traffic along the River is shut down. Now the women cannot go to Monrovia; they also cannot go to the Ivory Coast. Vessels they used to ride to come to Maryland are now sitting deep in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean due to the many wrecks.

The Aero Port which is another way to get to Maryland, is completely under the control of The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). And UNMIL does not allow a single citizen who is not an employee of its staff to fly to and from Maryland on their aircrafts. In essence, the Aero Port is HANDS-OFF and OFF-LIMITS to the citizens!

All this being considered, Marylanders cannot get to Maryland by road. They cannot get to Maryland by air (UNMIL won’t allow them). They cannot get to Maryland by sea. All the vessels besides UNMIL’s vessel, are not seaworthy. All are rotten and they all stink! Essentially, Marylanders are locked in Maryland and cannot get out. And this is uncomfortable!

Each time I go to the General Market, all I hear from the market women is for us to be independent of Liberia. Because if we cannot go to Monrovia by car, air plane and ship, then we are not part of Liberia. If we can only get our food and goods from the Ivory Coast, then we might as well join the Ivory Coast or be alone and trade with Ivory Coast. All of these are signs of desperation and frustration being experienced by Marylanders in Liberia.

All indications are, President Sirleaf will not come to Maryland soon. Maybe she won’t come at all! Maybe by the time she decides to get here, most if not all, of the business women, will have left Maryland looking for “Greener Pasteur" or maybe dead and buried from the frustration.

School fees, rent, and unpaid loans are taking a toll on the women. The banks are running after them to seize their homes that they used as collateral. If Maryland will remain an active part of the Republic of Liberia, this Government has to take serious steps in reconnecting the County to the Country.

The Liberian government has to provide some level of reparation for the women in order to begin their businesses afresh or nothing less than independence will be sought.

This is not something I am saying as an individual. This is what the common people are saying in the market, in the church, in the streets and just everywhere in the County.

All in all, this is what life feels like living in Maryland County in this day and age.

I am Thomas G. Bedell, I speak and work on the ground in Liberia