How Can Superintendent Brown Ignore The Plight of Shipwreck Victims?

Between 2008 and 2010, four ships wrecked. Most, if not all, of the passengers and victims are Marylanders. And So Maryland’s grief in this specific sense is justified.


Amongst the four wrecked ships, the first ship wrecked in Greenville, Sinoe County (Liberia). And that happened in 2008. In that ship, several persons got wounded and one severely. There was no fatality. A young girl’s toe was chopped off. But for unknown reasons, the young lady who toe got chopped off, disappeared in thin air. Efforts to find her in order to make her claims along with other victims on the Reparation List by the Shipwreck Victims Action Committee, proved futile.



On the ship that wrecked in Sinoe, an elderly lady's three left hand fingers also got chopped off. Ma Eliza Dennis is her name. In the days following the accident, the remnants of her fingers were all hanging on her for a protracted period time. In due course, they rotten. And smelled with a foul scent.



Ma Eliza was taken to the hospital in Sinoe. She had no funds to pay her medical bills. So, she was immediately discharged. The shipowners and the Government were nowhere to be found. Ma Eliza’s children in Monrovia send for her. Had they waited too long, Ma Eliza would have had serious medical problems. Her hand was getting rotten. One of her daughters, who works at the Catholic Hospital in Monrovia, placed her on her Credit at the Hospital for treatment. She was admitted and treated at the Catholic Hospital. The Bill was large. But it was charged on her daughter at the Catholic Hospital. Shipowners and crew members all disappeared. None came back to help the victims.



Prior to Ma Eliza being taken to Catholic Hospital, her fingers were rotten and smelling badly. Her children told me they could not remain in the house with their mother due to the foul odor of her fingers. They had to take a walk every time to get away from the bad smell. It was difficult for them. At this point, their mother’s medical and psychological problems reached an alarming stage. But with God and the help of the Shipwreck Victims Action Committee, the situation improve.



After the treatment, Ma Eliza Dennis returned to Harper City (capital of Maryland County) where she resides. The physical pains had healed. But the pain in the heart lingers on without reparation. And so was the psychological trauma.



Ma Eliza got home in Harper. But the unthinkable happened. Her oldest daughter died. She was forced to deal with the pain. She now had shipwreck pain and death. Her oldest daughter died instantly.

Immediately when she buried her oldest daughter, her youngest son suddenly died a mysterious death in Harper.

Pathologist said the kid died from “heart failure.” But the youths of Harper City disagreed. The kid was thier buddy. The youths claimed the kid was murdered by witchcraft. As a result, the youths took on the streets of Harper in a rampage in the name of their buddy. Violence hit Harper City. Several buildings were torn apart including the Police Station (newly renovated by an international NGO) and the Harper Maximum Prison Compound. As a result, prisoners at the Maximum Prison Compound escaped.



When the youths were contacted, they claimed the Authorities did not pay attention to their case of witchcraft. So they had to do what they did. Whatever they did did not make Ma Eliza’s case easy for her to handle; it made it more difficult. The Government imposed Dust to Dawn curfew. It kept Ma Eliza at home grieving. Her youngest son and oldest daughter's sudden deaths hurt her. Worse of all, Government’s investigation in the sudden death of her youngest son was not satisfactory to her. But she had no other choice but to accept all the misfortunes - the Sinoe shipwreck that severed her fingers making her disabled and the sudden deaths of her oldest daughter and youngest son in the same city.



All members of the Local authority, including Hon. J. GbleBo Brown knew all about Ma Eliza’s sad story. And he helped to work along with her in his capacity as superintendent during the death of Ma Eliza's youngest son.



Ma Eliza met with Hon. Brown.



Elizabeth (the young girl whose 11-year old daughter was crushed to death under the weight of a sugar mill machine) and legs slammed by a huge container, met with Hon. Brown too.



Betsy Seebo (twin baby died in her and her feet were smashed by containers, forced to swallow petrol gas on board when it poured over her while the container sat on her chest. She too, met with Superintendent J. GbleBo Brown.

Many other victims we cannot named here for lack of space and time, met with Hon. Brown, as well, personally.



Today, Hon. Brown claims he has no record and idea of the victims. Notice, several victims and I hand delivered documentations of this effect to his office which receipt he confirmed many times, except now.



In fact, Hon. Brown’s Administrative Assistant, Hon. Daniel Williams and I made series of attempts to complete the documentation. Hon. Williams told me the superintendent’s office had received other documents from other victims when it was aanounced on the community radio. But because of his “busy” schedule, he (Williams) and I never met to complete the work.



Essentially, Hon. Brown’s office is in possession of the documents.



On March 15, 2011, in a Line Ministries’ meeting, Hon. Brown was asked by the Internal Affairs Minister, Hon. Harrison Karnwea, if at all there is any information on the three other ships that wrecked before his (Karnwea’s ship – Havea) wrecked. Surprisingly, Hon. Brown replied to Minister Karnwea that He (brown) has no knowledge about three shipwrecks, except the one of May 30, 2010.



It is rather a shame that both men (Karnwea & Brown) pretend as if they know nothing about the plight of the victims of the three ships.



I bear solemn witness they are aware! The evidence is well and alive!





I am Thomas G. Bedell working and speaking on the ground in Liberia.