The Water Side district located on Duport Road Paynesville was a major mass grave site during the war. Nowadays, residents appear to have put the past behind. But each day another skull is dug up, it becomes more and more pressing, according to residents for government or the international community to build a monument or memorial here remember those who lost their lives.
By Rodney D. Sieh
Source:
Front Page Africa
Duport Road, Paynesville -
Clarence Neyor can still remember the horrors. He is reminded each and every day another skull is dug up from the earth. The District Number 6 Duport Road Waterside resident says skulls find is a daily routine for residents in the area.
On a recent weekday, a visitor to the area was in awe as residents gathered around to watch as Chinese engineers grounded pipes to begin the restoration process for pipe-borne running water in the district. Midway in the process, residents were caught in their tracks as skulls from the civil war were dug up from the earth. In the small community at the end of Duport Road, residents here live among the dead, beneath the ground were several makeshift homes are now built are hundreds of bodies. The district was a major mass grave site during the war. Nowadays, residents appear to have put the past behind. But each day another skull is dug up, it becomes more and more pressing, according to residents for government or the international community to build a monument or memorial here remember those who lost their lives. It was the site where one of the first international tragedy occurred, the killing of a relief worker of the United Nations Chidren’s Fund. “His bones are under here somewhere”, says a resident point toward the ground as a stunned bystander looks on.
Neyor, the spokesman for the district says the memories are still fresh: “If you can remember and recall during the 1990 war this place here, the ending point of Duport Road, Water Side was where they had the mass graves”.
Mayepleh Jeffery, who chairs the district says it is important for the government to come to the aid of the community. “We are appealing to the authorities to come here and build a memorial for the people”, she says.
For Neyor, the site where thousands of thousands of human beings were buried is crying for help as the ghosts of war lingers.
According to Neyor, the mass graves redux came to light in recent weeks when as construction workers began working to repair the water system. “The constructors came and is in the process of giving this community here water. Through that they started digging this place here they began to find skulls. So this whole circle you see is a mass grave where people were buried”, says Neyor pointing to another skull. “So we are appealing to our national leaders and those in authority to come and build a memorial just as it is done in Cambodia and other countries.” The people of District Number 6 has spoken, Will the government or some Non-governmental Organization take note?
Everyone is a genius
Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. – A Einstein
Drawing the line in Liberia
Crimes sponsored, committed, or masterminded by handful of individuals cannot be blamed upon an entire nationality. In this case, Liberians! The need for post-war justice is a step toward lasting peace, stability and prosperity for Liberia. Liberia needs a war crimes tribunal or some credible legal forum that is capable of dealing with atrocities perpetrated against defenseless men, women and children during the country's brutal war. Without justice, peace shall remain elusive and investment in Liberia will not produce the intended results. - Bernard Gbayee Goah
Men with unhealthy characters should not champion any noble cause
They pretend to advocate the cause of the people when their deeds in the dark mirror nothing else but EVIL!!
When evil and corrupt men try to champion a cause that is so noble … such cause, how noble it may be, becomes meaningless in the eyes of the people - Bernard Gbayee Goah.
If Liberia must move forward ...
If Liberia must move forward in order to claim its place as a civilized nation amongst world community of nations, come 2017 elections, Liberians must critically review the events of the past with honesty and objectivity. They must make a new commitment to seek lasting solutions. The track records of those who are presenting themselves as candidates for the position of "President of the Republic of Liberia" must be well examined. Liberians must be fair to themselves because results from the 2011 elections will determine the future of Liberia’s unborn generations to come - Bernard Gbayee Goah
What do I think should be done?
The situation in Liberia is Compound Complex and cannot be fixed unless the entire system of government is reinvented.
Liberia needs a workable but uncompromising system that will make the country an asylum free from abuse, and other forms of corruption.
Any attempt to institute the system mentioned above in the absence of rule of law is meaningless, and more detrimental to Liberia as a whole - Bernard Gbayee Goah
Liberia's Natural Resources
Besides land water and few other resources, most of Liberia’s dependable natural resources are not infinite, they are finite and therefore can be depleted.
Liberia’s gold, diamond, and other natural resources will not always be an available source of revenue generation for its people and its government. The need to invent a system in government that focuses on an alternative income generation method cannot be over emphasized at this point - Bernard Gbayee Goah
Liberia needs a proper system
If Liberians refuse to erect a proper system in place that promotes the minimization of corruption and mismanagement of public funds by government institutions, and individuals, there will come a time when the value of the entire country will be seen as a large valueless land suited on the west coast of Africa with some polluted bodies of waters and nothing else. To have no system in place in any country is to have no respect for rule of law. To have no respect for rule of law is to believe in lawlessness. And where there is lawlessness, there is always corruption - Bernard Gbayee Goah
Solving problems in the absence of war talks
As political instability continues to increase in Africa, it has become abundantly clear that military intervention as a primary remedy to peace is not a durable solution. Such intervention only increases insecurity and massive economic hardship. An existing example which could be a valuable lesson for Liberia is Great Britain, and the US war on terror for the purpose of global security. The use of arms whether in peace keeping, occupation, or invasion as a primary means of solving problem has yield only little results. Military intervention by any country as the only solution to problem solving will result into massive military spending, economic hardship, more fear, and animosity as well as increase insecurity. The alternative is learning how to solve problems in the absence of war talks. The objective of such alternative must be to provide real sustainable human security which cannot be achieved through military arm intervention, or aggression. In order to achieve results that will make the peaceful coexistence of all mankind possible, there must be a common ground for the stories of all sides to be heard. I believe there are always three sides to every story: Their side of the story, Our side of the story, and The truth – Bernard Gbayee Goah
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