WHEN PRESIDENT ELLEN Johnson Sirleaf announced to the nation months ago that ‘things would be tough’, little did many Liberians understand the implication. PRESIDENT SIRLEAF’S STATEMENT may have been in consonance with the down-scaling operations of some of the concession companies many thought were very viable to resurrect and stimulate country’s economic growth and development.

Latest statistics from Liberian Health Ministry authorities put the number of people succumbing to the deadly Ebola virus in the country at 2,700 out of a total of about 5000 in the West African sub region. Despite the huge death toll, the disease may appear to be gradually vanishing even though only syndromic treatment is being administered in the absence of a cure.

Liberian health workers are fully back at health facilities, despite the inability of the government to meet its financial obligations to them. Their return also followed numerous appeals from a number of high profile individuals and institutions, including the World Health Organization or WHO. The government had earlier promised to pay health workers hazard salaries and death benefits, beginning September this, but to no avail.

The Liberian Government, through the Liberia Electricity Corporation or LEC, continues to exert all efforts to restore electricity to the country, especially the Monrovia and its environs.

There is no society the world-over that can boast of being crimes-free, even though some have the necessary mechanisms in place from control and prevent. Liberia may not be a separate case, but the necessary control and preventive strategies may be weak, if not lacking among institutions charged with the responsibilities to fight crimes.

Whether or not the deadly Ebola virus disease is eradicated, there is an uncompromising possibility for the holding of the Mid Term Senatorial Election in Liberia before the end of the year. Even though the National Elections Commission or NEC is continuing its consultations with electoral stakeholders in the country, indications are that its recommended date of December 16, 2014 for the conduct of the election will indeed stand.

As the Ebola nightmare continues in Liberia and as we battle to contain the epidemic, it is important to look beyond the immediate crisis. Many more lives will be lost before this dreadful outbreak is beaten, but to properly honor the memory of the victims we need to ask how it happened in the first place and, more pressingly, how we can prevent it from happening again.

When former Superintendent Grace Kpan of Montserrado County launched a program to raid the streets of Monrovia and its environs of teenage street sellers, the efforts may have been misinterpreted and politicized by some Members of the Legislature and a few other officials of the Executive Branch.

The uncontrollable inflating rate at which the Liberian Dollar is trading with the United States Dollars continues to be of serious concern to many. At present, the Liberian Dollar was trading around L$97 to US$1 and the devaluation may continue to increase as prices of goods and services continue to be at the will and pleasure of the business community.

Amid the Ebola epidemic in the country, most Liberian health workers have embarked on a strike action as a result of the inability of the Government of Liberia to actualize its commitment. The government had earlier promised to pay health workers hazard salaries and death benefits, beginning September this, but to no avail.