Community Chairman calls for more rehabilitation centers

By: Emmanuel Wise Jipoh

In the aftermath of increased deaths of disadvantaged youths or Zogos across the country, the chairperson of New Kemah Town Community, Mr. Nanmagai Paye, is calling on the government to construct more rehabilitation centers across the country as a means of fighting drugs and illicit substance abuse here.

Speaking to The NEW DAWN on Thursday, at the backdrop of at least seven deaths and four recoveries of less-advantaged youths in Paynesville from a new substance known as “Sparking Android,” Paye stressed that the government has a serious role to play in the fight against drugs.

Already, there are skyrocketing deaths caused by illicit substances and widespread use of narcotics across the country.

Addressing this paper in a disclaimer of the community’s name circulating in the untimely death of several drug users, Chairman Paye called on the Government of Liberia to build rehabilitation centers in all 15 counties, or in every region of Liberia, as the best remedy to tackle the widespread use of illicit drugs.

He says the government should place more emphasis on drug treatment and rehabilitation, rather than just breaking down ghettos.

“This is not just about breaking down ghettos, because if you break down ghettos and you do not have a place for them to be rehabilitated, you cause the same situation, because they will go back to those same drug dealers, and it becomes terrible,” Paye laments.

He urges the government to invest more in drug treatment and rehabilitation rather than just focusing on combating users.

President Joseph Nyumah Boakai has already taken swift action against drug abuse.

The President described proliferation of drugs as “an attack on our future” while establishing a Multisectoral Steering Committee on Drugs and Substance Abuse.

The Steering Committee is to tackle drugs and demolish makeshift structures and drug users’ hubs through the group, “Citizens Movement to Destroy Ghetto in Liberia”, as part of efforts to eradicate or reduce the substance abuse here.

But Paye thinks mere “Breaking down ghettos will not help the situation; instead, deteriorate it, so there is need for more rehabilitation centers, if not in all 15 counties, to rehabilitate users and train them to become better citizens. Editing by Jonathan Browne