Bong County Official Finally Booked
Documents in the possession of our Bong County correspondent suggest that suspended Kokoyah Statutory District Superintendent Joseph Weleteh Flomo received US$60,000.00 from the Atlantic Resources, and not US$30,000 as was earlier disclosed.
The documents also revealed that the agreement signed with the company has a 5-year duration. According to the documents, on May 4, and July 9, 2013, Mr. Weleteh received US$30,000.00 and US$15,000.00 respectively from the company.
One of the receipts without a date showed that the suspended statutory District Superintendent received another US$15,000.00 from the company. The cheques for the amounts were all written in the name of the suspended statutory superintendent, instead of the Statutory District. According to the agreement, the US$60,000.00 was for the first twenty of the fifty years.
Several stakeholders in the district also signed the agreement many of whom did not have any idea about the financial interactions between the company and statutory district Superintendent whose name was reflected on the cheques.
Mr. Weleteh had earlier asked some of the chiefs to go to Gbarnga for their shares of the money, but were in the city for days without such shares. Some of the chiefs were said to have rejected some of the money when tension brewed over the dubious contracts signed by the statutory district superintendent.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has already suspended Mr. Weleteh for time indefinite until further investigation into the financial scandal. County authorities have already stated that they would take the suspended Superintendent to court to provide reasons why he made a unilateral decision in entering into agreement with Atlantic Resources, as well as expanding the money without the consent of the proper authorities.
Fund-raising for Phebe Hospita at Kpatawee
A major fund-raising festival gets underway this Friday, November 29 at the famous Kpatawee Waterfall in Suakoko District. The festival, named and styled ‘the Kpatawee Festival”, is geared towards raising funds for the relocation and refurbishment of the Phebe Hospital Mortuary. According to the organizers, a sum of US$150,000.00 is expected to be raised.
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In an interview with journalists, executive members Randolph Kolleh and Alexander Zogbaye, said the mortuary at Phebe was currently without refrigeration and not a distance from the kitchen, thus poising serious health risk.
According to them, the festival will be held in collaboration with the office of Bong County Superintendent Selena Polson-Mappy, with sponsorship from Lonestar Cell MTN. Mr. Kolleh and Zogbaye are appealing to all Liberians residing in Bong County and other counties to aid the hospital with their dollars and cents.
Phebe- a referral Hospital in Bong County has long been confronted with financial crisis, as the subsidy provided by government does not commensurate with present-day realities and challenges of the hospital.
Teachers Back in School
Aggrieved teachers of the Bong County School system Monday resumed classes after going slow for a week. More than two hundred teachers left the classrooms, demanding government’s attention to their grievances, including the reinstatement of deleted teachers, payment of all teachers including those replaced and their inclusion in the US$25.00 retroactive salary increment announced by the President months back.
Their return to the classrooms comes after an agreement was reached with a delegation of the Education Ministry headed by Assistant Minister for Student Services, Wilson Gaye. According to the Spokesperson of the teachers, Mo-sees K. Watson, a meeting has been planned with Minister Ethmonia David Tarpeh in Monrovia by today, Wednesday to address their plight.
He noted that if nothing reasonable is realized from today’s meeting, they would initiate an indefinite strike action that will also prevent private school students from going to school. Mr. Watson called on aggrieved teachers across the county to resume normal activities until their two-week ultimatum given the government expires.
