By Lincoln G. Peters
Liberian People’s Party (LPP) former vice standard bearer Dr. Emmanuel Urey Yarkpawolo has called on the Unity Party (UP)-led administration to create means for volunteers to continue cleaning the city.
In a special remark delivered on Saturday, 3 February 2024
Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo urged the administration to take the efforts applied by the JNB-JKK Volunteers and transform them into meaningful initiatives.
He urged the UP government to create means for the volunteers to continue cleaning the city and provide some incentives for them.
“I want to thank all of you for your effort. Cleanliness is next to godliness and it is important that we keep Liberia and our communities clean,” Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo said over the weekend at the front of the Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS).
On Saturday, Region #4 of President Joseph Nyumah Boakai (JNB) and Vice President Jeremiah K. Koung (JKK) Volunteer for a Green and Clean City held a closing program at the front of LBS in Paynesville.
During that program, Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo encouraged all citizens to try to keep Liberia clean by being responsible citizens.
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“Do not throw dirt in the streets, for it is bad to do so. These people have helped us to clean all the drainages. Do not throw plastic bags in the drainage, if you do so, it will clog it,” he admonished the citizenry.
“And during the rainy season we will have flooding occurring all over the place because we have blocked the waterways with trash,” he emphasized.
The former LPP vice presidential candidate recommended collective efforts of all and every Liberian to have a sustainable green and clean city across the country.
Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo said he believes that the exercise is not ending today as demonstrated, rather, it’s taking another shift.
“What we are saying to the Government of the Republic of Liberia is to seize this opportunity. The young people have volunteered, let them continue to work,” Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo suggested.
“In fact, we can take it to another level. Instead of just volunteering we can let them do this with some levels of incentives in order for them to be able to take care of their families,” he urged.
Explaining how it can be done, he noted that in Liberia, people are not paying taxes for their land and properties.
Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo explained that there are vacant lands all in the communities and people are not paying taxes for those lands.
He noted that some of those lands are being used as major hazard grounds for the communities.
“So we are asking the city government and the national government as well, to leverage property taxes so we can generate money to give some incentives to our clean up volunteers,” he pointed out.
Dr. Urey-Yarkpawolo indicated that cleanliness, in the simplest terms, is the state of being free from clutter, anything irrelevant and unnecessary, and the maintenance and sustenance of any city or community.
He added that for Paynesville, the largest city in Liberia, cleanliness is a vital aspect that distinguishes a progressive, cultured, and civilized society from an underdeveloped and uncivilized one.
He noted that it is not just limited to personal hygiene but also encompasses all aspects of daily life, including households, workplaces, and surroundings.
Emphasizing the broom as a symbol of fighting corruption, Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo said even as they are using the broom to clean up dirt from the city, other dirt is eating up Liberia in the form of corruption.
“So, we from the Liberian People’s Party have the broom to clean up corruption. Corruption is the one that is causing poverty, it is the one that is making few people … take the little money we have as a country, and making our country dirty,” he argued.
“Therefore, we are asking the government led by H.E Joseph N. Boakai to use the broom to sweep corruption from out of Liberia,” he said.
The JNB and JKK initiative comprises dozens of Liberian youth who volunteered themselves just a few weeks before the inauguration of now President Boakai of the Unity Party.
The efforts of the JNB-JKK Clean-up Campaign team aimed to enhance the aesthetics of Monrovia, Paynesville, and other major cities, representing a continuous endeavor to present an inviting facade to these cities.
The team has been actively engaging in volunteer activities in major marketplaces, communities in Paynesville, Red-light, and other areas in Monrovia and its environs.
