The Political Leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC) Mr. Alexander B. Cummings urges the Government of Liberia to take a hard look at itself and get serious about stopping harmful drug business in the country and prioritize youth rehabilitation and mentorship programs to mitigate the uncontrollable flow of disadvantaged youth across Liberia.
In a statement delivered over the weekend, Mr. Cummings wondered how many more citizens have to die before the government can grasp the urgency of acting seriously to secure streets and communities here from hardcore criminals propelled by illicit drugs.
The release quotes the ANC Stander Bearer as lamenting, “How many of our children need to be addicted to harmful drugs before we prioritize the construction of rehabilitation centers across the country and clean up our communities of the harmful drugs and ghettos?”
His comments are in response to last week Wednesday, 19 January’s stampede in New Kru Town which led to the death of 29 Christian worshipers, who were attacked by criminals while returning from a crusade at the D. Twe Memorial High School soccer pitch.
“Today, Liberia is referred to as a transshipment point for Southeast and Southwest Asian heroin and South American cocaine for the European and US markets. This means people are using our country to sell harmful drugs to other countries. The harmful drugs are not just passing through our country but they are selling it to our children, including in our schools “, Mr. Cummings notes.
The release continues that these harmful drugs are destroying the minds of Liberian children, rendering communities unsafe, and risking the country’s future, adding that it is time to act in securing the future of Liberia.
Meanwhile, the ANC is recommending that stopping the trafficking of drugs to Liberia and the country being used as a transit center for drugs, will require stronger and more resourceful enforcement agencies, including tighter inspections and controls at ports of entry while shutting down the drug rings and ghettos in communities.
“If those who are supposed to protect our schools and communities from harmful drugs are the ones actually helping to bring the harmful drugs into the country, we will not be able to stop it. We will not be able to stop it, because the people who should be protecting our children are the ones protecting those selling the harmful drugs to our children. This is not just wrong, it is wicked.”
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It says the strength of a chain is measured by its weakest link, something the release says is true because the real value of the society is not measured by how Liberians treat their best, but by how they treat those considered to be the worst in the society.
The ANC Political Leader says a government that truly cares about its people will not buy a (US$80,000.00) Eighty Thousand United States Dollars car for one official, when there is no effective rehabilitation program for its addicted citizens, adding “It cannot be right that we will prioritize the size of convoys when the police need training and resources to fight crimes, and when hospitals have no beds or medicines.”
He says the tragedy in New Kru Town is an urgent call to action for government, noting that to answer the call; we must reset the national priorities and reexamine our values.
Cummings notes that a good place to start will be to provide allocation in the national budget currently under consideration by the Legislature to support organizations and agencies in the frontline of the fight against crimes and drugs even though it will not restore lives lost at the crusade ground.
Meanwhile, Mr. Cummings in his statement asked for the prayers of all Liberians of every faith and denomination for the comfort of the grieving families and healing for the wounded.
“No family deserves to have their children or parents die while they worship. Nor should our streets, homes and communities continue to be increasingly unsafe and insecure.
Even in this dark period of our nation, we must never forget that many, if not all of those who attended the Crusade, including those unfortunately who died in the rush, and those alleged to have caused it, are victims of long, repeated and systemic injustices in our country. In a country blessed with so much wealth, too many Liberians continue to be too poor”, he laments. https://thenewdawnliberia.com/weah-declares-3-day-of-national-mourning/
