Flood victims appeal for assistance
Residents of Montserrado County Electoral District # 15, including Logan Town, Bushrod Island, especially Jarket community, where many are reported to have lost personal belongings such as mattresses, clothes, kitchen utensils, among others to heavy flood due to torrential downpour are appealing for assistance.
Residents of Jarket community are appealing to government, well meaning Liberians, and humanitarian organizations for assistance to enable them rebuild their lives.
One of the affected residents, Patrick Johnson, said it’s about time authorities put in place proper measures to address Climate Change, saying, “Even as we speak, we want our Representatives to assist us by providing some financial support to us because we cannot continue to be stopping with friends”, Patrick pleaded.
It can be recalled that authorities of the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA, had alarmed here that Liberia is vulnerable to Climate Change due to high poverty, poor infrastructure, inadequate and lack of trained human resources, among others.
The EPA describes the phenomenon as serious threat to government Poverty Reduction Strategy, national sustainable development, peace, security and stability.
According to the EPA, adaptation and mitigation options are two main strategies that should be considered in addressing Climate Change at both national and global levels as advanced by Article 2 of the Convention.
The focal point for Climate Change and Multilateral activities at the Environmental Protection Agency in Monrovia, Benjamin Karmoh, speaking recently in Grand Bassa County during a three-day training for environmental journalists, said mainstreaming Climate Change in national policy programs, should be given serious attention to build the capacity of the environment.
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Karmorh warns that Climate Change could bring more problems such as increased level of water borne diseases (cholera, malaria, dysentery, giardiasis, amebiasis, typhoid fever, etc.)
He said Climate Change could also lead to increased rain and slower tree growth, death of certain tree species particularly in southeast and northwest forest areas of Liberia.
He said with continuous rainfall, it will be difficult to identify the optimal time to plant crops, which could result to low yield, revenue losses, increase in pests, weeds and animal diseases.
He noted that an inter-governmental panel on Climate Change held in 1988 raised the alarm globally by presenting scientific findings on evidence of global warming, emission increase and Climate Change impacts in 1991.
He noted that Liberia became part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992 and 2002, adding that the objective of the convention is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference. Editing by Jonathan Browne
