By Lewis S. Teh
The Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) with the backing of the Liberia National Police (LNP) has begun clearing makeshift structures erected along major streets in Monrovia by street vendors.
The MCC and LNP embarked on a robust joint cleanup and demolition of makeshift structures exercise in Monrovia on Wednesday, 14 February 2024.
The exercise is targeting major streets of the Capital including Randall, Benson, Ashmun Streets, and Waterside, among others. It is expected to take place contemporaneously within the city limit of Monrovia.
Street vendors have also been decisively removed as part of the ongoing exercise to give the city a facelift.
Accordingly, the MCC and LNP collaborative project aims to decongest traffic in Monrovia and give the city a facelift.
The demolition and clearing operation according to the MCC aligns with Objective # 5 of the national ARREST manifesto which focuses on sanitation.
MCC officials have revealed that Objective #5 of the National ARREST manifesto states that the city government shall enforce the city ordinance on the removal of makeshift structures.
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It adds that city the city government shall remove stalls that hinder pedestrian and vehicular movements along major streets.
It continues that the city government shall ensure that property owners comply with requirements of cleaning and painting their properties along major streets.
“Objective five of the ARREST framework and in line with the city ordinance authorizes the City Government of Monrovia to enforce the removal of all lamentable signboards, billboards, and broken-down vehicles from the sidewalks,” the MCC said.
The ARREST policy also provides for the enforcement of city ordinances on street selling/hawking and ensures that marketers sell their products only at designated sites.
The MCC-LNP cleanup initiative will be more vigorous in the coming days in its approach to have a clean, green, and safe environment.
The City Government has assured the public that it would be as consistent as possible with its mandate to discourage street selling which undercuts the beautification of the city and creates unnecessary traffic congestion.
