By Lincoln G. Peters
The President of the Paynesville Business Association (PABA) Mr. Sheik Y. Jalloh is calling on the government to rethink its decision to shut down stores in the commercial hub of Red Light or risk serious unspecific actions.
Speaking in an interview with reporters in Monrovia, Mr. Jalloh said the decision taken by the Government of Liberia is premature and contravenes earlier agreement reached with government and the business people of Red Light.
According to him, they were never informed about closure of stores because the last meeting they had with government at the Paynesville City Cooperation with the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Nathanial F. McGill, Finance Minister Samuel Tweah, and Justice Minister Musa Dean, amongst others, it was agreed that only street sellers will be relocated to Omega Market, while stores at Red Light remain open.
“That was the agreement we reached just recently. However, unfortunately for us, to our surprise, police barricaded and blocked us from having access to our stores. They are even beaten on store owners from opening their stores. We are peaceful people but getting impatient and therefore, we will do something strange in the few days to come when there is nothing like positive readdress to our concern”, Mr. Jalloh threatens.
He says there has been no citation from government to them about closing stores, adding that the latest action is very far from what they came up with during the meeting.
“What is going on in Red Light is wrong. People stores close for the past days and week is really bad. We have goods in those shops and stores. Some of us have frozen goods and all those goods will damage and we will lose. We are taxpayers and we should not be treated in such a manner. Now that they have locked our stores, how are they expecting us to pay our taxes? Let them rethink their decision”, he pleads.
Commenting on the situation on Monday, February 14, 2022, in an interview, Montserrado county district#3 Representative Cee-Bee Bashell said, it’s very bad that the government is using power to exercise rather than use the law to exercise power, saying “You just can’t lock people stores, stop their free movement and close all the places around.”
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The Government of Liberia through the Monrovia City Cooperation headed by Mayor Jefferson Tamba Koijee recently closed down all stores in the commercial hub of Red Light to enable ongoing road construction. Editing by Jonathan Browne
