Pres. Sirleaf dedicates St. Paul Bridge Community Hall

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has officially dedicated the newly constructed St. Paul Bridge Community Hall and commended the coming together of people to complete their community development as an act of the spirit of cooperation.

An Executive Mansion release said, the Liberian leader made the remarks when she officially dedicated the newly constructed St. Paul Bridge Community last Friday, November 11, 2016, on Bushrod Island during a colorful program marking the official ceremony in District No. 16 of Montserrado County.

“It is a great honor for me because you have come together in the spirit of cooperation, she said, indicating that the coming together of community people, local authorities, lawmakers and others is a good thing to do, because when everyone is working together in the spirit of cooperation, good things happen.

The Liberian leader noted that already she has started discussing something meaningful about bringing development to the people that will make them happy, to encourage other people to bring developments in their communities.

According to her, with God being very good to Liberia, as a result of their prayers, she was appealing to all citizens in the various communities to learn how to respect their leaders, despite their disagreements with some of them.

President Sirleaf used the occasion to appeal to Liberians everywhere to learn how be strong, courageous and love their country and desist from saying negative things about their country, even if non-Liberians were in the business of doing so.

“Be strong, be courageous and love your country”, she pointed out. Speaking earlier, Montserrado County Superintendent, Florence Brandy said the gathering of the people for the purpose of dedicating the St. Paul Bridge Community Hall can be credited to the President Sirleaf Development Agenda through the allotment of County and Social Development Fund for the purpose of taking development closer to the people.

Superintendent Brandy said even though the project had delayed for some time – a delay for which county authorities were accused, with some alleging that funding for construction of the project was misapplied. She said contrary to those accusations, the delayed in completing the project came about as a result of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease outbreak and spread from Guinea – Liberia. Similarly, the Montserrado County Superintendent said the second reason for the delay in completing the project stemmed from delays in receiving allotted funding for development from the Ministry of Finance.

However, Supt Brandy said despite these difficulties, the county was benefitting from the “County and Social Development Fund to the point where the county is now benefitting from more than five different projects that are decentralized across Montserrado County.

Superintendent Brandy indicated that the Community Hall, as a public facility, will be managed by a team to be set up by the Community people along with the General Services Agency (GSA) for the purpose of maintaining the facility.

In brief remarks, Montserrado County Electoral District No. 16, Edward Forh, extolled President Sirleaf for her continued assistance to the people of District No. 16 and the people of Montserrado County, calling on the people of Montserrado County, especially the residents of District No.16, to take ownership of the newly constructed Community Hall.

He commended President Sirleaf for the level of roads constructed and other development initiatives in the District and its neighborhoods. The program was graced by senior government officials, including Internal Affairs Minister Henrique Tokpah, County officials, Community leaders, as well as residents, among others.