OUR ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO information filtering in, that out of 60 graves already been paid for by the Ministry of Public Works, only three have been relocated in Barclayville City, a situation that is delaying the speedy construction of the 55.2km road pavement project in Grand Kru County.
THE PROLONGED DELAY HAS prompted Acting Superintendent Alphonso Teah to threaten court action against individuals who have allegedly refused to comply with government instructions to relocate the graves.
Our attention is about the threat allegedly made by the Acting Superintendent, Mr. Teah. I think he needs to be told to exercise some degree of magnanimity, restrain and persuasion in dealing with the people.
THE USE OF THREAT IS not the way forward because there are questions or qualms those people might have, and their concerns must be addressed adequately.
THE FIRST THING IS HOW much did the county authority disburse for a relocation of each grave? Mind you, relocation of grave is not just an ordinary thing to do. The remains must be exhumed by authorized technicians who are trained to exhume the body, preserve the remains and later rebury.
ALL OF THESE FORMALITIES take time. It is not a hasty job for which the superintendent should threaten his own citizens.
ACCORDING TO AUTHORITIES, COMPENSATION for the 60 graves has been fully settled by the Ministry, so our question is, what was the agreement with family members before the disbursement? How much was the money and what was the timeline for the relocation?
PLEASE, MR. SUPERINTENDENT, do not see the failure of families to relocate the graves of their deceased family members as disrespect. Instead, ask you to use your third-eyes because resuming the dead is dedicated initiative. The necessary traditional ritual has to be observed. All of these efforts required time.
WE APPRECIATE THE GOVERNMENT for having a thought to working with family members, but as government has started nicely, we admonish her to exercise restrain in dealing with our people. It is not our wish for one or group to begin hampering progress on the Barclayville - Torpoh Bridge to Sassatown road corridor. Development is not an event; it is a process.
MR. TEAH, DO NOT USE threat to serving your own people because development is not a fly by night initiative, it takes time. There is an adage, “Rome was not built on one day” so is it, that Grand Kru development is a process, not an event “
THIS REMARKS BY YOU, WHEN you warned that the county administration will not hesitate to take legal action to ensure the project proceeds as scheduled in the interest of development is very offensive and intended to cause intimidation.
