The office of Grand Bassa County’s district #5 Representative, Thomas Alexander Goshua, has frowned at a recent statement made by Rivercess County’s district #1 Representative, Steve Tequah, attributing the poor condition of the stretch of laterite road that passes through electoral district #5 up to the Timbo River bridge, demarcating Grand Bassa and Rivercess, to the making of Representative Goshua; Mercy M. Kpaingbay writes.
According to a press statement from the office of Representative Goshua, the statement made by his colleague from Rivercess County is untrue, expressing “regret over the decision by the people of Rivercess County to repose confidence in a man who appears to lack the elementary understanding of what it actually takes to be a lawmaker and the responsibilities”. The statement said, “Instead of relying on the wisdom of experienced legislators to broaden his seemingly narrow perspective of the functions and duties of a representative, Representative Tequah dabbles in cache phrases and utter confusion and has gotten lost in his journey to nowhere.”
According to the statement from the office of Representative Goshua, “Representative Tequah needs to be reminded that the road being mentioned is not a feeder road, but a major highway whose maintenance cost is estimated in the millions and cannot be done by an individual, let alone a lawmaker. It is also important to stress that such works do not form part of the responsibilities of a lawmaker, but oversight can be used to enhance periodic maintenance that could lead to subsequent pavement.”
In furtherance, the statement noted that during the past six years of the CDC-led government that Tequah supported, Representative Goshua became one of the signatories that signed onto the Elton & Ebomaf financing agreements, pointing out that he did so with a patriotic sense of reasoning and against the fact that he wanted the very road being referenced to be rehabilitated to the convenience of his people.
“Unfortunately, the loan agreements turned out to be an undeserving scam against not only the people of Grand Bassa County, but Rivercess and all of the southeastern counties combined.
“The office has been made to understand that plans are underway to ignite a political fight in 2029 to support a candidate of his choice. How hard it is to phantom the rationale of a man wanting to orchestrate a political war against another person in a different county when his work has so far not made the least of impression on the people he represents. One would think that a man of such feeble standing would endeavor to solidify his grounds in his constituency and set the stage for his re-election since he is yet a legislative rookie, other than indulging into fruitless ventures that could potentially jeopardize his chances,” the statement added.
The statement further noted, “Representative Steve Tequah needs to know that consultations are being held with the Ministry of Public Works on the manner and form it intends to proceed with road maintenance contracts to which the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission has issued ‘no objection’. The office of Representative Goshua has gotten strong assurances from the minister that this road has been captured as a major priority under President Boakai’s 100-day deliverables. When this is achieved, we shall take the credit as a government and not as individuals.
“However, the people of district #5 and Grand Bassa County at large can rest assure that their lawmakers (senators and representatives alike) are working out modalities to ensure that the current government prioritizes roads in the county. In the same vein, Hon. Goshua shall continue his engagements with companies operating in the corridor to contribute to road maintenance works, as has been done before, to alleviate the hurdles citizens endure while commuting through the route,” the press statement intimated.