Montserrado County’s district #4 Representative and Paynesville City Legislative Caucus’ Chairman, Michael M. Thomas, has sternly cautioned Paynesville City Mayor, Robert Bestman, and the municipality’s citizens to keep the city clean, beginning with their homes and communities.
“The challenges are enormous but you have major priorities: cleanliness of our city and development of our city,” Representative Thomas told Mayor Bestman during his induction ceremony recently at the City Town Hall.
Paynesville City, which was Incorporated in 1965, is the second largest city that has five electoral districts and has over 700,000 inhabitants. Margibi County has 5 electorial districts as well as Paynesville City, indicating that Paynesville’s equivalent to Margibi in political district, and serious work need to be done to maintain the city’s beauty.
According to the Paynesville City Caucus’ Chairman, Atty. Thomas, the mayor should not prioritize the administrative arm of the city corporation only, but be proactive and the caucus will work through him to implement the following: economy, the citizens’ wellbeing, governance structure which directly fall in the mayor’s purview, energy, basic social service, sanitation and disaster management issues that range from fire disaster, flood havoc to storm nightmare, and so on.
“I commit to you this as official of the caucus our unflinching and overwhelming support to the Paynesville City,” Caucus Chairman Representative Thomas said. “So we will work with you, cooperative to implement all of the objects as it relates to the development and cleanliness of our city and the issue with the budget.”
He added that the caucus has already started making input in the budget so that the city is fully funded to be able to engage the major problem of the districts. He charged the residents with the responsibility of keeping the city clean.
“You have a major role to play as residents of the city because cleanliness of this city begins with our individual homes, our own community, to the district level and also to the city level,” Representative Thomas said. “I remain committed. Let us make our city one of the best in Liberia.”
The representative then donated several bags of 25kg bags of rice to mosques in the district as a means of identifying with Muslims who are fasting. He also donated 25 bundles of zinc to 25 homes that was affected by a recent storm.
Earlier, Mayor Bestman outlined challenges the corporation faces, but praised the workers’ commitment despite all the trials they endure.
Indicating constant stockpile of garbage in Paynesville City and its environ, the Mayor said it is due to the lack of proper urban planning system in Liberia. But with commitment, he has vowed to liaise with the Paynesville City Caucus, citizens and the Monrovia City Mayor to revamp Paynesville’s cleanliness and its citizens wellbeing.
In a related development, Monrovia City Mayor, Siafa, has pledged his unwavering support to his counterpart Bestman’s rebranding Paynesville City. Likewise, Montserrado County’s Superintendent, Unity Party’s Chairman, and other individuals made the same pledge.
