GREENVILLE Feb. 11 (LINA)- There is earmarked US$9 million for anti-sea erosion project to affect coastal communities in the provincial capital, Greenville; Baffordbay in Sanquin; and a portion of Dugba District in Sinoe, according to the County’s assistant superintendent for Development, Barbara Moore Kieh.
The funding for the sea retaining wall is expected to come from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) which supports the Government and people to mitigate the threat posed to the lives of people dwelling or having businesses in coastal areas.
Like other such communities along the coast of Liberia, sea erosion has for many years caused havoc resulting in poverty for many residents here – who are often left without shelters, thus compounding their life challenges.
This apparent light at the end of the tunnel for the coastal defense project started to show following the recent assessment concluded by Liberia’s Environmental Protections Agency (EPA) at sites of interest.
Madam Kieh told the Liberia News Agency recently in Greenville that the assessment was in fulfillment of the government’s partnership with UNDP. This development was greeted with cheers by people in the county who must have waited for it to come to pass for a long time now.
« Rest assured that things will be okay as the government and its partners are determined to do more for the people, » said Kieh, after the four-day assessment which also covered the Settra Kru area.
The EPA says coastal areas in Liberia are “highly” vulnerable to the consequences of climate change, a significant part of which people live in temporary and poor homes with little protection from rising sea levels, and storms.
Many live on very low-lying land, often in unplanned, illegal settlements and with the expected rise in sea levels as a result of climate change, combined with increasing storms and sea-surges with significant negative impacts on the lives and livelihoods of people in coastal areas, according to the Agency.
It adds that already, major economic sectors like fishing and farming are seriously affected as a result of increasing displacement of people caused by flooding and other climate change related disasters.
