UNIFICATION CITY, Margibi – The Mayor of Unification City in Lower Margibi, Rosaline Davis, has announced several initiatives that the city is undertaking, including banning business activities on Sundays and holidays and requiring all households and businesses to pay for garbage collection.

During a meeting with residents on Nov. 5, Davis said Sundays and holidays were sacred, and she wanted residents to observe them as non-working days.

“As of now, there would be no selling on Sundays and holidays,” she said. Violators of the new order would be fined and prosecuted, the mayor added.

She also announced that the city had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NC Sanitors and Services for the disposal of garbage in the city.

Under the agreement, she said the waste management company would remove trash from central locations, while a team of garbage collectors managed by the city would collect garbage from individual households.

For these services, Davis said each home would be required to pay L$100 per week; businesses would pay based on the quantity of garbage they generated.

Since her appointment by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the new mayor has instituted a first Saturday general clean-up campaign, which was popularized by the former mayor of Monrovia, Mary Broh. Unification City’s monthly clean-up takes place between 6:00-10:00 a.m.

Davis has also taken the clean-up campaign beyond the boundaries of her city to adjacent communities in the Mboo Statutory District including Dolo Town and Cotton Tree.

Some citizens of the district have hailed the mayor for her initiatives but warned that she was acting too fast. They called on her to slow down with the orders and instead engage the community about her decisions.

A resident of Unification City, Jefferson Daryoue, said although he appreciated the mayor’s work towards a clean environment, she needed to be careful about how she implements her mandates.

“Everywhere Sundays and holidays are observed, businesses are opened…” he said.

Daryoue said the mayor should revise her decision to ban all business transactions on Sundays and Holidays.

Musu Freeman, another resident, said the L$100 charged to each household every week for the trash collection was too high.

She said that while the intentions of the mayor might be worthy, her plans must carry the consent and input of citizens.

“Her visions and dreams for a better city might not be very bad, but how realistic are they,” she said. “She must bring them to us for reviews… because we know what is good for us, not her.”

Liberians do not elect leaders of municipalities, but they are rather appointed by the president. This came as a result of a Supreme Court ruling in 2008 that said it was acceptable because the government did not have enough funds for municipal elections.

Featured photo by Gbatemah Senah