CESTOS, River Cess – The mayor of Cestos City, has completed a US$37,000 guest house.

According to Sarah Zeo, the project funding came from the administrative and operational funds of the city council.

“During the 2015/16 National Budget, the city corporation was given US$50,000 by the government for operational and administrative purposes. So we used $37,000 of that amount for the construction of the guest house,” Zeo said.

The four-bedroom fully air conditioned guest house, is the first of its kind in River Cess County and the only government funded project to be completed under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s administration.

The guest house was officially dedicated by the president on May 9, following her visit to the county. The mayor told The Bush Chicken that lack of facilities is a cause for alarm and embarrassment for visiting guests.

“It bothers me a lot when people come to River Cess, and there are no such things (facilities),” Zeo said. “That’s why when we got the money, I called the City Council to tell them and they agreed.”

But it was no walk in the park for Zeo, who also revealed that she received little or close to no cooperation from county authorities during the construction of the guest house.

“There were lot of challenges when we were doing the work, I was taken to court because of the land,” Zeo added.

“The materials were stolen among many other difficulties but only Hon. Byron Zanwhea, the Representative of District Two, passed on the project site to say ‘thank you’ to us.”

Zeo told The Bush Chicken that her next plan is to construct a new and modern City Hall in Cestos City.

“The estimated cost of the project is $250,000,” She said. “Right now I am appealing to all well-wishing citizens of River Cess, whether in the country or not, to contribute to the project.”

However, River Cess faces a problem in its attempt to develop new facilities. Several government projects in the county, especially those sponsored by the County Social Development Funds, are still on hold despite being allocated funds.

Featured photo by Eric Doue