SANNIQUELLIE, Nimba – The coordinator for the Nimba County Service Center, F. Moham Kromah, has expressed his pleasure at the number of people served since the center opened over a year ago.

From its establishment in April 2016 to June of this year, the service center has served its customers a total of 4,945 times and issued 1,830 flag receipts, according to Kromah. It has also generated L$5.9 million (US$51,000) in revenues.

Kromah said during the earlier stage of the center’s operations, it struggled to attract citizens to use its services due to a lack of awareness. Now, many citizens flock to the center.

Citizens can receive marriage and driver licenses, birth and health certificates, and other documents at the service center. Prior to its establishment, Nimba residents had to travel to Monrovia to acquire those documents from the respective agencies and ministries.

According to Kromah, the service center has been receiving increased traffic because of a local organization called EARS for the Masses, in addition to the Sanniquellie-based Radio Seanweah, have been spreading awareness about the services offered.

“They explained about the services here and how [citizens] can access those activities and how people can make use of the County Service Center and this has been very helpful,” he said.

Kromah also said the awareness about the center’s capabilities has increased based on word-of-mouth by people who have benefited from the center.

The county service centers are part of the government’s decentralization agenda. Grand Bassa, Gbarpolu, Bong, Margibi, and Grand Gedeh are among the other counties that now have a county service center established.

Featured photo by Arrington Ballah