GOMPA, Nimba – Rep. Jeremiah Kpan Koung of Nimba’s First Electoral District has cautioned residents to embrace efforts for development from any well-meaning citizens of the district, especially in regard to the construction of the much-needed Ganta City Hall that a political group, the Friends of Samuel Brown Network in Liberia, has promised to construct.

Koung’s statement comes in the wake of disagreements between the Gompa City Corporation and the political group. Both institutions went into a media war after the network alleged that Mayor Benjamin Dokpa left them out of a planned meeting on March 16 that would have given the group the platform to showcase the necessary details surrounding the project. The tussle between the political group and the city was recently covered in a Bush Chicken article.

Koung, who is currently visiting Asia on a business trip, said, “If Sam Brown or whosoever wants to build a city hall, I think it is a welcoming thing — we all should welcome it, put our hands under it, and make sure it can be done. Development is not for one person and therefore, nobody should politicize development.”

According to Koung, Dorr Cooper, the former mayor, and now Nimba’s superintendent had initiated the construction of a city hall, which was expected to cost US$750,000.

Koung called on the head of the city council and the Gompa City Corporation to make the land available to construct the city hall.

“Whatever the case may be now, I am calling on the city council and the city government to find the land; make the land available so that the work can start,” he said. “We need to take politics out of this thing, and that will be good for all of us.”

Featured photo by Arrington Ballah