TAPPITA, Nimba – Last weekend, Tappita’s city council held a fundraising rally aimed at generating funds to support its ongoing city hall construction.

The rally was graced by scores of local officials, musicians, and ordinary citizens from Nimba and Tappita’s surrounding areas.

During the occasion, the Mayor Sarah Mendoabor named a Liberian diaspora group in Australia as the major reason for the project’s initiation.

“First of all, the city council of Tappita City is grateful to extend thanks and appreciation to the Nimba Citizens [Union] in Australia for supporting this project,” she said.

Mendoabor said the group from Australia had first approached Ganta to assist the commercial hub in building a city hall, but Ganta’s city council told the group they already had a plan in place to build a city hall.

When the Australia-based group approached Tappita’s city council, Mendoabor said the city wasted no time in accepting the project.

Tappita’s Mayor Sarah Mendoabor making remarks at the rally. Photo: Arrington Ballah

“This city hall project is a very huge project,” Mendoabor explained to guests attending the program. “We have gone 60 percent with the project, but the challenges are still huge for us to go through all by ourselves. We need your support to help us complete this project.”

The project is heavily funded by the Nimba Citizens Union of Australia, which provided much of the estimated US$250,000 needed for the project. Launched in April 2014, the project has seen construction delayed due to limited funding.

Upon completion of the Tappita City Hall, the facility is expected to have offices for the city council, a conference hall, a banquet hall, and the main hall.

Meanwhile, Mendoabor has stressed the need to pave the major streets in the city and called on citizens of Tappita to invest in businesses that will improve the look of Tappita.

“I want to see [a] supermarket, a good restaurant in Tappita, more high schools, and at least a community college,” she said. “Then I will be satisfied.”

Featured photo by Arrington Ballah