MONROVIA: Residents of Schefflin, a town located along the Monrovia-Robertfield Highway, on Wednesday gathered at the Ministry of Mines and Energy to protest against the Management of Sino-Liberia Investment Company, to stop its operations in their community.
The protesting citizens alleged that the company is involved in the blasting of rocks, a situation that they said, is causing mass destruction to residential homes and business centers in the community.
The aggrieved residents, mainly property owners, staged their protest at the main entrance of the Ministry of Mines and Energy on Capitol Hill in Monrovia.
They chanted slogans, demanding that the Chinese company immediately halts its work and relocate elsewhere in the country.
As early as 8:00 am, the residents began the protest, expressing their displeasure over the operation of the company.
They chanted slogans such as “We do not want blasting; We are tired of suffering from sicknesses, and our homes are being damaged.”
The spokesman of the protesters, Mr. Emmanuel Lloyd, in an interview with journalists disclosed that “Beginning today, we are stopping them because there is no peace in our community days and nights, and this poses a serious health threat to us.”
“Our kids are getting sick every day due to the pollution of our drinking water, and our houses are being damaged by the regular blasts. Our people are now developing high blood pressure from the sound of Sino-Liberia Investment Company’s machines,” he told reporters.
The aggrieved citizens called on the central government, through the Ministry of Mines to intervene promptly by relocating the company to an isolated area.”
When contacted on the claims of the residents against the Sino-Liberia Investment Company and for its relocation, the Assistant Minister of Mines at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Mr. Emmanuel T.T. Swen, thanked the residents for protesting peacefully.
Mr. Swen disclosed, that the Ministry of Mines has already written the Management of the Sino-Liberia Investment Company, reminding the entity about the expiration of its operational permit.
He said Sino-Liberia Investment Company’s license expired on August 15, ,2023.
He said the company was later granted one year on August 16, 2022 to afford them the opportunity to relocate to a new site suitable for quarry activities after the current operation site in Schefflin Town was deemed unsafe for such quarry activities due to the increment of the number of residential homes in the area.
Mr. Swen informed the protesting residents that the Ministry has ordered the company not to quarry in the Schefflin Town any longer or face drastic legal action; writes T.R Dixon.
