SARBO DISTRICT, River Gee County — Media and communications specialist Richard Andrews Doss, an eminent son of River Gee County’s Sarbo District #3, has raised serious concerns over the shortage of essential medicines, rising maternal mortality, and other pressing challenges confronting residents of the county.
Doss’s concerns follow a drastic 50% reduction in the budgetary allocation for the Sarbo Health Center, from US20,000, under the government’s US$1.21 billion national budget.
Sharing his perspective in a commentary he titled “Contemporary Issues in Liberia’s Development: A Case Study of River Gee County,” Doss noted that Liberia’s FY2026 National Budget of US$1.21 billion—the first billion-dollar budget in modern history—was celebrated as a symbol of fiscal growth.
However, he pointed out that for Sarbo District, the budget raised more questions than answers, citing five contemporary issues: the cut in the Sarbo Health Center budget from US20,000, the exclusion of Sweaken City, the 20-year abandonment of the Commissioner Compound, the neglect of Sweaken Airfield, and the questionable implementation of US$1 million allocated for the River Gee Vocational Technical Training Institute in Sweaken.
Expanding on the health budget cut, Doss argued that for years, not less than US$40,000 was allocated to the Sarbo Health Center, the main referral facility for thousands of residents.
“The current $20,000 is a 50% cut while drug costs and patient load increase. Government shifted to a County Health Pool, forcing the $20,000 meant for drugs to be diverted to pay 121 unpaid volunteers. Cutting a rural clinic in a year the national budget grew by 37.5% is a question of health equity,” the communications specialist stated.
On urban exclusion, Doss questioned why Sweaken City was left out, disclosing that allocations were made for Kanweaken, Fish Town, and Konowroken cities, but Sweaken City, the headquarters of Sarbo District, was not captured. He noted that Sweaken is still treated administratively as a town rather than a statutory city, so no budget line was created for it.
He noted that Sweaken hosts the only functional airstrip in River Gee County—a critical lifeline for emergency medical evacuation, NGOs, and government operations during the six-month rainy season.
“Yet in the $1.2B budget, there is no dedicated maintenance line for it. The airfield survives through communal labor by Sarbo citizens, while cities without airstrips receive city development funds,” Doss noted.
According to Doss, US1.2 billion budget for the River Gee County Vocational Technical Training Institute in Sarbo, Sweaken.
“As of late 2025, with the fiscal year set to end on December 31, 2026, no visible development has been observed at the facility, prompting citizens to call for financial disclosure on allotment and execution,” he concluded.
