There are moments when a community’s plea is not a sign of resistance, but a testament to its faith in the future. Such is the case in West Point, where residents have bravely voiced their conditions for embracing a vital coastal defense project. Their message is not one of obstruction, but of partnership—and the Government of Liberia must recognize the profound opportunity embedded in their request.
As the Ministry of Public Works prepares to break ground on a seawall and road to combat the relentless Atlantic erosion, the people of West Point have done more than simply agree to the project. They have offered a roadmap for its success. They are asking not for handouts, but for inclusion.
The voices from the community are clear and commendable. Young men like Christopher Nimley, a graduate forced to rely on disc jockeying to survive, are not demanding charity. They are requesting the dignity of labor—the chance to build their own community with their own hands. Asatu Musa, a diploma-holding woman reduced to selling cold water, exemplifies the resilience of West Point, pleading not for sympathy, but for consideration. When a community with over 60,000 souls, battered by erosion and poverty, greets a government project with open arms and practical requests, that is a diplomatic victory for the state.
We would be remiss to ignore the profound wisdom offered by the residents. Businessman Robert Cafey, who keeps 250 disadvantaged youths away from crime through honest work, has highlighted the social impact of economic neglect. If the coastal defense project proceeds without integrating these local workers, it will be a missed chance to curb the drug abuse and idleness plaguing war-affected youth. The government has a chance here to kill two birds with one stone: fortify the shoreline and fortify the social fabric of the community.
Furthermore, the request for fair relocation is not a barrier to progress; it is the foundation of sustainable development. As a homeowner Alien Trawallay noted, protecting the land benefits both the community and the nation. The tears of the elderly mother of two unemployed university graduates should move any official with a conscience. These residents are not standing in the way of the bulldozers; they are standing in the gap, asking the state to remember the human cost that accompanies concrete and steel.
While we understand that the Ministry of Public Works has been difficult to reach for comment, we urge them to view this moment not as a policy hurdle, but as a public relations triumph. The residents of West Point have clearly stated their support. They want the project to succeed. They are eager to see the shoreline protected and the roads paved.
Now, the burden rests on the Government. To ignore the calls for local employment and relocation assistance would be to squander the goodwill of a community that has suffered displacement and economic hardship for decades. To heed these calls, however, would be to set a standard for national development: one where the government does not simply build for the people, but builds with the people.
West Point has given its blessing. It is now time for the government to give its commitment. The future of this historic township depends not just on the wall that will hold back the sea, but on the bridges of trust that must be built between the state and its citizens. We call on the Ministry of Public Works to dialogue with these residents and ensure that when this project starts, no family is left homeless, and no capable youth is left jobless. That is the definition of a true victory.
