Natives of Nimba County's Administrative District of Kparblee have cried out loud on the Liberian Government to deliver them from being abandoned and neglected as they, too, are part of the body politics of Liberia.

Situated in the county's electoral district #6, Kparblee is said to be one of the remotest and underdeveloped parts of Nimba where poverty is chewing on the people who lack nearly all basic social services including roads and better schools and health facilities. The district plays host to Liberia's border with Cote d' Iviore.

Addressing a press conference in Monrovia Wednesday (July 24), officials of the US-based Kparblee District Development Association, Inc (KDA) lamented that the region from which they hail is in a very deplorable state, with acute poverty having a heavy toll on the locals.

KDA's National President Gabriel S. Wehjla said the lack of infrastructure, particularly roads and bridges in the district, was the key factor responsible for the suffering of the people and the backwardness of the region, claiming that government has neglected the area.

Wehjla called on the Liberian Government to move into the area and construct a major bridge over the Kwi River, which currently has a rotten log bridge over which vehicles do not cross.

"It is the total responsibility of the government to construct the Kwi River Bridge," Wehjla asserted. "We are not asking for money or any other thing or handouts. All we want is the government to play its role by building the bridge... . All other things will be done by us, the people, to develop the district."

The KDA boss, accompanied by the organization's Board Chair Benjamin Saywahn and KDA Liberia Chief Peter Karngbaye, said the people of Kparblee are part of Nimba and Liberia at large, but have been denied nearly all level of development by national government in the past and now.

Development projects in Nimba, Wehjla claimed, have concentrated in other parts, except Kparblee, something he said has left a heavy development deficit in the district.

He said it has been estimated that construction of the bridge over the Kwi River would cost at least US$1.5 million, an amount KDA is unable to provide and called on the government to fulfill its side of the social contract signed with the people of Kparblee during the past elections.

People elect governments for the government to work on their behalf, but the people of Kparblee are yet to get any results of the votes they casted in the elections, he said.

In his four reasons why the major bridge should be constructed, Wehjla stated that first, it is the responsibility of government to provide social services for the people who elected it, and the people of Kparblee are part of Liberians who elected the current government. He said it was unfortunate that the people of Kparblee have become second-class citizens in their own county, and such must end.

Second, the KDA Chief explained that constructing the bridge and restoring the roads will enhance education in the area.

Kparblee's highest institution of learning is an unequipped junior high school. Wejlah said only few students leave the region to seek higher/high school education in other parts of the county, and some even find it difficult to leave and return due to the road condition.

His argument is that when the bridge is constructed to allow vehicles move in, development activities including construction of schools and clinics as well as other public facilities would be stimulated, and the lives of the people will improve.

On the third front, the construction of the bridge would yield more economic benefits and help reduce poverty and hardship the people currently face, the KDA President opined. Kparblee used to be one of the highest cocoa and coffee producing regions before the civil war, but has been abandoned and neglected since the war ended, he asserted.

He noted that when the bridge is restored, farmers would take their produce to the market and proceeds from sales could help improve their lives.

KDA's final point is that the inaccessibility of the area by vehicles has dire security implications and risks as Kparblee District borders Liberia with Cote d'Ivoire.

He said in the absence of road to get there or out, if anything happens on the other side of the border that warrants escaping, Liberians would be trapped in the district.

Wehjleh said it was time for government to move in and deliver the people from being locked in a world of neglect, abandonment and poverty only because they lack basic social services such as roads and bridges which government has failed to provide.

KDA's Board Chair Benjamin Saywahn for his part commended the Nimba Legislative Caucus for holding talks with them during their fact-finding mission here. From their tour, Saywahn said they realized that Kparblee is considered as a "separate entity" of the body politics of Liberia.

"Our district is the least developed district in Nimba County... which shows that we have been marginalized and forgotten," he continued. "All we are asking the government to do is what we cannot do; that's all we ask; that's all we want--the construction of the Kwi River Bridge."

Saywahn lamented that many NGOs and other development partners do not have access to the district, as cell companies and radio signals are absent, least to mention investors. "We have come, we have seen, we have been on the front line, and we are now going back to raise the awareness and to do more for our people."

The KDA delegation brought in a 40-foot container loaded with note and text books and other learning materials for schools and pupils in the district, but distributing them will face huge challenges due to the inaccessibility of the area by vehicles, the said.

The organization is running self-help clinics and schools and has vowed to do more in coming months, but wants the government to unlock the region with roads. The Chairman of KDA Liberia Peter Karngbaye called on the government to live by the social contract entered with the people at the ballot box.

He said pregnant women were dying because the roads ware deplorable, lacking bridges to take them to health centers. "Our concern is the road, for government to do something to relieve our people."