The general Town Chief of Kissi Camp, Upper Johnsonville near Kpekpeh Town, over the weekend informed the Daily Observer
that several dogs in the community have torn the plastic wrapped around
corpses of Ebola victims and are now feeding on parts of the corpses
exposed to them.
As such, Town Chief
Tamba Tengbeh expressed fear of the subsequent outbreak of other
diseases in the area since some of dogs are domesticated and could cause
harm to the already frightened community dwellers.
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Chief Tengbeh, in an
exclusive interview with this newspaper on Sunday, also complained that
the more than 2,000 residents of the area have been suffering an
offensive odor of rotting corpses since the bodies were dumped in the
nearby Kpanwein River by authorities from the Ministry of Internal
Affairs (MIA) without proper burial.
To that effect, Internal
Affairs Minister Morris Dukuly, told this newspaper via mobile phone a
week ago that there is no corpse exposed to create a health hazard or
environmental concerns for the Johnsonville residents.
He maintained that the
MIA bought the parcel of land on which the dead bodies were dumped, and
with that, “nobody can tell anybody that the bodies will be removed
since they have been under the ground for several weeks.”
MIA has up to date not
disclosed to this paper the name of the person who sold the parcel of
land on which the bodies were dumped; nor have they disclosed the
amount on money that was involved in the deal since the land was indeed
found to be private property, owned by one Joseph F. Dolo and others.
Mr. Dolo’s ownership to the parcel of the land in question has been
confirmed by his initials marked on his cornerstones. His father,
Emmanuel T. Cole, has also denied any knowledge of the MIA ‘land
transaction’.
Cognizant of the health
hazard upon the community dwellers as dogs were now feeding on some of
corpses, Chief Tengbeh has with great fear for the spread of the
disease, instructed some of the ‘vulnerable’ youths to cover the exposed
bodies with red dirt.
He has appealed for government intervention to resolve the impasse in the community.
Compounding the problems
for the residents and the entire community, Chief Tengbeh said they
lack safe drinking water and have also not been provided any Ebola
preventive and protective materials.
According to him, some
of the dogs that fed on those bodies have died, although this paper is
yet to confirm that part of the report.
Guarded by heavily armed
platoons of officers from the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and the
Police Support Unit (PSU) several weeks ago, two mini trucks conveyed
the corpses of Ebola victims to be buried in Johnsonville.
This dumping of about 45
bodies on the bank of the Kpan-wein River under the heavy guard of
police and soldiers immediately created a stampede, with people running
in all directions, for fear of being contaminated or afflicted with the
Ebola disease.
The plan had been to
bury the bodies in mass graves dug by a hired yellow machine. But the
machine unfortunately got stuck in the mud, where the property meets the
mangrove. The yellow machine is yet to be removed since its owner has
since gone into hiding for fear of being attacked by the Ebola virus.
The Kpanwein River
connects the Kpeh-Kpeh Town Community to Whein Town in the east and
Chicken Soup Factory on Somalia Drive in the west, as well as Upper and
Lower Johnsonville, and many other communities in and around Monrovia.
Since the first
truckload of corpses arrived Saturday, August 2, residents of the nearby
communities vehemently rejected the use of their land to dispose of the
bodies.
An aggrieved Kpeh-Kpeh Town resident, Carey Daniel, told the Daily Observer that
the exact plot of land where the graves are dug is a wetland on the
bank of a river that is a source of water for many communities around
there. They fear that their wells ---from which they get water for
drinking and domestic use – will definitely be contaminated, exposing
them to the same deadly Ebola and other diseases.
Meanwhile, for fear
that those dogs might spread the disease among the residents, many
inhabitants have reportedly fled to other parts of Monrovia.
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