Liberia: Mary Broh Shuts Down Restaurant for Poor Sanitation

The General Service Agency Director General, Mary T. Broh, shut down the Sajj House and Restaurant over the weekend for failure to clear garbage and keep the area clean. 

“First of all is the state of the place that really made me angry. Nobody should go there to eat,” Madam Broh said.

In a live video on social media, Madam Broh is seen in the restaurant ordering the staff and customers to get outside. “Everybody gets outside. My name is Mary Broh. You see how this place is dirty? We are shutting it down,” she added. 

The GSA boss is noted for shutting down businesses and punishing individuals who are in violation of city ordinances, especially those concerned with proper sanitation and waste management. However, it has been more than three years since the GSA boss was last seen in the public regulating sanitation practices around the city. Known for her obsessive-compulsive approach to filth and untidiness, Madam Broh did not hold back her hand this time. And, being a restaurant, especially one that is popular among expatriates working in Liberia, Sajj unfortunately became the perfect example. 

“They will remain closed until the management can go through the City Ordinances at the Monrovia City Hall. I don't know whether they opened today but tomorrow I will go there. They will have to be proactive. What we saw was just really disgusting,” Madam told the Daily Observer via phone interview.

“I don't know whether they have removed the trash. It is really bad the entire place should be broken down. You should see the roof, you should see the trees, the drainage. Everywhere is dirt,"  she adds.

According to her, the closure is just a warning to the management that if they fail to clean the place she will invite the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to close it down permanently.

“I shut it down and left. I just give him (owner) a signal so if I go there tomorrow or send my team and that place is not clean, then we will go through the City Ordinances, and ask the Environmental Protection Agency to shut it down. The place is nasty, with green mold and people are still buying food from there,” she wondered.

On October 21, 2021, Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson T. Koijee, constituted a Citizens Engagement Board. He appointed 14 Liberians, making Madam Broh the Chairperson of the Board and Amb Juli Endee as Co-chairperson. Since her appointment, Madam Broh has begun cleaning drainages and streets in central Monrovia to give the city a facelift.

“The City of Monrovia is my mandate and then we are adding Caldwell because it's historical. I am also on Mechlin street. I am being selective because those are priority areas,” she said.

According to her her team has started engaging community leaders regarding their drainages and waste and they are excited to work with her. 

“I have 54 people permanently in the cemetery. It will look a little better. I want to put an iron fence around the cemetery. It will take a while, but our first plan is to remove the forest from the graveyard and move the zogos from there,” she added 

Some time ago, Madam Broh complained that top government officials in the Weah administration were refusing to allow her to regulate government's vehicles. However, the GSA boss says she will not relent any longer in doing her job.

“They will have to stop using government vehicles to attend funerals, churches, and to buy coal. Taking themselves out of town or using the car to take their girlfriends out, they will have to stop,” she said.

Aside from regulating government vehicles, Madam Broh is also poised to go visit government ministries and agencies to ensure that those public facilities are clean.