Liberia: “No Life Lost, But We Are Homeless”
— Speaker Koffa on fire incident that destroyed his Rehab Community residence
“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. We officially are homeless. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord,” these were the first words of Speaker Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa of the 55th Legislature, hours after a devastating fire outbreak ravaged his Rehab community residence Sunday night.
Speaking to the press on Capitol Hill, Speaker Koffa lamented that in the past few months, many Liberians have experienced devastating fires, some of whom lost their lives. Fortunately, there was no injury or casualty to him and his family, of which he is very grateful to God.
“But this is to say these incidents are not confined to certain groups or classes of people until we fix our broken system. Until we do those things necessary to help our people, we cannot save ourselves,” Koffa said.
“I want to say thank you to everyone, specifically the President [who] called me last night from Bomi and we talked for about 20 minutes. He expressed very sorrowfully his regrets for the incident. We are appreciative of him. The first lady called. We talked for about five minutes and then she and Dama talked extensively.”
“My colleagues from the National Legislature, we had a quorum last night when more than 37 lawmakers appeared at the scene to identify with us. My many family and friends also appeared at the scene when the fire was raging.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence and some senators also identified with him on the night of the fire incident.
“My special warm heartfelt thank you to former President George Weah, who didn’t only open his home to us temporarily; he left what he was doing and came immediately to the neighborhood; blessed me with three suitcases worth of clothes and other things so we can manage to get what we can do with our lives. I am grateful to him.
“Father Ambrose, my priest, came on the scene; we got numerous calls and texts from friends in the US, and we are grateful for that. Those are material things; they will be replaced. Thank God there was no loss of life. My neighbors, the people in the Rehab neighborhood, who we called Miami, that we are improving to Manhattan, were very helpful,” Speaker Koffa indicated.
He narrated that when the fire started at about 6 pm, he was advised by security, upon which he left his residence in a T-shirt given to him by a neighbor.
He praised the efforts of the Liberia National Fire Service, the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company, well as Rep. Musa Bility’s private company for helping to quench the fire at his residence.
Stressing on the devastating fire incidents across the country in recent months, which also claimed the lives of some Liberians, he said: “Again, I’m no better than hundreds of other Liberians who have had fire incidents over the last few weeks.”
Meanwhile, it may be recalled that as of Thursday, February 15, the House of Representatives is considering allocating funds in the 2024 budget to purchase a fire truck for Paynesville and potentially additional fire trucks for other cities.
The House’s decision was triggered by a communication from Montserrado County District #4 Representative, Michael Thomas, who called on his colleagues at the House of Representatives to see the need to allocate funds for at least one fire truck for the City of Paynesville.
“My request is in response to recent fire outbreaks causing significant damage in the city,” Thomas said in a communication sent to the House’s Plenary through the office of Speaker J. Fonati Koffa. The communication was read and discussed on Thursday, February 15.
According to Thomas, who is the House’s Committee Chair on Judiciary, his communication is a result of the recent fire outbreak across the country, especially in the City of Paynesville, that has caused unbearable setbacks to citizens.
“The City of Paynesville has witnessed several instances of fire outbreak within the space of 30 days, mainly destroying the homes of residents in District #4 and other parts of the city, and adjacent areas,” Thomas said, making specific reference to the incident that occurred recently at the Residence of Senator Saah H. Joseph in Congo Town.
It is no secret that the lack of fire trucks in Paynesville has hindered the timely delivery of fire services during emergencies.
“The City of Paynesville has five electoral districts that are densely populated with over 450,000 persons who are living in structures with high volatility of fire outbreak. As we are aware, the Municipal City of Paynesville does not have a single fire truck, thus leaving them vulnerable during any fire outbreak as the National Fire Service has to dispatch its fire truck from as far as Ashmun Street, Monrovia, thus arriving after substantial damages to lives and properties have occurred," he said.
Thomas therefore craves the indulgence of the House’s Plenary to kindly consider budgetary allocation in the 2024 pending budget under the Paynesville City budget for the procurement of a Fire Truck for the people of Paynesville to minimize the unprecedented deaths and material losses the people of Paynesville have encountered over the past months.
After being read, the communication was referred to the Committee on Ways, Means, and Finance for further action, with an amendment proposed to ensure each county has access to fire trucks.