By James Jornyoun, Contributor.
In recent years I have had the opportunity to interact with people who have visited Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia. I overheard people talking about how the City of Monrovia has become densely populated. I am amazed by the response I get when I asked the same people what they think should be done regarding the densely populated Monrovia. I get the obvious response such as “The Government needs to do something about it,” or “some of Monrovia’s current residents are people from the heartland of Liberia.” As a result of the dense population, there are limited parking spaces. In addition to regular taxi cabs and buses for public transportation, motor cycles, (commonly called “pan pan”) are used as a major form of public transportation, creating an eye sore and an element of danger. Motor cycles were rarely used for commercial transportation in Monrovia prior to the crises; now they are a major source of accidents in the city.
Before going into the issues of Monrovia’s dense population, let’s look at some historical synopses of Monrovia, Liberia. By looking at these historical analyses we will be able to understand the underlying cause of the problem the City of Monrovia has with regard to the population density. We will also be able to create balance instead of shifting blames on the 14 years civil crisis that overwhelmed Monrovia as well as the entire country. The City of Monrovia was established by the American Colonization Society in 1822 as a home for freed slaves. Monrovia was named in honor of James Monroe, the 5th President of the United States. When the City of Monrovia was founded in 1822, it was isolated from the rest of the country. Even after Liberia’s independence in 1847, Monrovia was not opened to the rest of the country.
Monrovia, at the time was the face of Liberia with no adequate roads leading to the interior of the country. For example, economic, educational, and political activities were all centered on Monrovia. As well as Infrastructure development, import & export enhanced by the presence of the Freeport of Monrovia. Moreover, with the lack of adequate access to the interior of Liberia, educational advancements were hindered. We can now see why the illiteracy rate in Liberia has risen to 80 percent or more. Tribal group started to move from the interior of Liberia to Monrovia looking for employment around 1926. Data – In 1943 when William V. S. Tubman became President of Liberia after 8 years in office, he granted women and indigenous the right to vote in 1951 for the first time in presidential election.
All of them levitra on line http://www.slovak-republic.org/symbols/flag/ are made of Sildenafil citrate. According to statistics, 70% of men, who take ED pills, experience slight generic levitra for sale headache and back pain, dizziness and fainting. This problem occurs on the gastrointestinal area but not generic sales viagra because of structure problems but mainly because of its unique pulp which has the right combination of empathy and firmness to guide him. This in essence means that viagra 25 mg or other brand names, once evacuated by the body, can no longer stimulate an erection. Although it took so many years after independence for economic, educational, and political activities to reach the heartland of Liberia, Monrovia like any other developing nation’s capital has always been the place of attraction and provision of opportunities for the rest of the country. By virtue of the fact that government plays a major role in opening economic and educational opportunities, Monrovia at this point in time embeds quality of hope to displaced and returning Liberians. There are positive aspects to the densely populated Monrovia, such as short-term and long-term economic benefits. A)The short-term economic benefit is a learning curve that will lead to innovation and self-reliance.
B) The long-term benefit of the dense population of Monrovia will create a drive to modernization of the country and the growth of new ideas for industrialization that will lead to competition with the rest of the developing countries in the sub-region. Let’s look at the nation of Japan for example; Japan is among the most densely populated countries in the world. Evidence of innovations and economic strength from Japan’s four major islands comprising of Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku with a population of 128 million can be seen throughout the world. The City of Monrovia with its 1,010,970 population (National Census, 2008) will benefit economic success from the huge population in time to come. I am very aware of the negative aspects of a densely populated city, such as high cost of living, higher unemployment, threat to disease and crime but I am equally aware of the economic and educational benefits such as industrialization, productivity and competitive advantage.
Despite the civil crisis, movement toward the cities started in the 1960s for most developing countries, and in the 1980s for China-The Mystery of Capital, 2000. According to Hernando De Soto (The Mystery of Capital, 2000), “Since Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms began in 1979, 100 million Chinese have left their official homes in search of extralegal jobs.” If you look around, you are most likely to see a product made in China. Let me share a story written by Bruce Whatley about three little pigs that lived together in an old house along with seventy-three other little pigs. One day the three little pigs decided to leave home and to build their own houses. The first pig built his house out of straw, and the second little pig built his house out of sticks, and the third little pig built his house out of bricks.
What we can all learn from this story is a lesson of innovation and continuous improvement when we are at the point of transition by discovering our potentials that will enable us to make things better. Monrovia is at the point of economic development that will spread to the rest of the country because everyone is learning from the opportunity that Monrovia provides. © Newlinkafrica.com. To submit article for publication: Info@newlinkafrica.com. Email or contact us at:info@newlinkafrica.com