Scores of residents of Buutuo, Nimba County, have been devastated by floods, which have destroyed crops and affected the movement of goods and services.
By Thomas Domah, Nimba County
Nimba, Liberia, October 25, 2024 – Buutuo, Nimba County District#5, is in another war, this time around with nature, as floods sweep villages and towns, destroying crops and exacerbating hunger.
The floods, resulting from heavy downpours in recent weeks, have devastated a huge population of farmers and prevented access to health facilities, schools, and food, among other things.
The hunger has affected school-going children, including parents, alongside their cocoa and rice farms.
Since the flood incident, there has been no intervention from the local and national governments, which has caused a food shortage and a lack of basic needs.
The NEW DAWN Nimba County correspondent, who visited Buu YAO District, observed that citizens live in appalling conditions.
Most district residents are involved in agricultural activities, but the flood has affected their crops, leaving them buried underwater for over two months and rotten.
Prior to the incident, citizens of the district had largely relied on neighboring Ivory Coast for business activities, but floods have cut them off, leaving them unable to enter Ivory Coast to buy food and other essential needs.
Several young people in the area are now involved in criminal activities to feed themselves and their families.
Over ten motorbikes have been stolen, while citizens seek support from government and international partners.
Various roads leading to District# 5 have been cut off, thereby preventing normal activities, including movement of goods and services.
Buutuo Town is historically the launch pad of the December 25, 1989 rebel invasion into Liberia, under the command of now jailed former President Charles Ghankay Taylor, against the government of slain President Samuel Kanyon Doe.
Since the end of the civil war in 2003, the town has yet to see development, as residents languish in poverty and its huge youthful population refuses to go to school. Instead, they have turned to substance abuse.
The district is the birthplace of Senator Prince Yormie Johnson, who is completing 27 years in the Liberian Senate. It is represented by Representative Samuel G. Kogar, who is spending his third term in office. Editing by Jonathan Browne
