MONROVIA, April 9 (LINA) -The Representative of District #12 in Montserrado County, Richmond Anderson, has submitted a legislation to the Plenary of the House of
Representatives calling for a repeal of the 1965 Approved Act on industrial development in Gardnersville.
The 1965 Act is titled: “An Act authorizing the expropriation of certain parcels of land lying between the Mesurado River Bridge and the access road to Gardnersville on the north side of the Bushrod Island-Paynesville Freeway and extending for a depth of approximately 8000 linear feet for Industrial Estate Development purpose”.
Anderson in a communication to House Speaker, J. Alexander Tyler argued that the Act at the time was intended to provide space for the advancement of the industrial sector on the outskirts of Monrovia.
He indicated that during this period, the City of Monrovia extended from the City Hall on Capitol Hill to West Point, and that the expropriated parcel of land was a dark forest with no inclination of one day becoming a land of hope and restoration.
According to the Liberia News Agency, Lawmaker Anderson noted that said land is currently serving a different purpose, recalling that during the reign of slain President Samuel K. Doe, residents of the sea erosion threatened Borough of West Point were moved there for safety.
He disclosed that today, the land in question, which is playing host to several communities, institutions and infrastructures, including the Chicken Soup Factory Community, is now a safe haven to nearly 48,000 inhabitants, over 2,000 houses, 24 churches, three mosques, 21 schools, three clinics and three markets.
The District #12 Representative warned that the maintenance and enforcement of the 1965 Act will not only cause havoc and chaos for the already struggling economy of the country, but it will also negatively impact the lives of people living on the land, adding that laws are made to protect the interest of the people and not the contrary.
The Representative’s move comes in the wake of recent moves by the National Investment Commission (NIC) to evict inhabitants of the Chicken Soup Factory area, which was once an industrial park.
Following the reading of the communication in session on Tuesday, Plenary turned it over to the committees on Internal Affairs and Judiciary for review and advice, with the mandate to report to the August body in two weeks after the Easter Break.
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