Credit: LNA
President George Manneh Weah has mandated Internal Affairs Minister Varney Sirleaf to constitute a committee to probe the long-standing land dispute between Maryland and Grand Kru Counties.
It can be recalled that in early November 2020, tension brewed between residents of the neighboring communities of Wlowien in Maryland County and Behwan in Grand Kru County over boundary disagreement.
This resulted in residents of Wlowien in Maryland County setting up a roadblock on Saturday, November 7, 2020 for what they said was in defense of their territory and to safeguard the lives of their kinsmen from the opponents.
The situation stalled normal movement of private and commercial vehicles and passengers, majority of whom were marketers traveling along the route to Weteken in Grand Kru County for the regularSaturday market.
Speaking at a Town Hall Meeting in Behwan, Grand Kru County on February 25, President Weah said he was unhappy about Southeasterners battling over land, when his administration is now focusing on how to develop the country.
The Liberian leader expressed his commitment to help address the issue and called on citizens of both counties to be patient and work along with Internal Affairs Minister Sirleaf and their local leaders to resolve the issue.
Residents of both communities have been accusing each other of intruding on their land and destroying food crops planted on the buffer zone previously created by authorities to quell the row from deepening.
Authorities of the two Southeastern counties on November 12, 2020 postponed investigation into the matter due to Wlowien authorities’ failure to appear at the Pleebo City Hall where both counties’ leaderships were expected to meet to resolve the issue.
Since the reported burning down of houses and the vandalizing of a local church on the disputed land by unknown individuals, Maryland County Superintendent George Prowd and Superintendent Dorris Ylantun of
Grand Kru County have been working hard to quench the conflict.
Superintendents Prowd and Ylantun instructed the joint security of both counties to maintain law and order until a lasting solution is reached over the ownership of the land.
Wlowien Town Chief George Gbolugbah described the incident as the second of its kind since 1974.
Gbolugbah expressed regrets that Government has not been able to find a lasting solution to the 46-year-old land conflict, and called for immediate settlement of the matter.
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