Flooding prompts Liberia to consider moving capital. July 23, 2024

Monrovia lies on Liberia's western Atlantic coast and is home to more than 1.5 million people.

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Flooding prompts Liberia to consider moving capital.

Evelyn KPADEH SEAGBEH

Severe flooding in Liberia has prompted a group of senators to propose moving the capital away from overcrowded and poorly run Monrovia, a suggestion met with enthusiasm and hesitation in the West African country.

The National Disaster Management Agency said that flash floods triggered by torrential rains between late June and early July left some 50,000 Liberians in urgent need.

The flood-prone capital was particularly hard hit, partly due to overcrowding, a poor sewage system and a lack of building regulations.

At a meeting to discuss the persistent problem of flooding, a joint Senate committee suggested the creation of a new city to replace Monrovia in early July.

“It's a good idea because our current capital is a mess,” said Chris Kpewudu, a young motorcycle driver in the capital.

“There's garbage all over the city and when it rains, there's flooding everywhere, but with a new city, it will be well planned and our capital could look like Abuja or more like it,” he added.

Abuja in Nigeria is one of the few planned capital cities on the African continent.

Tanzania's capital, Dodoma, and Yamoussoukro, in Côte d'Ivoire, were also established as administrative capitals at the end of the 20th century, with all three cities occupying geographically central positions in their respective countries.

Monrovia is home to 1.5 million people and lies on the Atlantic coast of Liberia, one of the poorest countries in the world.

The city is the economic, political, and cultural center of the country, with the Freeport of Monrovia providing a gateway for Liberian exports, including iron ore, rubber, and timber, to the United States and Europe.

But the city's poorly functioning infrastructure can barely keep up with the ever-growing population.

The Ministry of Public Works told AFP that it was carefully analyzing the proposal, adding that the plan did not yet include an exact location for the move and that any decision would come down to economic viability.

“Having a new city is capital intensive,” said T.T. Benjamin Myers, the ministry's director of communications.

“As a country, our national budget is still around $600 million... so having a new city will require many technical, financial, and economic factors to be seriously considered,” he added.

- Not a quick fix

The proposal to replace the capital is not new in Africa's oldest republic.

In 2012, then President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf suggested moving Monrovia to a new city called Zekepa, in the center of the country.

“We were all excited and looking forward to it,” Marayah Fyneah, national program officer for the Liberian Women's Legislative Caucus, told AFP.

“But unfortunately, we didn't even see a plan to show what the city would look like,” she added.

Fyneah said she was skeptical that a new Liberian capital would materialize in her lifetime, given the failure of the previous attempt.

Some residents interviewed by AFP were also hesitant and said that the government should first prioritize improving infrastructure and fighting poverty before looking for new capital.

"Our legislators are forgetting the problems we have on our hands as a country. Even the city of Monrovia is poorly managed in terms of sanitation and much more,” said one commentator, journalist Princess Elexa VanjahKollie.

Experts also warned about the extensive urban planning needed to create a viable new capital.

“Establishing a new city is not a quick fix,” Christopher Wallace, a professor of economics at the University of Liberia, told AFP.

“You want to consider the economic activities that would make the economy vibrant in that area, and you must have done the zoning to have a clear layout of what that city will look like,” he added.

eks-acc/rlp