Residents of Gbah Town, a remote rural community in Margibi District #1, are enduring severe hardship as they struggle with the absence of basic social services, including safe drinking water, healthcare facilities, and educational institutions. The situation has forced community members to rely on an open pit dug along a riverbank for drinking water — an unsafe practice that has exposed them to serious health risks.
Speaking to Verity News on Saturday, January 31, 2026, Simeon Tagbo, an elder of Gbah Town who has lived in the community for more than 50 years, described the daily challenges residents face just to survive. “For over forty years now, we have been drinking from an open pit by the river,” Tagbo said. “This is the only source of water we have, and it is not clean. We know it is dangerous, but we have no other option.”
Tagbo lamented that waterborne diseases have become common in the town. “Our children and old people are always sick,” he explained. “We suffer from diarrhea, stomach problems, and other sicknesses because of this dirty water. Sometimes when people fall sick, there is nowhere to take them because we don’t have a clinic or health center.”
Echoing similar concerns, Archie Wollo, a youth representative of Gbah Town, expressed frustration and disappointment over what he described as years of neglect by both local and national authorities.
Speaking in an emotional tone, Wollo said, “It feels like Gbah Town has been forgotten. We are Liberians, but we are not treated like citizens. No clean water, no school, no clinic, nothing.”
Wollo further explained the impact of the lack of educational facilities on children in the community. “Our children walk for hours to reach the nearest school,” he said. “Sometimes parents also have to walk long distances, and along the way people get sick or even die untimely deaths because there is no help.”
The community also accused their elected representative, Hon. Roland Opee Cooper, of abandoning the district. According to Wollo, “We have never seen our lawmaker in this community since he was elected. During the campaign, they sent people here to ask for our votes, but after winning, they disappeared.”
Elder Tagbo added, “We are not asking for too much. We just want clean water, a school for our children, and a clinic to save lives. We are calling on the government and our representative to hear our cry.”
Residents of Gbah Town are now appealing to the national government, non-governmental organizations, and humanitarian partners to urgently intervene and address the long-standing neglect facing their community.
