Sad News from Government of Liberia (Sapo National Park in Ruins)

Sapo National Park in Ruins - Feb 1, 2009

SAPO NATIONAL PARK IN RUINS
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says the Sapo National Park could lose its natural resources if nothing is urgently done by the Liberian Government to protect the park.

EPA Executive Director, Ben Donnie, said the Park is being occupied by Non-Liberians.He said those who are currently occupying the park are from neighboring countries like Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone, and that such occupants are allegedly carrying-out illegal mining of gold and diamonds, including other activities that are harmful to the park.

Mr. Donnie made the disclosure Friday, during a one-day National Stakeholders' Meeting on the Validation of an Analytical Report on the Sapo National Park.

Also speaking, EPA's Project Manager, Nathaniel Blama said, inhabitants of the park are living in extreme poverty. Mr. Blama named the lack of safe- drinking water, roads, and schools, among others, as some of the problems affecting those who live within the vicinity of the park.

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