L C M on Sister-City Relation for Liberian cites

LCM LEADS U. S. SISTER CITIES INITIATIVE FOR LIBERIAN CITIES

By Staff Report PNN

“We will employ every iota of our ingenuity to positively impact the reconstruction process in the motherland through the concept of local

empowerment for self-sustainability.” This statement was made by the Acting President of the Liberian Community of Saint Paul, Mr. Edward Carter when he concluded arrangement with the US-Africa Sister Cities Incorporated for several cities and municipal leaders in Liberia to attend the 2008 US-Africa Sister Cities Conference slated to convene in the City of Lansing, Michigan, USA, from July 23-25.

The arrangement for these local government officials from Liberia to participate in this all-important event is part of ongoing efforts initiated by LCM to promote twin-cities relationship between cities in Liberia and other international cities.

Speaking further, Mr. Carter noted that given the evolving socio-economic and political dispensations in Liberia under the dynamic leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, it is “incumbent upon Liberian living in the Diaspora to join the President in her efforts to build a wholesome functioning democratic enterprise.”

Mr. Carter frowned on the attitudes of some Liberians and Liberian diasporic Organizations for being “unnecessarily critical” of the government

Back home, without offering any positive contribution. He quipped, “How can you expect the government to perform miracle, when those of us who should be constructively engaged in the rebuilding process are trapped in the politics of self-destruction and parochialism.

He made particular reference to ULAA, the parent organization of all Liberians in the Americas, who he said, have existed for decades and cannot show any meaningful program or project they have initiated in Liberia that have impacted the socio-economic growth and development of their fellow compatriots.

Mr. Carter then call for a new paradigm shift in the socio-political mentality of these organizations if they are to remain relevant.

Accordingly, to the LCM Chief Executive, the participation of these local community leaders from Liberia in this all-important event will open windows of opportunities, especially in the areas of health, education, and resettlement, transfer of technology, agriculture and twin-cities relationships. The Conference is also designed to bring new levels of understanding between the peoples of Africa, the United States and the larger international community.

The Conference which will be held under the Theme: “Building Alliances,” will bring together municipal leaders, Corporate Executives, politicians, health practitioners, diplomats, lawmakers and other community leaders from Africa, the US, Europe and other parts of the globe.

It can be recalled that during the 1980s, the LCM boss was one of the leading advocate for promoting Sister-Cities ties between cities in Liberia and cities international. Under the auspices of the Liberia Council of Mayors (LCM), a non-profit organization which grouped mayors from the then 13-political sub-divisions of the country, which he helped nurtured, over 15 mayors from Liberia attended the World Conference of Mayors in Washington D.C. and Paris France, respectively.

These conferences provided an opportunity for municipal officials to initiate discussions with their counter-parts from around the globe to establish sister-cities ties, and seek assistance.

Meanwhile, the LCM boss is calling on the government of Liberia under the sagacious and farsighted leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to ensure that these local officials participate in the conference