THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014

The imposition of curfew by President Johnson Sirleaf to curb the spread of the Ebola virus, the arrival of a five-man medical team from the Democratic Republic of Congo  to help and the announcement of 34 survivors of the Ebola disease are among stories dominating today’s summary of the local dailies.

DOMINANT STORIES 

Govt. Imposes Curfew ‘To Prevent The Spread Of Ebola’

"In an effort to fight the deadly Ebola virus, the government has said a curfew from 9pm to 6am will be imposed starting from Wednesday, August 20, 2014. The New Republic newspaper quotes a statement issued by Government late Tuesday as saying that  though there has been some success - the several persons who have been freed from the disease - the structure and systems that have been put in place, the human and financial resources that we have mobilized and the stabilization of a few Response Communities, the Government has been unable to control the spread due to continued denials, cultural burying practices, disregard for the advice of health workers and disrespect for the warnings by the Government. As a result and due to the large population concentration the disease has spread widely in Monrovia and environs. It has thus become necessary to impose additional sanctions to curb the spread overall and particularly in those areas of intensity. In view, the Government has announced the following measures: The communities of West Point in Monrovia and Dolo Town in Margibi are quarantined under full security watch. This means that there will be no movements in and out of those areas; All entertainment centers are to be closed; All video centers are to be closed at 6:00 p.m.

Related Captions: Curfew Imposed! (New Dawn), Liberia Announces 9-6 Ebola Curfew; West Point Quarantined(FrontPage Africa), Govt. Imposes Curfew Over Ebola(The Analyst), Liberia Under Curfew: President Blames Citizens For Spread Of Virus(Daily Observer)

Congolese Doctors Arrive Today

The New Dawn quotes a Foreign Ministry’s release: The Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has announced it will dispatch a five-man medical team from the Democratic Republic of Congo is being dispatched to Liberia today, Wednesday, August 20th to help with the ongoing fight against the deadly Ebola Disease, the Congolese government has announced here. The team will include two medical doctors and three para-medical professionals. According to a Foreign Ministry release, the decision to send the medical team to aid Liberia in its Ebola fight was made by President Joseph Kabila Kabange through the efforts of the Embassy of the DR Congo accredited near Monrovia. The release said the team will be led by Professor, Dr. Muyembe Tafum Jean Jaques, Coordinator of the DR Congo Ebola Control Team.  Other members of the team are: Dr.Mukendi Kalambayi, Internist in charge of Control Infection; Mr. MuyembeBaby, Lab Technician in charge of collecting, keeping and controlling specimens; Mr.Yongolele Riziki, Biologist in charge of Bio-Security; and Mrs. Akonga Okito, Lab Technician and Analyst.

 Related Caption:Dr Congo Dispatches Experts To Help Liberia’s Ebola Fight( Frontpage Africa)

Following Looting in West Point - More Stringent Measures Soon... 34 Ebola Suspects Cleared At ELWA

The Government of Liberia (GOL) has announced that it intends to take tougher measures aimed at enhancing the fight against the deadly Ebola virus in Monrovia. The GOL said because the Ebola virus is on an upward trend in densely populated Monrovia, those measures will serve as a means of bringing things under control. Information Minister Lewis Brown who did not name these measures said people are still gathering in large numbers at various entertainment centers, saying, "I told you we will take further measures and if we close down entertainment centers and you decide to go and gather in corners you will be harming yourself. Don't do that to yourself”. Last Saturday, youths of West Point looted a Holding Center for suspected Ebola patients in the Township on ground that they did not want any Ebola center in the area. Minister Brown also disclosed that 34 Ebola suspects have been clear of the virus and released from the ELWA Ebola Center. Minister Brown said three doctors are currently responding to treatment after they were administer the Zmapp drug although he declined to say who they are or at which center they are being treated, Inquirer writes.

Related Caption: 34 Survive Ebola Deaths(New Democrat)

UNMIL Pledges More Support To Fight Ebola In Liberia

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Liberia, Karin Landgren, has promised the Liberian Government that the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) will support the fight against the spread of the deadly Ebola disease. Madam Landgren gave the assurance on Monday, August 18, 2014 when she held a town hall meeting with Grand Cape Mount County Administrators and County Health Team (CHT) in Sinje Town, Garwular District during an exercise marking the prevention of the Ebola virus in the county, Daily Observer reports.

Related Caption: UNMIL Pledges Support For EbolaFight(Heritage)

 Ebola Incidents Decline In Lofa, Increase In Nimba

It has been disclosed in Monrovia that the fight against the Ebola virus is gaining grounds in Lofa County as the situation is said to be improving on a daily basis. Information Minister told a news conference yesterday that if the death rate was ten in the county, it is now reduced to two because the people of Lofa are adhering to preventive measures being put in place by the Ministry of Health. Minister Brown told the conference that the major struggle for the government is to contain the virus in Monrovia that inhabits over a million persons. Minister Brown told journalists that when once sneezes in Lofa, people get concerned and report same to the authorities, saying, "The situation has greatly improved in a place like Quarndo Gboni where over fifty persons had died since the virus was noticed in the country." In a related development, the Ebola virus has killed 25 persons in Nimba County in less than three months, the Assistant Superintendent for Development, TekoYorla has disclosed. According to the Ebola Task Force spokesperson and Assistant Superintendent for Development, Teko Yorla confirmed 48 plausible and suspected cases, 156 contacts and 25 deaths in Nimba, Inquirer reports.

Related Caption: Gov’t Closes Nimba –Grand Gedeh Boundary – As Ebola Death Toll Heightens In Ganta(Daily Observer), ‘Nimba May Be Quarantined’ - Ganta Mayor discloses as Ebola rages(Daily Observer ), Dead Bodies Litter In Nimba(The New Dawn)

AAMIN, UNAIDS Train Rural Journalists

A Liberian based Media Group under the banner, anti-AIDS Media Network (AAMIN) in collaboration with the United Nations Joint Programm on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) has concluded a two-week training for 30 rural journalists and six Civil Society organizations’ representatives in three counties. The counties include River Gee, Maryland and Grand Kru. ‘The training was sponsored by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) through UNAIDS. It was aimed increasing demand for the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT), as well as awareness on Ebola prevention, The News newspaper reports.

Related Caption: AAMIN, UNAIDS Train Rural Journalists(Heritage)

OTHER STORIES

WB, AU Outline 4 Pillars In Ebola Response

The World Bank (WB) and the African Union (AU) have outlined four key areas that must form the focus of the emergency response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. They named the four areas as support to health workers; rapid deployment of more health workers and laboratories, clinics and testing equipment; more effective communication in communities and building stronger health systems. The two institutions made the statement in a message signed by WB President Jim Yong Kim and AU Chairperson Nkosazana Diamini Zuma published in Liberian dailies Monday, Heritage reports.

Communities Quarantine In Bong

Authorities in the Central Liberian town of Gbarnga, Bong County say they have quarantined three communities in the area as part of efforts to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus there. Latest figures released by the World Health Organization has put the total number of death in affected countries, including Liberia around 1200 as at August 19. Bong County Health Officer Dr. Sampson Arzoaquoi named the communities as Millionaire Quarter, Civil Compound Communities in Gbarnga and the BeleKeteh-la Community in Sanoyea District. Officials say during the quarantine period, police and soldiers deplored in the area will regularly patrol those communities in an effort to curb cross community movements, NewDawn reports.

Ebola Quarantine - Commuters Stranded At Lofa-Bong Border

Beyan Town, St. Paul's Bridge, Lofa County — Even as a routine traffic jam for hours every day near the St. Paul's bridge on the Lofa-Bong border has been giving the commuters tough time, another jam on the highway has added to the woes of commuters. Hundreds of vehicles remain stranded due to delay in granting entry permits to either side by personnel of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), who last week moved in to prevent the further spread of the deadly Ebola in the two counties. Traders who purchase goods from as far as Gbarnga and Voinjama plan their schedules, putting into consideration that the borders work for up to 24 hours,  FrontPage Africa reports.

Ebola Hits Bassa Second Populous District - 1 Confirmed, 6 Suspected

One person has been confirmed an Ebola patient in District Three (Wee Statutory District), with six others who came in direct contact with the patient being tracked by the Grand Bassa County Ebola Task Force. District authorities confirmed the presence of the virus in the densely populated community of Compound Three, a settlement with over 25,000 people, as denying that the deadly virus doesn’t exist still lingers amongst many residents in the area.  Sources say, the patient, a woman, arrived in the district a week ago from Dolo Town, Margibi County and felt very ill before her relatives opted to take her to a nearby town where an herbalist’s healing failed to recuperate her, FrontPage Africa writes.

Ebola Outbreak Affects Agriculture In Lofa County

The outbreak of the Ebola disease in Liberia has greatly disturbed farming activities in Salayea District and other parts of Lofa County as able men and women die daily and most of the Non Governmental Organizations in the county that used to operate in the communities have folded up as a result of panic. These and other issues were disclosed on FrontPageAfrica Saturday by the Community Chairman in Beyan's Town, Salayea District and other stakeholders during a dialogue with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) fact finding team on the analysis of the Ebola outbreak and its impact on agricultural productivity.

W/Bank Group Commits US$5Billion For Electricity

The World Bank Group has committed $5 billion in new technical and financial support for energy projects in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and Tanzania which have partnered with President Obama’s Power Africa initiative. Making the announcement on the second day of the 1^st US-Africa Summit, World Bank Group President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, said the new financial commitment was urgently needed to generate more electricity for the people of Africa, 600 million of whom have no access to electricity, despite the fact that African possesses some of the world’s largest hydropower, geothermal, wind and solar potential, as well as significant oil and natural gas reserves, New Democrat reports.  

Castrate Rapists: Gender Minister Wants Harsh Punishment 

 Liberia’s Minister for Gender and Development wants harsher punishment for people who rape.
“Even though, men are the fathers, but if they are found raping, they should be castrated, so that it would serve as a deterrent to other men,” says Gender Minster Julia Duncan Cassel.
With many Liberians being disappointed in the Anti-rape law as they believe it is not strong enough to deter men from raping, Minister Cassel, said progress has been made in reporting rape cases, but also admitted that the law is not strong enough to keep men from committing the act.
“We are going to ask AFELL to look at the rape law again, because maybe something is in it that makes it weak. But I would say rape is being reported more frequently than before, because when I was a young girl coming up, I never heard about rape, not that it did not happen in the past, but it was not reported, like now that we have a female president,” lamented Minister Cassell, FrontPage Africa reports.