Dozens of residents of the slum community of West Point have been compelled to leave their homes due to heavy sea erosion which over the past time has been chasing them off their community.
According to report those affected including the elderly and children as a result of the sea erosion are now finding their way for resettlement or a new home in Brewerville, specifically in the VOA Community to restart their lives.
The Township of West Point is located on a peninsula which juts out into the Atlantic Ocean between the Mesurado and Saint Paul rivers. Home to approximately 75,000 people, West Point is one of Monrovia’s most densely populated slums.
Environmental degradation has gradually caused part of the peninsula to erode into the ocean. Endemic problems include overpopulation and diseases such as tuberculosis and other deadly diseases are visible there.
An experiment in the 1970s to move people from that township failed, as residents returned despite squalid living conditions, in this community people moved back to fish and make a living as informal shopkeepers and service providers close to the city centre.
The community lacks proper sanitation and public toilets, a recent United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report estimates that there are four public toilets in the area, pay toilets exist, but residents cannot afford them, and thus public defecation is common.
The beach surrounding West Point is often used as a lavatory which creates health hazards as the water is used for drinking and fish from the water are consumed.
