By Evelyn T. Kpadeh
MONROVIA, LIBERIA
Since Liberia's second Ebola outbreak began, the government has put several measures in place aimed at containing the spread of the virus – from the declaration of a state of emergency to border closures and a nighttime curfew.
While many had initially thought the measures, unveiled by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, would minimize or end the spread of Ebola, the battle against the deadly virus remains far from over.
The curfew imposed since August 20 has affected the lives of ordinary Liberians, as well as business owners and investors.
For one, communities in many parts of the capital have recently experienced a spate of armed robberies.
Alex Momo, a Monrovia real estate owner and local community leader, said criminals had taken advantage of the curfew to attack homes in the area.
"How can we say we are fighting Ebola and then the government imposes a curfew, but yet the outbreak in Liberia has gotten worse than Guinea and Sierra Leone, while we the ordinary citizens cannot sleep in peace at the hands of armed robbers?" he told Anadolu Agency.
Three homes were attacked in a single night by armed robbers who made off with money and valuables.
"We see police and army people moving in pick-ups on the main streets, but they are not present in communities at night," Johnson Berrien, a local resident, fumed.
According to Momo, the local community leader, people had set up their own vigilante groups to guard the community at night.
They have recruited young men to keep watch for criminal activities while the rest of the community sleeps.
Vigilantes patrol the area with cutlasses, sticks and rubber slingshots.
The government on Monday eased the night-time curfew, which now lasts from 11pm – as opposed to an earlier 9pm – until 6am daily.
Security forces have been ordered to arrest anyone caught in the streets after curfew.
In recent months, Ebola – a contagious disease for which there is no known treatment or cure – has claimed more than 2,200 lives in West Africa.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 431 people have died of the virus in Liberia.
The WHO has warned that the Ebola virus is spreading fast in Liberia, where many thousands of new cases are expected over the coming three weeks.
The tropical fever, which first appeared in 1976 in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, can be transmitted to humans from wild animals.
It also reportedly spreads through contact with the body fluids of infected persons or of those who have died of the disease.
-Bad for business-
The nighttime curfew has been bad for business, according to businesspeople in Monrovia.
"I sell roasted fish and vegetable salad," Mamie Kollie, a roasted fish and chicken vendor, told AA. "Every day I take raw fish back home, because – by the time people come to buy – the curfew is upon us."
"We have to cook and eat all the remaining fish because I don't have an ice box [freezer]," Kollie lamented.
Entertainment centers and video clubs – which usually start to pick up in the late evening – have been hard hit by the nighttime curfew.
The government is now demanding that they close their doors by 6pm.
Most Liberians closely follow African and European football, with most matches being shown in the late evening or at night.
Most gas stations, meanwhile, which under normal circumstances would close at midnight, now close as early as 7pm.
"Business is very hard; it's not easy," Evon Fallah, a mother of four who used to make between 3,000 and 4,000 Liberian dollars (roughly $35 to $47) every day selling clothes, told AA.
"Now when I come to sell, I can't even make 1,000 Liberian dollars," she lamented, adding: "I have children to feed."
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en
