Blend In

 As an investigating visitor, it is important to blend in with the local population, says Closeau.

Don't be afraid to try the local drinks, for example.

Harbour Traffic

Enjoy, all you Swedes! Uncle Mac still remembers some Swedish phrases. When Charles Taylors' rebels attacked Buchanan, he loaded his tugboat with 350 (!) women and children and took it to Monrovia. I met a whole bunch of old LAMCO-employees, all of them missing the good old days.

Harbour, continued

There is no longer a car road to enter the port from the southern side.

Supposedly, the Guinean ore is to be shipped raw.

The Harbour

 Outside the fence on the comercial harbour side

 BRE woodchips waiting to be shipped

 BRE area

 Raffik's old warehouse

Forgotten logs? 

Sadly, I was not able to enter the port area. I really wanted to see Nautical Club. I was told it's not being used at present. From outside the fence, I could see the top of a shipwreck somewhere in front of the Club's beach area. Several vessels running guns to Charles Taylor were sunk in the harbour by ECOMOG jetfighters. A big one by the comercial key is being cut up and removed by BRE. One of the tugboats were sunk at the LAMCO side, it is also being removed.

Tubman Street

 Louisa Hotel, once the Hilton of Buchanan

 Tubman Street is the center of commerce nowadays

 There are a couple of supermarkets and three banks

and a few videoclubs

It's a gas,gas,gas.

Brand New Gas Station! On Tubman Street. An almost surreal sight. Inaugurated by the President herself. Total Gas have units like these on several locations in the country. You get a receipt too!

Of course there are still numerous small-time fuel entrepreneurs.

Who take pride in serving their customers themselves.

New Troubles

UNHCR to set up refugee camp in Liberia as Ivorians continue to flee

News Stories, 31 December 2010

© UNHCR/J.Katunda

Refugees from Côte d'Ivoire after fleeing to Liberia. They are about to be transferred from the border region to a transit centre.

MONROVIA, Liberia, December 31 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency said on Friday that it will establish a camp in Liberia to shelter the more than 18,000 refugees who have fled from neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire over the past few weeks.

A camp site planner arrived in Liberia on Thursday, along with a health expert, to beef up UNHCR's emergency response team in Liberia. Work on the new camp is expected to begin next week.

More staff are expected to arrive in the coming days and they will play a key role in establishing the camp in the north-east Liberian border town of Saclepea. The camp is needed because the growing number of arrivals is straining the resources of the local communities that are hosting the refugees in border areas.

More than 18,000 Ivorians are known to have crossed the border into Liberia to escape uncertainty, chaos and the fear of violence since late November's presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire. UNHCR staff estimated that 400-500 Ivorians are arriving in Liberia every day, with about 55 per cent of them women and 62 per cent of all arrivals aged under 18.

© UNHCR

Map of Liberia. Source: UNHCR Global Appeal 2011 Update

"Our teams in Liberia continue to distribute emergency aid across villages where refugees are sheltered. Once registered, refugees receive plastic sheeting, blankets, jerry cans, sleeping mats, kerosene, lamps, buckets, soap, mosquito nets and other basic household items," said a statement issued by UNHCR.

It added that UNHCR had pre-positioned aid in the region to assist 30,000 refugees from Côte d'Ivoire and had spent some US$3 million to provide relief to the refugees from its emergency reserves. "We will need donor support to keep continuing our aid efforts in Liberia," the statement said.