April 23, 2008...8:30 am
Mr. Moon Causes Massive Traffic Jam In Monrovia
Anybody unlucky enough to have to travel from the East of Monrovia to the West found himself in a massive traffic jam yesterday morning. From 7:30 to 10:00 the area from the Capitol Building to the 14th. Street was transformed into one big parking lot. The reason was that the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) had blocked the only main road in town, to ease the travel burden of their Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, who visited Monrovia on his current Africa Tour.
Blocking the Tubman Boulevard, the only four lane road through town has approximately the same effect on Monrovia as if New Yorkers would find the George Washington Bridge, Holland Tunnel, Triborough Bridge and the FDR Drive blocked simultaneously at 8:30 am. The resulting traffic chaos in Monrovia was so gigantic that even local divers gave up hope to get through somehow. The few individuals who tried to advance by honking or driving on the shoulders of the road made it a few cars further, then they were also stationary. Overall, drivers took the chaos pretty well. Since it was soon clear that everybody was stuck, very little honking or arguing took place. Instead, drivers cut their engines, got out of their cars and discussed the weather, the current administration, and Mr. Ki-Moon´s innovative approach to winning hearts and minds of Liberians.
Many people also took the solution that our office manager did. After sitting in a stationary taxi for over thirty minutes and seeing no movement at all, he decided to walk. He arrived at work one and a half hours late.
I still have to read what Mr. Ban Ki-Moon told the Liberian Politicians and UNMIL staff, but whatever it is, I am sure that Monrovia´s stuck motorists will remember him only with the fondest of thoughts.
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