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By: Yini Guva A. Sahn
 What Makes the Mittal Agreement the Best Ever in Liberia? Ore Train from Yekepa to Buchanan- (Yekepa site) January 1, 2006 By Yini Guva A. Sahn The December 7, 2005 Analyst News article, Minister Mason on Mittal Steel Prospects, in which Minister Mason indicated that the Mittal Deal was the best Liberia had ever signed was very interesting. The first question that came to my mind was whether previous concession agreements for Bong Mining Company, Liberia Mining Company, LAMCO and even Firestone were made available to the public. Indeed Minister Mason’s statement opens up many unanswered questions.
Background
In November 2004, I wrote an article, “Who authorized the sale of the iron ore in Buchanan?” I asked the Liberian government to include some citizens of the natural resource endowed counties of the country on the committee charged with selecting investors to explore mineral resources in their respective counties. Other important recommendations made included setting aside at least 25% of the proceeds from the sale of diamonds, iron ore, and other natural resources for the development of the local communities. Minister Mason assured Liberians that 21st century concession agreements would be very transparent as indicated in the following statements:
"We will do all we can in our power to assure the international community that this Ministry particularly, in its effort to develop the minerals of this country, will do with full transparency for the said resources to benefit the people of Liberia". Ref: Four Compete for Mount Nimba - Govt. Assures Transparency, Resource Exploitation Must Benefit Communities
'We will make sure that only the best proposal is accepted so that our country's rich iron ore reserves are exploited in such a way that the revenues accrued will not only benefit the country, but also 25% of the profits from the ore will be used for developmental purposes of the existing communities…that is the demand of government”. Ref: (LIBERIA: Four multinationals bids to reopen Nimba iron ore mine)
With such genuine verbal assurance from a government Minister, we thought our government was beginning to listen. But a few months later, the Analyst Newspaper reported that Mittal Corporation was awarded the deal to take over Mount Nimba.
The deal was reportedly not transparent and was seemingly influenced by kickbacks.
The Problems with the Deal
The major problem with the deal is the deal itself. First of all, it was not transparent. The contents of the so-called best deal are only accessible to Minister Mason, Mittal Corporation and members of the Mineral Technical Committee. Not even the people of Bassa, Bong and Nimba whose land will be exploited know the details of the deal. Here again, Minister Mason, the head of the pepper-bush-like Committee didn’t keep his word that he would ensure that 21st century concession agreements be TRANSPARENT.
Reactions to the Deal
Many ordinary citizens and leaders of Human Rights and other organizations were not happy with the deal. Dr. Foday Kromah, a member of the Mineral Technical Committee, referred to the Mittal deal as illegal.
An Unauthorized Memo from Harry Greaves to Gyude Bryant referred to the deal as not being in the interest of the Liberian people. The Analyst Newspaper in Liberia even gathered that only 2,000 jobs would be created for Liberians as compared to over 20,000 overseas jobs as result of this deal.
People in high places were reportedly bribed to get deal approved.
Even the interim lawmakers reportedly got their share to ratify the deal. What then is the best part of this deal? Could it be the share of the bribe that the committee members probably received?
Community Development Packages?
In the article under discussion, the minister said that the deal had some community development implications for the counties. That Nimba would get 50%, Bassa 33% and Bong 17%. This again brings up more unanswered questions.
What the community development programs is he talking about? Do the leaders of Bassa, Bong and Nimba know? Were they part of the deal in the first place? The Liberian people are interested in getting answers to these simple questions because in this era, they do not want few people to make decisions that will affect their lives.
No one knows the needs of the people of Bassa, Bong and Nimba better than the people of these counties. Community development projects should not be proposed in the darkness just as bribes are taken under the table. As such they do not represent the interest of the Liberian people.
History
Since some past leaders of Liberia did not care much for the country, they mortgaged the country’s natural resources to multinational corporations. For instance, The Liberia American Swedish Company, LAMCO, operated in Yekepa for years. Nimba County has nothing tangible to show for the billions of dollars invested in its land. Grand Bassa County also does not have much to show for over thirty years of washing, shipping iron ore and other products through its port.
The late Gabriel G. Farngalo, first superintendent of Nimba County, did not even know all the details of the agreement between LAMCO and Liberia. Gabriel was said to have gone to his grave with anger at what President Tubman once told him. Gabriel had suggested providing pipe-borne water for the locals in Nimba since their major rivers and streams were being polluted as a result of environmentally unfriendly mining. The late Tubman reportedly yelled at Gabriel and said “provide pipe water for country people?” The superintendent was not only surprised, but also disturbed by what the president of the country said.
I am sure Gabriel would have been FIRED had he asked for paving the road from Gompa city to Yekepa. Similarly, there was unconfirmed legend that the people of Bong County wanted the road from Kakata to Bong Mines paved but president Tubman told them to give the money to the government. Bassa, Bomi, Bong, and Nimba counties have nothing to show for investments made in their counties. These counties were devastated, rivers polluted, wildlife and exotic animal species made to migrate to other counties, if not, other countries. With what we know from previous concession history in our counties, it is about time that the mortgaging of Liberian resources comes to an end. Mr. Minister, how would you rate a deal that has been referred to as not being in the interest of the Liberian people, the best? What was your yardstick? A few green backs under the table?
But we in Nimba and Bassa do not only care for our iron ore, gold, diamond and other natural resources, but also for our wildlife and environment. We are the custodians of those natural resources and must be entitled to some portion of the benefits. Living in a clean environment is enshrined as a legal right. Since government officials continue to seek their own interests, we must look out for ourselves. In so doing, we are again making our list of requests available for the government’s consideration. Our interests lie in the future of our counties, the welfare of its citizens and future generations. Our list is growing:
If the Mineral Technical Committee will remain alive after Ellen takes over, representatives from these counties must be added on to ensure transparency
Money should be set aside for the cleaning the environment, including potentially polluted rivers. Plans should be made to relocate our animal species that will be dislodged by mining activities for the next 25 years.
Piped-borne water must be provided for areas affected by mining. The rivers are already polluted from previous mining. Our rivers and creeks must be tested annually to access the level of potential pollution and the company must take remedial actions.
Trees cut down during mining process must be replanted. Reforestation project must cover all areas affected. Roads built in these counties must be constructed properly: paved and the bridges made of concrete not logs or planks that will rot after the company’s departure. The company must maintain these roads until the end of their contract. Maintenance will eventually be passed unto the Liberian government.
Hospitals built by LAMCO in these counties should be revitalized to meet the needs of the local people. More Liberian staff should be employed, trained, to take over the affairs of such hospitals in the future. Succession planning should be developed, in cases where there is a scarcity of indigenous skills and capacity.
The Vocational Training Center in Yekepa should be revived to train more local technicians to enable them to gain employment locally. Liberians should be given first priority not only for labor-intensive jobs for but also managerial positions within the company. Competitive wages must be paid to the local people.
If we are to bring sustainable peace and economic stability to Liberia, the citizens must in someway be part of all decisions that directly or indirectly affect their lives, environment and natural resources. And finally, the farce Mittal Deal must be re-evaluated to ascertain that Liberians benefit from the investment. A concession agreement signed amidst foul cries and reports of under the table deals cannot be considered the best ever in Liberia.
About the Author:
Yini Guva A. Sahn lives in Minneapolis with his family. He believes that Liberia's legendary tradition of corruption can be minimized only though education and taking punitive measures against the corrupt. Liberia will never GROW if it continues to reward corrupt officials with more opportunities. Yini Guva can be reached at: yigasa@yahoo.com
Reference articles:
The Analyst Online Newspaper:
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