Road Is Cover Up for ‘Serbian’ Company To Access Vambo’s Minerals

June 24, 2021

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WhatsApp Image 2021-05-28 at 7.01.55 PM 2 — Miners work in a mine at Noway Camp, Vambo during a gold rush in 2014. The DayLight/KK

Banner Image: Miners at a goldmine in Vambo, Grand Bassa County during a gold rush in 2014. The DayLight/KK

By Ojuku S. Kangar

Vambo hosts Mt. Finley, which is 350 meters high and has potential for gold and other minerals. It was the setting of a 2014 gold rush

African Trades is aware of that potential. It illegally prospected in the area in 2019. The place has been a hub of illegal mining, and it was only recently that the Ministry of Mines and Energy began issuing licenses in the area

The company and officials of Grand Bassa County signed a bogus memorandum of understanding in 2019 to pave a 75-kilometer road in the remote community in exchange for logs. But that is a mask, as the company’s main intent is to mine

It was unclear why African Trades is keeping its mining intention secret. It has no record of mining and logging in Liberia. Its link to Serbian nationals is unofficial, as it is a 100 percent Liberian company, according to its business registration

VAMBO, Grand Bassa County – A road network through the Grand Bassa County District Number Two townships of Vambo and Marloi is a cover up for access to those communities’ potential minerals, an investigation by The DayLight has revealed.

Officials of the county and African Trades Entrepreneur Enterprise Incorporated signed an illegal memorandum of understanding in the middle of last year for the company to construct the 75-kilometer road in exchange for logs 1.5 kilometers right and left of the entire road. The MoU violates forestry laws and does not have the input of citizens of the townships. The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) has criticized the deal and launched an inquiry into it but the officials and the company are adamant. The officials include Representative Mary Karwor, Superintendent Janjay Baikpeh and District Superintendent Nancy Green and Commissioner (Vambo) Daniel Dayougar, and Commissioner (Marloi) Amos Joe.

The MoU breaches the Community Rights Law of 2009 with Respect to Forest Lands, as Vambo is not an authorized forest community to sign a logging contract. In addition, African Trades has not implemented a logging contract before. It gave away its only legal logging contract to Renew Forestry Group in Grand Bassa District B&C Community Forest, a deal, which has thrown that community into crisis.

A portion of the road network. The DayLight/Ojuku S. Kangar, Jr.

The bogus MoU says nothing about minerals or mining. However, The DayLight investigation found that the company is ignoring its violation of forestry laws because the company does not intend to log at all. It wants to mine in the area. It was not clear why the company decided to hide its mining aspiration.

“They are not coming for forest business. They are coming for mining,” said Daniel Dayougar, Commissioner of Vambo, one of the crafters of the MoU, in an interview last year. “They will extend the road where they will find the minerals.”

Amos Sweegaye, African Trades CEO said in an interview last year his “company is an entrepreneur and can do anything they want to do.” He has turned down all of our efforts to speak on the situation. Earlier this month, he threatened to lodge a complaint to the police if we call him once more on the matter.

The company’s mining intention is an open secret throughout Vambo and Marloi, though. Back in 2019, it brought in some geologists, including white men and prospected for two months in the area. They hired 17 townsmen to work in the Bamboo Village and left before the outbreak of the pandemic in the country early last year.

“At that time, they came and they went; as they left, it did not stay long the [coronavirus] started spreading,” Dayougar said in that interview last year. It was unclear whether the foreigners were Randovan Jovanovic and Ljubo Zivkovic, the Serbian president and vice president of African Trades, according to the MoU. The company is registered as a 100-percent Liberian firm.

Momo Sambolah, the mining chairman for the Grand Bassa District Number Two mining district under which Vambo and Marloi fall, is aware of the prospecting two years ago. A liaison between the locals and mining officers, he said he even assigned two villagers to assist the foreign prospectors.

“I got the information that they had gone in there for prospecting,” Sambolah, best known by his aliased “Kadafi,” said. “Myself took a walk and went there; I saw them and made them to move.”

Mineworkers eat at a mine in Noway Camp, Vambo during a 2014 gold rush. The DayLight/KK

Like the MoU that gave rise to the road project, the African Trades’ prospecting in the area was also illegal. Until this year, the Ministry of Mine and Energy did not grant any mining right in that part of the country.

Currently, there are 19 active licenses in that mining region, including eight class C, three exploration, four prospecting, and one each of broker and class B, according to the ministry’s online repository as of June 23, 2021. While we could not tell which of the licenses are particularly in Vambo or Marloi, African Trades is not among them and it has never mined anywhere in the country.

Illegal mining is not a new Vambo tale. In 2014, there was a gold rush in the area, which drew huge attention of illegal miners nationwide. In 2014, residents of Vambo and its community in the United States called for international support to curb the illegal mining activities. Some 20,000 illicit miners descended upon the Noway Camp, a community at the foot of Mount Finley. The forested, 350-meter-high mountain is part of the Todi Shear, one of the most complex rock formations in Liberia, running from the northwest to southeast. There has not been a detailed survey done in the area. However, geological data generated by United States Geological Survey in collaboration with the Liberian Geological Survey suggest the occurrences of gold, coltan, tin and chromite. At present, illegal mining is the order of the day in the area, with locals themselves owning their own claims and foreigners dredging on the St. John River.

Currently, the road project is at a standstill. It is at Gbeewillie Town, the sixth of 10 communities the road network is meant to pass through. The company’s earthmovers are parked at four different locations.

Some citizens welcomed the dirt-road pavement. Vambo is not far from Buchanan—the capital of the west-central seaside county—but it is one of the remotest places in the country. Before the road construction, the community was impassable by vehicles, including motorcycles. Children had to trek to school, pregnant women hammocked to the Buchanan highway to hospital.

“Our prayer for road is answered. We will not [head-carry] loads every market day. Plenty motorbikes will come in and will be cheap,” Garkpa Dolo of Gblorso Town said.

“If the road had not come this year, I would have gone to my children in District Number Three to live there because I am tired suffering,” said Lacy Davis of Boe Town.

Many people said they have not seen the MoU before, despite it has been more than a year since it was carved from the clear, blue sky. Calls by citizens for a meeting on the document have yielded no fruit. Apart from the national and local officials, most of the townspeople who signed the MoU are related to Dayougar. Obediah Dayougar, the youth president, is his brother; Sarah Payegar, the women’s leader, sister; and Peter Payegar, Unification town master, brother-in-law. And the MoU gives the company the right to demolish structures within six feet without paying any compensation to their owners.

These things have led to a staunch opposition to the MoU among many chiefs, elders, women and the youth.

“The company will not force development on us,” said Ernest Gblorso, Chairman of Vambo Development Association, a local advocacy group. “The white men will not build the road and start mining without our consent.”

A machine at an illegal mine in Vambo, Grand Bassa County. The DayLight/Ojuku S. Kangar, Jr.

The story was updated on June 29, 2021, with changes made in the headline and more details in several paragraphs.

Want to Know About Customary Land Rights? There is an Easy Manual for It

June 23, 2021

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204557602_1116465682097547_6359557598276686598_n — Representatives of FCI, SDI and Parley-Liberia posed with copies of the manual. The DayLight/ William Q. Harmon

Banner Image: Representatives of FCI, SDI and Parley-Liberia posed with copies of the manual. The DayLight/ William Q. Harmon

By William Q. Harmon

PAYNESVILLE – Many communities across the country are seeking customary ownership to their land but many others are unaware of the Land Rights Act of 2018 that guarantees such right.

Now, there is a new manual to help breach that knowledge gap. Officially launched on Tuesday in Paynesville, the manual is an initiative of the Foundation for Community Initiative (FCI), Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) and Parley-Liberia. It was financed by the International Land and Forest Tenure Facility and government of Norway.

“A Guide to Customary Land Formalization: Making the Law Work for the people” is an easy-to-read explainer that developers say will help the communities get a better understanding of the customary land formalization process.

“This initiative is a step forward towards expanding the pool of actors that have the capacities to support customary communities to complete the requirements of the land rights law,” said Loretta Pope-Kai, the Executive Director of Foundation for Community Initiatives, who launched the 38-page document in Paynesville on Tuesday.

The idea of the guide was conceived out of the experiences of the three CSOs who have been working with communities, she added.

The Land Rights Act is hailed across the world for its recognition of customary communities’ ownership of their ancestral lands. It requires communities to identify themselves, harmonize the boundaries with their neighbors, form a governance structure and then have the government survey their land.

The manual provides step-by-step instruction on how to implement the community self-identification process, the first of a series of steps required in acquiring customary deeds. It delves into things like community entry, gender equity and how to build local land-related consensus.

It complements the initial national guide developed by the Liberia Land Authority and stakeholders in 2016, is the first detailed manual by Liberian CSOs on how to support communities that are interested in acquiring deeds for their land.

“We are hoping that other CSOs and other stakeholders will take up time to educate themselves about the customary land formalization process,” Pope-Kai said.

FCI, Parley-Liberia and SDI are working in 24 communities, with a total of 500,000 hectares, in eight counties: Nimba, Lofa, Bassa, River Cess, Bong, Margibi and Maryland and River Gee.

Nora Bowier, who heads SDI’s community land protection program, said there is a need for robust awareness on the law so that the communities can be adequately informed.

“We are looking forward to more organizations making efforts to reach the communities with these simplified explainers,” she said at the event.

She disclosed that the copies of the guide will be shared with other groups, including the Civil Society Council of Liberia, CSO Working Group on Land Rights, Women Land Rights Taskforce and the LLA. “We are also going to present a copy to the office of President George M. Weah,” she noted.

Making Our Professional Lives More Environmentally Friendly

June 16, 2021

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Banner Image: Theophilus Jackson, an IT intern, works from home in Congo Town. James Harding Giahyue/The DayLight

By Flogas

More people than ever are now working from home, and remote working could well become the norm for many employees. But with people also more aware of personal sustainability issues, how can remote employees tailor their work life to improve their own carbon footprint…

Remote working

Working from home became a new experience for many people during the pandemic. In April 2020, the Office for National Statistics recorded that 46.6 percent of people in employment did some remote work. Eighty-six percent of these people did so because of the pandemic, demonstrating a sharp shift in the working experience.

Remote working has, of course, reduced emissions from transport. In the UK, commuting emits 18 billion kg of CO₂e every year. This is 25 percent of all transport emissions. Naturally, people working from home will contribute towards a reduction of these emissions.

Choosing a job that enables you to work from home can help improve your personal environmental impact and is a sure-fire way to reduce your commuting emissions. Plus you’ll have the added benefit of not sitting in traffic with a lengthy commute!

Remote working has become a more popular option for people in recent years. Even before the pandemic, Google searches for ‘work from home jobs’ had seen a steady increase. Between 2016 and 2019, searches for this term increased by 22 percent. By 2020, this rose to 73 percent over the past five years. Google search scores represent the popularity of a search term based on a scale of 0 to 100. In 2016, this score was 49. Last year, the score had an average popularity score of 85.

Google search scores for ‘work from home jobs’ by year

2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
49	50	56	60	85

Making our homes even more sustainable

Of course, when spending more time at home, our energy consumption will increase. Let’s look at an average working schedule of 40 hours per week, 47 weeks per year. In total, working from home means that you would spend an extra 1,880 hours at home per year. This is equivalent to 78 days. During this extra time, you’ll use your home appliances and heating more than usual, especially during the winter months.

On average, the annual CO₂ emissions of the energy you use at home would be around 3.2 tonnes for electrical and natural gas use. This poses a slightly different eco-challenge for those who are making the most of remote working capabilities to live in more rural locations. Rural homes are more likely to use oil fuels to power their homes, a less sustainable fuel than natural gas which is more commonly used in domestic towns. However, for those working from home and in remote locations, improving your environmental footprint can still be achieved. Using off grid gas, LPG, as opposed to oil can reduce your carbon emission by around 20 percent.

Plus, the carbon emissions from the gas can be offset through purchasing carbon credits which will be invested in sustainable carbon offsetting schemes such as tree planting initiatives to avoid further environmental impact.

Reducing waste

Aside from energy, what we do in our jobs may have a deeper environmental impact than we think. If you work in an office, you may be surprised to find out that the average worker will go through 10,000 sheets of paper per year and throw away 500 disposable coffee cups. And when it comes to our lunch break, expect 20 to 30 percent of your meal to end up in the bin.

Waste is a huge environmental problem in the workplace, but ultimately, it’s up to us to create the solutions. Fortunately, this couldn’t be simpler. Question whether you need to print out that email or document. Use a mug or reusable flask for your coffee and tea, and make sure you eat all of your lunch – or save the leftovers to enjoy when the afternoon slump kicks in!

Waste is much more than a space problem. The average landfill size is already 600 acres, but the emissions that these sites produce is the real issue. When this waste is broken down, the process releases methane, a gas closely linked to climate change. In fact, 14.2 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses were emitted by landfills in the UK in 2019. While the number is astronomical, we shouldn’t forget that we all contribute to this. Avoiding waste is key, especially in our own jobs.

Whether working remotely or making our home office more sustainable, it is clear that the environment is at the forefront of our personal and professional lives. It is our actions and choices that affect the environment, so will you be choosing a career that allows you to achieve a sustainable lifestyle?

Sources

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/coronavirusandhomeworkingintheuk/april2020

https://pressat.co.uk/releases/revolutionising-the-commute-is-key-to-reducing-uk-carbon-emissions-new-research-from-mobilityways-reveals-da85f9d9f474054043ae488b43720af7/

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/may/05/millennials-employment-employers-values-ethics-jobs

Environmentalist Calls on Liberia to Restore Ecosystem

June 9, 2021

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Banner Image: Logs lie on the ground in Bondi-Mandingo Chiefdom, Gbarpolu County. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By: Emmanuel Sherman

ROBERTSPORT, Grand Cape Mount County – A Liberian environmentalist called for stronger action on ecosystem restoration as Liberia celebrated World Environment Day.

Richard Sambolah of Farmers Associated to Conserve the Environment (FACE), told the public to get involved in fight to save the planet.

“Ecosystems supports all life on earth,” Sambolah said at the national program marking the global event in Robertsport, Grand Cape Mount County over the weekend. He echoed the global theme of the event: “Ecosystem Restoration.” “Healthier ecosystems with richer biodiversity yield greater benefits such as more fertile soils, bigger yields of timber and fish, and larger stores of greenhouse gases.”

Liberia holds more than 40 percent of the Upper Guinea Forest but has seen a good portion of its biodiversity lost to things like illegal logging, unsustainable mining and bad farming methods. Sambolah recognized some efforts already being made to restore those lost ecosystems. He listed the landscape restoration in communities around the Gola Forest, the National Tree Planting Day on May 19 each year and his group’s restoration of mangrove in the Lake Piso area. However, he said there was more that the country needed to do.

“There should be a National landscape restoration program put in place to encourage tree planting,” Sambolah said. He recommended the introduction of landscape restoration in the curricula of universities, colleges and technical schools in the country. He also recommended implementation of simple, practical ecology training programs for protected communities, and support campaigns for sustainable urban planning.

A pond in Bondi-Mandingo chiefdom, Gbarpolu County. The DayLight/Harry Browne

Sambolah decried the suspending of a cleanup campaign for beaches and waterfronts in Monrovia and its environs last year, an apparent swipe at authorities. The program ended in chaos last year after hundreds of volunteers protested for over 20 months of wages. The Ministry of Youth and Sports led the controversial project.

“A beach clean-up program should be a continuous process, and not just an event in Liberia,” he told the ceremony hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “Mobilize all ages to gather the masses of household wastes and abandoned fishing gears that are deposited on our beaches and shores. The more people take part in beach cleaning, the more awareness grows of the need to reduce waste on beaches.”

World Environment Day came into being as a result of United Nations General Assembly Resolution adopted in 1972, declaring the 5^th of June of each year to be observed by all member-states. The observance of day provides the opportunity to focus worldwide attention on the importance of the environment. The celebration this year marks the beginning of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

Lagata Abebe, the deputy resident coordinator of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), urged Liberia to take urgent action to revive its degraded ecosystem.

President George Weah had said at an environment conference three days before the celebration that his government would align the Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development with the combat against climate change and protect environment. Liberia has ratified the Paris Agreement and is poised to reviewing its commitment to the accord at the upcoming global climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland (COP 26).

Campaigners Differ With Government On Fees for Community Land Survey

June 9, 2021

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Banner Image: Cee Town in Gbarsaw, River Cess County. The DayLight/William Q. Harmon

BY Ojuku S. Kangar, Jr.

MONROVIA – Land rights campaigners have disagreed with the Liberian government on fees for surveying community lands across the country.

Under the Land Rights Act of 2018, the government of Liberia is obligated to survey community land, a part of the last legal stage for a customary land deed. However, the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) is proposing landowning communities pay an “appropriate reasonable facilitation fees” in a set of new prices for land-related transactions.

But the Civil Society Working Group on Land Reform in Liberia, a conglomerate of 32 nongovernmental organizations, sharply differs with the proposal. The group, which took three days last week to valid the preposition, said they prefer the government apportions a fixed cost to prevent conflict in the future.

“Where necessary, make fees charged to communities reasonable and affordable,” the groups said in a statement, criticizing the proposal of lacking clarity. “Specify all required fees or costs for customary land administration services.Do not impose any form of extra ‘facilitation’ fees or costs on communities.”

However, the group called on the government to see whether it could drop all fees charged on customary land services, as it was in the best interest of the country.

Under the Land Rights Act, the government is entitled to 10 percent of all customary lands across the cross the country. The law also mandates government to conduct a confirmatory survey, the final step in the legal process for communities to acquire their deeds. The group urged the government to consider that as the communities’ charge and focus on the taxes they could pay as communal landowners.

“For example, the government could get up to a maximum of 50 acres from the survey of 500 acres of customary land; 100,000 acres from survey of 1,000,000 acres, 500,000 acres from 5,000,000 acres,” they said. “This should be an incentive for the government to underwrite the cost of such a process.

“With Customary Land deed in the hands of communities, they can freely engage in commercial activities on the land and enable the government generate increased revenues through lawful taxation.”

The group cautioned the Land Authority that apportioning of fees could undermine the intent of the law to give rural communities the rights to benefit from their ancestral land.

“There are inherent risks of compliance with the proposed fees because of the prevalence in our country of the barter system practice of giving up lands for services rendered in connection to land administration services, particularly in the survey field,” they said. “The nature or extent of poverty in the country is a concern for compliance with the levies, especially in rural communities.”

They called on the government to assess the affordability and willingness of customary communities to pay the fees before it sets them. They recommended that the government considers its obligations under local and international laws and best practices on the matter.

This story was updated on June 24, 2021.

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