How FDA Allows a Foreign Family Hoard Forests and Hurt Communities

October 21, 2021

Banner Image: Sing Africa Plantations Liberia Incorporated has failed to meet its obligations with Bluyeama despite logging into the community. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

By James Harding Giahyue

BONDI MANDINGO CHIEFDOM, Gbarpolu and BLUYEAMA, Lofa County – In 2018, the Bondi Mandingo Authorized Community Forest signed a logging agreement with Indo Africa Plantation Limited. The community agreed for the company to log in its 37,222-hectare forest in the Bopolu District of Gbarpolu County in exchange for development.

Three years on, Indo Africa is yet to live up to the agreement, failing to pay the community land rental and harvesting fees.

“The community people engaged us so that we can engage Indo Africa so that they can meet up with their social responsibilities,” says Mark Dennis, the Chief Officer of Bondi Mandingo’s forest leadership, known across the forestry sector as a community forest management body. “Indo Africa has failed, and that has brought pressure on us from the community people.”

Some 250 miles away in Zorzor District, Lofa County, Bluyeama Authorized Community Forest faces a similar situation with Sing Africa Plantation Liberia, another logging company. The community agreed for the company to cut logs in its 44,444-hectare forest so that it could build schools, roads and clinics there. More than six years after, Sing Africa has failed to live up to the contract.

“The promises you made to the people and you don’t do it makes the community feel different. They are seeing logging going on,” says Alexander Songu, chief officer of Bluyeama Community Forest’s leadership in an interview with The DayLight. “The communities are not satisfied and they regret why they gave up their forest to Sing Africa.”

Apart from their failing logging agreements, Bondi Mandingo and Bluyeama have one other thing in common: Both Sing Africa and Indo Africa are owned by a Singaporean family, the Guptas. The family also owns Starwood Incorporated, according to the articles of incorporation of the three firms. Starwood signed a contract with the Matro-Kpogblen Community Forest in Grand Bassa County for 8,833 hectares in 2018 in the District No.4 area. Indo Africa—which holds the concession in Bondi Mandingo—has another agreement with the 31,818-hectare Korninga B Community Forest in Bopolu District. It has also failed to come up with its side of the bargain.

Five members of the Gupta family hold the shares of Indo Africa, Sing Africa and Starwood, according to The DayLight’s analysis of the companies’ shareholdings. Shivali Gupta, Shivani Gupta and Prachi Gupta have equal shares in Sing Africa. Mukesh Gupta has 70 percent of the shares in Starwood and Mrs. Anju Mukesh Kumar has 30 percent. Mukesh Gupta also has 51 percent of the shares in Indo Africa and Anju Mukesh Kumar 41 percent. Indo Africa and Sing Africa share the same registered agent: Kishan Rao Pamapalker. In the corporate world, a registered agent represents a firm’s interest in business deals and lawsuits.

The three companies have the same executives, too, with Kumah Gupta their chief executive officer and Moses Mononporlor, a former development superintendent for Gbarpolu, community forest manager.

Kumah Gupta, Sing Africa’s chief executive officer, who occupies the same positions in Indo Africa and Starwood, speaks at an event for the revision of the company’s new contract with Bluyeama Community Forest. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

In the four logging concessions the Guptas hold in Gbarpolu, Lofa and Bassa, covering 127,317 hectares, they made 50 promises to affected communities but implemented only 10 or 20 percent, according to our count. They did not fulfill any of the promises they made to Bondi Mandingo and Korninga B. All the commitments they kept and projects they implemented happened in Bluyeama and Matro-Kpogblen. For instance, they built the largest sawmill in the country so far in Bluyeama, employed locals and paid US$27,484 towards a scholarship program for villagers, payment records show. They have also prioritized the employment of locals.

The Guptas also owe the four communities more than US$300,000 in land rental and log-harvesting fees.

They owe Bondi Mandingo US$102,360 for all four years of the concession, the largest of the four community forests.

They owe Korninga B US$64,593. They have yet to cut a single tree in the two Gbarpolu communities. The family owes Bluyeama US$139,721 in land rental and log harvest fees, having paid US$103,610, records of their operations show. Sing Africa exported 52,265 cubic meters of logs in 2018 and 2019, according to the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) in its 2018/2019 report.

The Guptas’ debt with Matro-Kpogblen is US$26,000 in land rental fees. They are due to pay the community harvesting fees. For instance, they should have paid US$3,201 from the 1,940 cubic meters of logs they shipped in 2019, captured in the LEITI report.

The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) sanctioning Sing Africa and Starwood to export logs despite owing Bluyeama and Matro-Kpogblen is a violation of the National Forestry Reform Law of 2006. The law says, “The Authority shall not issue an export permit without confirming that all taxes and fees relating to the forest products subject to the permit have been paid.” In fact, under the law, the FDA can fine or terminate indebted companies’ contracts because of failure to pay their arrears.

Jonathan Yiah, the lead forestry campaigner at the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), says authorities should compel companies to comply with all aspects of the law. “The sad reality is that the FDA and the national government have failed to uphold the law and have not learned their lesson,” Yiah says in reference to a 2005 Forest Concession Review report, which as part of Liberia’s overhaul of its forestry sector, found the country lost over US$64 million dollars to unpaid arrears.

“There is a need that the FDA, the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and logging companies agree on an enforceable payment plan for the current arrears,” Yiah adds. The government of Liberia generated more than US$1.7 million from the three companies in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 fiscal years, according to figures published by the LEITI.

The FDA did not respond to The DayLight’s request for an interview on the matter. It also denied our access to export details of Indo Africa, Sing Africa and Starwood relative to the four community forests. We sent an email to Mike Doryen, the managing director of the entity and hand-delivered a letter with the same contents but nothing materialized. FDA should make biannual publications of all fees companies pay, as provided under the National Forestry Reform Law and its regulation. The Freedom of Information Act of 2010 also mandates all government contracts and concessions are published. But that is not the case. FDA’s website lists community forest agreements but those documents are not downloadable. We received some of the documents from its community forestry department through email.

Indo Africa has only paved a road to build its campsite in its four years in Bondi Mandingo Community Forest. It owes the community US$102,360 in land rental fees. The DayLight/Harry Browne

It is not a violation for companies owned by the same shareholders to hold multiple logging concessions in Liberia. However, it is a breach of the Community Rights Law—which created community forestry—for rural towns and villages not to benefit from forest resources. It dents the community-centered reform of the sector, exploited by factions during the Liberian Civil War and scarred by decades of mismanagement. The Guptas’ rich 2B Ramsgate Road community in the southeastern Asian country is a sharp contrast to the poor communities they log in, neglected for decades by successive governments, compounded by the failed logging concessions.

Campaigners urge the FDA to conduct due diligence and use its oversight powers to stop companies from signing news deals when they did not perform well with previous ones.

“We strongly believe that the FDA must conduct a much stronger due diligence that will ensure that the company is credible and has the capacity to operate a particular concession,” Yiah tells The DayLight in an interview.

“This… highlights companies’ widespread failure to pay communities their dues. Liberia’s government must control logging companies’ activities and ensure that they all act legally and abide by the contracts they signed with communities, which few presently do,” says Saskia Ozinga, founder of forests and rights nongovernmental organization, Fern, and now its adviser.

Sharp contrast: photo combination shows Google-sourced pictures of Ramsgate Road, where the Guptas live in Singapore, Gbarquoita, a community in Bondi Mandingo in Gbarpolu and Bluyeama in Lofa, affected by Indo Africa and Sing Africa concession

“Considering logging’s importance in [community forestry management agreements], it’s critical that timber logged under these agreements is incorporated in the legality grid, which is part of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) Liberia signed with the European Union,” adds Ozinga. Liberia and the EU signed the VPA in 2009 to ensure that Liberia produces and exports legal timbers through strong forest governance and law enforcement.

‘The agreement… expired’

The communities themselves are taking action over the Guptas’ indebtedness to them.

Korninga B has written the FDA about their decision to cancel their contract with Indo Africa almost one year ago. “We do not want to work with Indo Africa Plantation Inc. since they have grossly violated and failed to meet up with any social [responsibilities] in the community,” reads the October 26 letter. “The agreement has already expired.” Legally, communities can terminate their agreements with loggers through the court system even without the consent of the government.

Bondi Mandingo held a meeting in December last year, resolving to begin the process to terminate their contract with Indo Africa beginning February earlier this year. It did not go as planned but they are currently working out modalities for the lawsuit.

Mukesh Gupta, the chairman of Indo Africa’s board of directors and its majority shareholder, at the start of this year, blamed the company’s neglect of the forest on the presence of miners in the same forest.

Mononporlor had said in December last year Bondi Mandingo and Korninga B could press forward with their arbitrations if Indo Africa did not pay the outstanding amount by February this year. Two months after that deadline, the coronavirus pandemic broke out in Liberia after taking a toll on the global timber industry, halting production and stagnating export. Companies were unable to meet up with their social responsibilities to communities, according to the LEITI.

Like Bondi Mandingo and Korninga B, Matro-Kpogblen has reached an agreement to discontinue their relationship with Starwood and in May informed the FDA about their decision. “Having realized the failure of the third-party holder to live up to agreement signed with the community, the community assembly, the executive committee, have agreed to cancel the agreement and terminate all relations with the third-party holder with immediate effect,” reads their resolution. The assembly is the highest decision-making body in community forestry, and the executive committee takes decisions for the body.

Kumah Gupta did not respond to The DayLight’s queries for comments on the current situation of the four companies. We reminded him throughout last week via WhatsApp and texts but got no response. Mononporlor later told us Gupta was sick and could not speak at the moment.

Alexander Songu, the chief officer of Bluyeama Community Forest stands before logs Sing Africa felled more than two years ago. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

Of the four community forests, Bluyeama’s agreement with Sing Africa shows signs of hope. Both parties have reached a consensus to upgrade their current, six-page contract to a comprehensive agreement, which details things like exact timeframes for payments of fees and implementation of projects. They should have sealed the deal last month but the FDA halted the process until the Bluyeama’s community assembly can make a quorum. The body is expected to reach a resolution on the new agreement this week, according to Songu. If signed, it would be the first enforcement of a commercial use contract (CUC) with the support of the government, private sector, community and civil society. The CUC, detailed and clear, is being heralded to help prevent payment-related conflicts in community forestry.

“This is different from the past because it is the first time the people of Bluyeama are having the opportunity to make demands and make changes in the community forest contract with Sing Africa,” Songu, chairman of the Bluyeama forest governance structure told The DayLight at the end of an event for the revision of the document in August in Balagwalazu. “We are confident of this contract because I see the parties speaking here with honesty and commitment to the process.”

“It’s true that we have defaulted in the past but we are very hopeful of delivering to the community,” Kumah Gupta said at the event.

Gertrude Nyaley, the technical manager of the FDA’s community forestry department, supports Korninga B, Matro-Kpogblen and Bondi Mandingo for their impending lawsuits. “We encourage companies to meet up with their responsibilities to both the government and the communities because the essence of the community forest is to empower our people,” says Nyaley, a lawyer herself. “The outbreak of COVID-19 might have brought an additional challenge but the companies have to reach out to the people and they must have a meeting of the mind.”

A Sing Africa truck transports logs on the Zorzor-Gbarnga highway. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

William Harmon and Varney Kamara contributed to this article.

Media Organizations Call on Government to Disclose ArcelorMittal’s Agreement

October 19, 2021

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It has been more than five weeks since President George Weah and Lakshmi Mittal, the CEO of ArcelorMittal, signed a revised mineral development agreement (MDA) in September, extending the company’s concession with Liberia for 25 years.

Since the agreement, valued at US$800 million, was signed and forwarded to the Legislature for ratification, the government has been silent on the details of the deal.

No doubt, calls for full disclosure have been made since the signing of the agreement. However, the government of Liberia seems to be playing deaf to these requests. Many persons in civil society, academia and within the mining industry are concerned that the MDA has not been disclosed for public debate, and now the National Legislature is taking up the issue when the public is unaware of the details of the Agreement.

As a result, a consortium of seven Liberian media institutions is filing a freedom of information (FOI) request, demanding full disclosure of the details of the revised MDA and believes that the process should be transparent. The media institutions, comprising mostly newspapers and a couple of online-only news outlets, include The Inquirer, New Dawn, New Republic, The News, News Public Trust, The DayLight and the Daily Observer.

As the National Legislature resumes official business, one of its key assignments before it finally adjourns in December later this year, is to fulfill the wish of President Weah to pass the agreement into law while the public has not been given an opportunity to see what is in the new agreement that will impact the country for 25 years.

ArcelorMittal has been criticized by communities affected by its concession for not living up to its promises in the existing agreement that was signed in 2006 after an initial agreement signed with the National Transitional Government of Liberia in 2005. Complaints captured in the media over the years have ranged from lack of employment opportunities, schools and hospitals. an agreement under the concessionaire’s corporate social responsibility.

ArcelorMittal Liberia has laid out a list of developments and initiatives that it has implemented over the years and is currently running a major public relations campaign in the media touting its efforts ahead of the debate over its MDA.

With a revised agreement on the table, the communities are calling the Government of Liberia, through the House and Senate’s Committees on Concessions, to halt any movement on the agreement until proper due diligence can be performed with the involvement of all stakeholders.

The consortium of Liberian media outlets is therefore requesting disclosures of 10 very critical issues as part of their FOI request in the form of unanswered questions why the revised ArcelorMittal Liberia agreement should be halted until full disclosure is made.

The freedom of information request is being filed with the Ministry of Mines and Energy, which is the sectoral leader on the ArcelorMittal agreement, with copies sent to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, The President Pro Tempore of the Senate, The Ministry of Justice, The National Investment Commission and the National Bureau of Concessions. Both NIC and NBC were part of the negotiations for the revised MDA and MOJ has to legally attest to all major Government contracts and concessions.

The FOI request aims to make the agreement available to the wider public for scrutiny by independent sectoral experts, civil society, affected communities and other stakeholders.

Here are the areas for which the Consortium seeks release of the revised MDA:

What is the economic impact assessment of the MDA?
What is the environmental and social impact assessment (EIA) as it relates to the expanded investments and the extent to which all issues are addressed?
What is the estimated income to the Government over the life of the concession?
The request also calls for details on what effect the MDA could have on other potential investors (if any) in sectors impacted by the MDA, to assess full impact on Liberia’s private sector growth.
Are there any provisions therein for the benefit of Liberian businesses?
A key point of contention that calls for full disclosure involves agreements around the use or expansion of all public infrastructure such as ports, rails, utilities and any other public facilities, and any limitations or sole exclusivity granted in the MDA to ArcelorMittal. On this point, ArcelorMittal Liberia in the past has held the position that it should retain control of the Yekepa to Buchannan rail and certain port infrastructure the company has developed, even though those infrastructure are sovereign assets of the Republic of Liberia. Many industry analysts disagree with this position and argue instead that public infrastructure should never be under the exclusive control of any one company but should be under the control of the Government.
The FOI request also calls for details regarding the estimated 7,000 direct and indirect jobs to be created as stipulated in the Government’s press release of September 10, 2021. Including plans for Liberians assuming roles in the management structure.
Speaking of jobs, among other benefits, the request also aims to understand the potential impact on the surrounding and affected communities and their socioeconomic development. Affected communities in ArcelorMittal’s existing concession areas feel disenchanted that the company has not lived up to its proposed corporate social responsibilities according to the MDA. This includes job opportunities specifically for residents of the affected communities.
The request calls for disclosure of all GOL performance reviews to date (if any) of the existing concession for compliance and any justifications for the extension.
What are the Government of Liberia’s plans, as reported in its September 10, 2021 press release, pertaining to planned expenditures and use of the USD $65 million, agreed to as pre-payment of fees and as signing bonus, the FOI request aims to know.

Finally (for now) the FOI request calls for full disclosure of all proposed monitoring mechanisms to ensure that parties comply with the MDA for the benefit of the Liberian people.

Liberia signed on as a member state of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in July 2009, with the passage of a law establishing the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) to ensure revenue and contract transparency in the extractive sectors. The LEITI’s mandate, according to the law, is to assist in ensuring that all benefits due the Government and people of Liberia on account of the exploitation and/or extraction of the country’s minerals and other resources are (1) verifiably paid or provided; (2) duly accounted for; and (3) prudently utilized for the benefits of all Liberians and on the basis of equity and sustainability. A key part of the LEITI’s mandate is to promote the public disclosure of contracts and concessions bearing relationship with the extraction of forest and mineral resources.

Government Pays Logging Communities US$200K

October 19, 2021

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Banner Image: The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning in Monrovia. The DayLight/Harry Browne

BY Emmanuel Sherman

MONROVIA – The Government of Liberia has paid US$200,000 to communities affected by logging concessions.

The payment represents a tenth of over US$5.5 million owed communities in land rental fees since the 2015/2016 fiscal year they protested for in August.

“The US$200,000 check for the initial payment of community 30 percent arrears owed by [the government] is now issued directly into the Benefit Sharing Trust Board’s account opened at the Central Bank of Liberia for the communities’ [share of land rental fees],” said Andrew Zelemen, the coordinator of the National Union of Community Forest Development Committee (NUCFDC) which organized the protest. “The check was issued on Monday, October 18, 2021, and was received by the Trust Board Finance and administration officer, witnessed by me and is being deposited today October 19 at the Trust Board Account.”

The US$200,000 check the government of Liberia paid communities affected by logging concessions. Picture credit: Andrew Zelemen

Rural communities in Liberia affected by forest management contracts and timber scale contracts (TSCs) staged a planned weeklong protest in front of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, demanding the government to pay them their share of US$27.7 million collected from logging concessions ever since. It was the third year in a row they had agitated for their share of forest revenue, guaranteed under the 2006 National Forest Reform Law of Liberia.

NCFDC represents 23 community forest development committees (CFDCs) within seven forest management contract (FMC) and nine timber sale contract (TSC) areas in Lofa, Gbarpolu, River Cess, Nimba, Grand Gedeh, Sinoe, River Gee, Grand Kru, Maryland, Grand Bassa and Grand Cape Mount. FMC covers forests between 50,000 and 400,000 hectares; while TSC falls within forestlands of not more than 5,000 hectares.

Forestry is one the biggest contributors to the Liberian budget, with the sector generating US$8,148,559 10.23% of total revenue in the 2018/2019 period, according to the Liberia Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (LEITI).

Forest Stakeholders Draft 10 ‘Smart’ Logging Agreements

October 19, 2021

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A log field in Salayea, Lofa County, run by Alpha Logging and Wood Processing Inc. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA – Stakeholders from across the forestry sector have proposed the revision of 10 agreements between communities affected by large-scale logging concessions and companies to replace failed, existing contracts.

The drafts—which actors in the sectors bill simplified, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-binding or “smart”—will replace unimplemented social agreements in communities in Gbarpolu, Nimba, Grand Gedeh, River Gee, Maryland, Grand Kru and Sinoe. Social agreements contain commitments companies make to communities such as to pave their roads, build schools and clinics, and construct bridges.

“Social agreements are not fully implemented by the logging companies and social agreements are not renegotiated on time,” said Andrew Zelemen of the National Union of Community Forest Development Committee (NUCFDC) at a one-day program climaxing Forest Law Enforcement and Trade (FLEGT) program recently.

Sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Union (EU), FLEGT seeks to reduce and eventually eliminate illegal logging and improve forest governance.

It also seeks to increase the capacities of logging-affected communities to be able to monitor the benefits they receive through commercial logging, communicate and share information on the use of benefits from forest resources, and defend their rights.

“Community members, the logging companies, FDA and key stakeholders need to work together to develop, negotiate and regularly monitor the social agreements,” Zelemen said.

Zelemen also said that communities in Bong and Maryland have developed one-year social agreement implementation plans for the 2020/21 harvesting season. He added that 22 members of different community forest development committees—the bodies that represent the interest of communities under the 2006 National Forest Reform Law of Liberia— are charged to monitor the implementation plans.

Women empowerment

The project also enhanced the capacity of 100 rural women as a means of increasing women’s representations in the activities of communities’ forest governance bodies ahead of their elections.

Only one woman heads a community forest governance structure across 23 communities affected by forest management contracts and timber sales contracts—known across the industry as FMCs and TSCs, respectively. And only 52 out of 230 or 22 percent of the members of CFDCs are women.

“Much women are not being involved in CFDC activities and leadership, mostly due to culture, low education and income for women, and domestic responsibilities,” Zelemen said.

“NUCFDC is still seeking supports from partners to continue training women in the CFDC areas for involvement and monitoring CFDC activities, training still needed for new CFDCs after 2021/2022 elections.”

Four Facts That Show Why Monrovia is Dirty

October 12, 2021

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Banner Image: An employee of the Monrovia City Corporation removes a huge pile of overstayed garbage in Monrovia. The DayLight/Tom Portland

By Gabriel Dixon

MONROVIA – Recently, the Head of the European Union Delegation in Liberia, Ambassador Laurent Delahouse came under heavy criticism for a statement he made at the Monrovia City Forum on Solid Waste Management earlier this month. In brief remarks at the event, Delahousse said, “Monrovia is the dirtiest city of the many places I have visited in my work in Africa.”

Delahousse retracted his statement and apologized. But it has sparked out heated debate on the sanitary condition of a city, like many urban parts of the country, which has been dirty for decades.

While some consider the envoy’s statement as negative branding of the government of Liberia and a statement outside of the normal euphemism of public diplomacy, exploring the background of his statement and facts associated with waste management in the municipality of Monrovia could re-energize new strategies and a system-approach for efficient and effective waste collection and disposal in the sector, some experts say.

The DayLight has carefully analyzed four facts on garbage collection and disposal associated, which show the city is dirty.

Poor Collection and disposal Mechanism

Garbage on Center Street in Monrovia. The DayLight/Tom Portland

Monrovia is home to more than 1 million people, who produce close to 800 metric tons of solid waste per day. That means Monrovia alone creates 292,000 metric tons of waste every year. However, only 45 percent or 360 metric tons of waste is collected mainly by the Monrovia City Corporation and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in the sector. The remaining 55 percent or 440 metric tons is uncollected, leading to huge piles of garbage at market places, street corners, empty lots and the backyards of residences.

Inadequate Budgetary Support

Garbage cloughs Monrovia’s major drainage system commonly called “Soniwein.” The DayLight/Tom Portland

Under Pillar Two of the Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity Development (PAPD), the government of Liberia identified key challenges in the waste and sanitation sector and promised to have equitable, safe, affordable and sustainable water supply and sanitation services for all Liberians by 2023. However, in President George Weah’s budget message to the National Legislature on July 14 last year, recurrent expenditures dwarfed public sector investment projects (PSIP) by 90 percent against 10 percent of a budget of US$518 million. So, for every US$10 that the government spent on the economy from June 2020 to May 2021, US$9 went towards salaries, office desks and chairs, generator and vehicle fueling, etc, while only US$1 went towards core projects including garbage collection and disposal in the city of Monrovia. This fact is further supported by the government’s Mid-year Disbursement report on the administration and municipal government sectors for the fiscal year 2018/19 and 2019/2020.

Our analysis of the budget of the MCC over the last three years shows that a little close to US$11 million USD was allocated to the city government. However, the outlay of the MCC’s budgets from 2018 to 2021 reflects the dominance of recurrent expenditure as depicted in the national budget. For example, from 2018 to 2021, things like salaries, furniture, and other items not used in generating income by the city government amount to US$10,024,822. which is 92 percent of the MCC budget for the last three years. Equipment rental, refuse collection and operational expenses amount to US$573,672 or 5.25 percent of the budget.

Structural Limitation and Ineffectiveness

Sanitation workers collect garbage down Waterside, Monrovia. The DayLight/Tom Portland

The solid waste management system of the MCC basically comprises two layers: primary waste and secondary waste collection. The first layer consists of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and community-based enterprises (CBEs) that are involved with door-to-door garbage collection. The second layer involves the MCC and its sub-contractors.

However, because of the lack of a clearly defined demarcation or zonal restriction for SMEs and CBEs, there is often confusion on which structure should be operating where and at what time. This confusion is also contributing to the ineffectiveness of the system that is affecting the collection and disposal mechanism of the MCC.

This fact is supported by one research published in the Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management, where it was established that 50 percent of Monrovians dispose of solid waste either by burying them in their backyards, open burning, dumping them in rivers and swamps or by the help of scavengers.

Another research report by the World Bank in July 2019 further details the structural limitations such as inefficiencies with contractual models with CBEs, lower level of trust between citizens and CBEs, and poor communication as challenges the waste and sanitation sector headed by the MCC needs to address.

Limited recycling Mechanism and Incentives

A pile of garbage on Center Street in Monrovia. The DayLight/Tom Portland

About 70 percent of solid waste generated in Monrovia is recyclable, organic waste. However, recycling is a challenge as many of those involved with pocket-recycling are small businesses or NGOs who often face resource constraints. Efforts to improve local waste management through projects like the Solid Waste Management project (SWM), led by Cities Alliance, has made a little impact due to issues like the lack of an effective and efficient integrated solid waste management plan by the government of Liberia as well as the lack of incentives for CBEs in the sector.

There is also the issue of scarce technical capacity and technologies required to encourage entrepreneurial ventures in the waste and sanitation sector of Liberia.

Artisanal Miners Acquire ‘Smart Mining’ Skills to Protect Gola Forest

October 11, 2021

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Banner Image: Artisanal miners often dig large holes and abandon them. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

By Varney Kamara

GBARMA, Gbarpolu County- Artisanal miners across villages in Gbarpolu County have been trained to carry on smart mining, a sustainable method that seeks to protect the Gola National Park. The park has over 60 plant and animals species and protecting it has been a number one priority for conservation groups.

Miners across Kumgbor, Camp Alpha and Timber Village, Gbarpolu and Lofa Bridge, Grand Cape Mount County, gathered in Gbarma over the weekend to learn how to dig, refill holes and reclaim the land. They are also taught the processes and procedures that qualify one to be a legal miner. At least 115 artisanal miners have been trained to apply the new method across Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount and Bomi, according to organizers of the training.

“This method is crucial to saving lives, the environment, and the Gola National park,” says Richard Hoff, program coordinator of the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia, which oversees the training. “Using smart mining or sustainable mining will make communities reclaim their land several years after mining.”

SCNL, a forest conservation group, helped form the park in 2018, an 88,000-hectare forest, home to endangered and endemic species of mammals, bats, and rodents. Prior to its formation, villagers largely survived on illicit mining and hunting, but years of consistent advocacy and campaigning for the protection of the forest have seen a steady decline in the illegal trade, according to a study by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and SCNL. Liberia’s wildlife law bans illegal entry into a national park, a move meant to protect the country’s rich biodiversity.

Artisanal miners washing and panning for diamonds. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

Artisanal mining, which contributes more to the Liberian economy, has been characterized by years of unsafe practices that have posed environmental problems for communities. In search of gold and diamond, miners have dug holes without refilling, leaving them as death traps for both humans and wildlife. Insecure mining across communities has also resulted to the loss of lives in the past. In February 2019, 35 people died in Liberia’s northeastern Nimba County after a pit collapsed at a mining camp. The incident, which drew local and international attention, was among the worst mining disasters the country has recorded in recent years. Artisanal miners in Liberia do not obtain environmental permits to operate. Under the country’s mining law, a small-scale miner can obtain up to 25 acres.

Small-scale mining has been a major source of income in the country, contributing more to the Liberian economy. Liberia has over 100,000 artisanal miners, who are spread across different mining regions.

Liberia’s Environmental Protection and Management Law does not require artisanal miners to obtain an environmental permit. In 2016, the Ministry of Mines and Energy developed a roadmap to regulate artisanal and small-scale miners to encourage them to organize into cooperatives, which could improve working conditions and attract foreign investments. However, implementation of the roadmap is still pending.

Smart mining, a new mining technique that also involves a smartphone technology that allows miners to easily detect diamond or gold deposits at a particular location underneath the ground, is a new method that miners have been thought to reverse Liberia’s tragic mining history. The new mining expertise avoids the digging of scattered boogieman holes and sets a standard for the enforcement of mining rules across communities bordering the Gola Park.

“We are faced with lots of problems ranging from miners to hunters. Hopefully, I believe the new system will not only bring safety but will provide understanding for miners to know where and how to mine.” says Austin S. Paul, Administrator of the Gola National Park.”

But learning new mining rules was not the not only knowledge offered.

The mining mentorship also included a civic education scheme that warned miners against illicit mining which the country has struggled with for decades. Among other things, the training enhanced participants’ understanding of how miners can legitimize and regularize their status with the government. It thought miners specific guidance on their meets and bounds, also offering education on the criteria to qualify one to be a legitimate miner. Participants were taught how to get communities involved in the process of granting mining claims to individuals, including procedures and processes required to obtain mining licenses, registration permits, and knowledge on their rights and limitations. The conference also thought lessons on how to minimize illicit mineral trade and guarantee financial benefits for both the government and miners through straight adherence to the rules governing the sector.

Smart mining, a new mining technology, is also the latest conservationists’ approach in dealing with the wider problems illicit mining has created for the country. Liberia has over three trillion ounces of gold deposits but has lost millions of dollars of this important tax revenue to illegal mining, according to the Liberia-Commercial Guide 2020 report. The loss in the country’s extractive income also reflects a wider scheme of the unlawful financial system that has caused Sub-Saharan Africa as much as $70bn annually, according to the International Bar Association (IBA) 2017 report which laid emphasis on illicit financial flows from Africa. Inadequate supervision and lack of enforcement of mining regulations have been the root cause of this, campaigners say.

“We will enforce the law and will close down those mining claims that will fail to abide by the rules,” says Samuel Tawah, a mining agent in Gbarma.

Two Arrested for Allegedly Killing Elephants, Another on the Run

October 11, 2021

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Banner Image: Elephants in Toe Town, Grand Gedeh County. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By Emmanuel Sherman

ZEYEAMA CLAN, Lofa County – Two men have been arrested for allegedly killing elephants in Lofa County, the Liberia News Agency (LINA) reported on Monday.

Big-boy Forkpa and Koikoi Willie are suspected of shooting a pair of elephants in the Wologizi Park in Zeyeama Clan in the Zorzor District not far from the Guinean border.

Peter Freeman, the third suspect, is on the run.

Investigation is currently ongoing to ensure that the perpetrators be punished, said John Flomo, the park’s head warden as per LINA.

The roaming of elephants has been common in recent weeks, with a couple of the large mammals spotted in Grand Gedeh, 192 miles away.

Killing elephants is prohibited under the National Wildlife Conservation and Protected Area Management Law of Liberia. Suspects Forkpa, Willie and Freeman face US$5,000 to US$10,000 in fine or up to four years imprisonment.

European Ambassador Apologizes for ‘Dirty Monrovia’ Comments

October 8, 2021

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Banner Image: Ambassador Laurent Delahousse, wearing a mask. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

By Stephen L Bernard Jr.

MONROVIA – Laurent Delahousse, the ambassador of the European Union to Liberia, has apologized for saying that “Monrovia is the dirtiest” he has ever visited.

Delahousse’s statement at the Monrovia City Forum on Solid Waste Management on Tuesday was immediately refuted by Jefferson Koijee, the Mayor of the city. It also came in for mixed reaction on social media, causing him to retract his statement.

“I sincerely apologize to the Government of Liberia and anyone feeling misrepresented by these remarks and willingly retract the exaggerated wording I used,” Delahousse said early on Friday morning, three days after he made the controversial remarks. “In no way were my remarks intended to disparage anyone or to affect the reputation of the beautiful capital city of Liberia.

“In no way my intention to take a political stance that would be absolutely contrary to my ethics and mission as a diplomat.”

The European Union is one of the biggest investors in Liberia’s solid waste management sector, investing 5 million euros in the Greater Monrovia area. The money provides support to community-based enterprises and organizations. However, solid waste continues to elude the capital, with garbage littering the streets and blocking drainages on major routes. The markets are even worst, some garbage pilling up for marketplaces for months.

Delahousse said he had meant to send a “wakeup call” to people living in the Monrovians to change their practices of littering and to improve the waste management system.

Koijee, speaking after Delahousse at the forum, blamed the over-crowdedness of Monrovia—which is home to more than a million people—for the city’s garbage problems.

Representative Acarous Gray of District No.8 of Montserrado County also refuted the European envoy’s assertions.

“Monrovia in Africa by all environmental standards and scientific research is not the dirtiest of African cities,” said Gray, whose constituency falls within the heart of the city. “They are public research records to disprove such an unfortunate assertion.’’

There are no globally accepted rankings for the dirtiest cities on the continent. Liberia did not feature on Forbes’ 2008 list of dirtiest cities in the world. However, Naijaquest, a Nigerian blog, lists Buchanan, Grand Bassa County alongside Abuja, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana.

Explainer: Six Things You Need to Know About Wetlands

October 6, 2021

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Banner Image: A partial, bird’s eye view of a mangrove swamp in Montserrado County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

By Favour Topor

For decades, people have encroached on swamplands or wetlands not knowing the significance of the vital resources that this natural body brings to our ecosystem. For example, people have built and fill in swamplands for the purpose of obtaining properties. But there’s more than wetlands have to offer our ecology and humanity as a whole.

In July 2018, more than 28, 000 people were affected by massive flooding in Montserrado County, including 6,928 children in and out of Monrovia, according to statistics released that year by the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA). At least 187 homes were damaged by flooding the same year, the agency said at the time. Perhaps, there would be less flooding, wave action, heavy wind, coastal erosion if more people are educated on the significance of keeping the environment less harmful by protecting wetlands or swamplands. Wetlands are also a very valuable source of fresh water for humans and other species.

The water in the wetland is not salty. It’s either fresh or breakage if it is close to the sea, and that is very important for the water flow and the water table. Some people consider wetland as the lungs of the earth because it purifies nutrients, deleterious materials that runoff. It purifies it by going through the wetland and that helps to keep the ecosystem healthy. Wetlands are also disease-ridden places.

Here are six things you need to know about wetlands.

They help against Flood and Coastal Erosion

Vegetated wetlands along the shores of lakes and rivers can protect against erosion caused by waves along the shorelines during floods and storms. Wetland plants are important because they can absorb much of the energy of the surface waters and bind the soil and deposited sediments in their dense root systems.

“Wetland is a gateway to flood because it serves as a valley of the sink where water is kept. Wetlands have some plants species and grasses that help build resilience against flood,” says Jerry Garteh, science and conservation coordinator at Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia (SCNL).

Additionally, Garteh points out the extremely important functions that mangroves and grasses play on wetlands which he said help to keep communities safe from flooding. “Mangrove trees and grass serves as forces which can resist against floods from the ocean to the land. If there was a big flood coming from somewhere, the wetland will control that erosion or that big force and divert it from inland. So, if we do not have wetlands, there will not be a sink where the water can easily go and sink under the soil. Wetland is like a pathway where if you have an erosion taking place, the water will go and direct the root underground. But if there’s no wetland and you only have rock, the water will keep flowing, and this will cause more destruction.”

“Mangrove root is not straight because it is imitating wave action,” says Shadrach Kerwillain, project manager of Fauna and Flora International. “When there’s a strong wave, the mangrove root reduces the current of the water so that before it gets to the shoreline, if it is passing through that water, it loses its potential of rushing further inland.

“The more the mangrove is cut the less the shoreline for a flood. When there’s a strong wind, normally, the storm starts over the ocean and then goes inland or starts over the water body and goes inland in areas that have mangroves, and the impact of the wind is reduced because the mangrove has been adapted to protect against wind action. In areas that don’t have mangroves, the communities and people there are more vulnerable to wave action.’’

2. They protect threatened and endangered Species

A mangrove swamp in the Po River area. The DayLight/Harry Browne

Wetland ecosystems form part of the cradle of biological diversity, providing productivity and survivability for countless plants and animal species. They support high concentrations of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and other invertebrate animals. Wetlands also protect these species from population decline. Wetland provides a home to at least one-third of threatened and endangered species.

“It is mostly lowland rain forest which has riparian areas (wetlands adjacent to rivers) which is the wetland bit of it and a lot of swamp and marshes which can be one of the sources of rich biodiversity. Biodiversity generally is a variety of life, different animals, plants, mushrooms, fungus, and algae,” Shedrack, whose activities is focused in the Sapo National park, the oldest and largest protected area in Liberia.

“Wetland serves as a kind of breeding ground for the most basic organism that supports higher life, using the idea of a food web, wherein you have the bigger people up and the smaller people under and every level in that web of life is important. If you extract, the one above will collapse, and the one under will collapse, too. So, wetland serves that stabilizing role. Fishes go to wetlands to lay their eggs, and mangrove swamp is an easy example of wetland), It serves as a nursery for them because, when fishes lay their eggs in the open ocean, other big fish will eat their eggs, or the waves will take the eggs away from the subscript it’s placed on.”

3. Wetland enhances Farming

A swampland rice farm in Foya, Lofa County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

Liberia’s Ministry of Agriculture estimates that fertile lowlands composed of swamps (land saturated by water) and floodplains cover 20 percent of the country’s surface.

In West Africa, Liberia has been an area of a real water source. The country does not have a water irrigation system. Not many wetlands are here in Liberia, but it has lots of swamps at its disposal. In 1979, Liberia joined the Ramsar Convention in Iran. Back in 2003, after signing onto the international convention on the protection of wetlands, it introduced four wetlands of international importance. These include the Montserrado wetland, Marshall Wetland in Margibi, Kpatawee in Bong, and Gbedi in Nimba County.

In Liberia, agricultural activities are widely practiced on wetlands for the purpose of high yielding and fast production. In Liberia’s northeastern Nimba County, the Gedi wetland produces lots of rice. Wetland helps produce more food crops, including vegetables, especially during the dry season of the year. During this period, for instance, more plants on the wetland grow very well because of their moisture nature. Wetland gives more support to the inhabitants of urban settlements such as Monrovia. During the dry season, which comes more sunshine and less rainfall and, during this time of the year, one can easily notice that residents of this metropolitan settlement and its environs harvest lots of potato leaves, corn, and okra from the swamp.

“Humans have been cultivating wetlands for food production since creation. Initially, human settlements primarily occurred in fertile areas, particularly in riverine wetlands along rivers in many places in the world,” explains Richard Sambolah of the Farmers Associated to Conserve the Environment (FACE). “From the early beginning of agricultural activities, such riverine wetlands have been recognized as valuable land areas for food and fodder production, because they have fertile soils as a result of regular sediment deposition during flooding. In Liberia, inland wetlands have been reclaimed for agriculture but also for human habitat.

“The natural wetland ecosystems reclaimed in this way (mainly for agriculture but also for human habitat) have lost much of their original characteristics, leading to reduced biodiversity and reduced performance of functions other than crop productivity (Hassan et al., 2005).”

Not all wetlands are suitable for growing crops. The suitability of a wetland for crop cultivation will depend on two things, according to experts. One is the tolerance of the crop to saltwater conditions and the other the length of time of the wetness of the wetland. Floodplains in river basins in many parts of the world have been used for agriculture because of their natural fertility. Examples are the lower reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris in Iraq, the Rhine in Germany, the Mississippi in the United States, the Danube, which flows through eastern and western Europe, the Po in Italy, the Yangtze in China and the Ganges in India.

“Floodplain sediments are regularly deposited by flooding with river water in very wide, flat areas. The higher parts of these floodplains are highly suitable for growing crops, while the lower parts are wetter but are often suitable for grazing,” says Sambolah. “Floodplain soils are nutrient-rich and are naturally ‘fertilized’ as a result of flooding events.

4. They are suitable for Tourism

An “eco home” at Libassa Ecolodge in Marshall, Margibi County built in a wetland. Photo credit: Libassa Ecolodge

Wetlands are important for tourism because they play a significant role in building communities and national economies, “Wetlands and Tourism’’ was the global theme for World’s Wetlands Day (WWD) celebration in 2012. With half of all international tourists visiting wetlands of different varieties, especially in coastal locations, the tourism expenditure associated with it is expected to be approximately USD 925 billion each year.

Wetlands have given rise to more recreational centers because people love being around water. The landscape formation of wetlands is exceptionally vital for recreational purposes, sightseeing, photography, bird-watching, and hiking because there is a wide variety of plants, animals and water features that provide beautiful places for people to visit. Resorts, theme parks, hotels and other recreational business owners have taken advantage of having their buildings beside Wetlands for the amazing atmosphere that such nature offers.

5. They are a Source of Livelihood

Carwashes wash motorbikes on the S.K.D. Boulevard in Paynesville with water from the mangrove swamp there. The DayLight/Harry Browne

Fishing, rice farming, travel, tourism, job creation, and water provides livelihood in wetlands areas. During the Liberian civil war, the rural dwellers heavily relied on wetlands for energy supply, food, shelter, water, medicine, and other ecological services, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) survey report which primarily focused on the impact of the Liberian civil war. As a means of acquiring energy for cooking, internally displaced people moved into mangrove forests to collect fuelwood, the report said. It also highlighted specific points where people harvested large portions of the Mesurado and Marshall mangrove Wetland for the purpose of achieving these basic livelihood goals. The EPA finding is a testament that for centuries, “wetlands have played a major role in providing support to our livelihood but we have ignored this fact, or may have forgotten the important roles they play in the 21st century.”

6. Serve as Nursing Ground for Aquatic Species

Birds and animal species, particularly during migration and breeding, rely on wetlands for food, water, and shelter. Thousands of aquatic and terrestrial plants and animal species depend on wetlands for their existence. Wetlands are among the most productive environments on the planet providing shelter and nursery places for commercially and recreationally significant animals such as fish and shellfish, as well as a variety of other plants and animal species.

Why breed on wetland?

“They go to the wetland to breed because the wetland has a lot of organic nutrients. Mangrove leaves, for example, fall in the swamp,” Kerwillain. “The smaller animals that feed on plants feed on these decaying plant materials in the swamp which largely come from broken trees and, when the egg is laid in the mangrove leaf, the small fish eats those other animals that ate the leaf. That helps lead them to get big enough to go back in the sea or river.”

“What you call migratory birds that travel from one country or from one region to another, when flying over a particular area, rest in the wetland and this action by the bird is very deliberate because the wetland provides the highest kind of chances of them getting food. So, some of these fishes will be eaten by these birds that are flying through, then, you see other things like amphibians and reptiles eating smaller animals that ate other things. Therefore, a wetland is a nursery of life in terms of biodiversity, and this is why many plants and animals live on it. It helps to balance the role of smaller and bigger animals, and guarantees the supply of food.”

“When you have mangrove, you have a rich diversity, where you find fish and other things. But, when you cut the mangrove down from that place, it becomes a breeding ground for insects that cause disease. This makes fish and other things that are supposed to feed on those insects vulnerable. There’s a natural spillover effect of this because there’s no wetland for them to feed on.”

Favour Topor is a mass communication student at the University of Liberia. She participated in the “Big Brabee Liberia” television reality show last year and is having an audition for this year’s “Miss Liberia” beauty pageant.

Study Finds Primary Forest within 1-3 Km Critical for Chimpanzee Habitat in Liberia

October 5, 2021

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Primary forest 1-3 km critically important to connectivity and conservation of western chimpanzee in Liberia.

Liberia has the second-largest population of western chimpanzee, recently classified “critically endangered.”

Chimpanzee habitat and movement overlaps considerably with existing timber and agriculture concessions.

Roads network could also pose threat to chimpanzee habitat in the future as the Liberian government focuses on infrastructure.

Banner Image: A bird’s eye view of a forest in Sinoe County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

By James Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA – Primary forest between one and three kilometers is “critically important” for the habitat of western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), a new study on the connectivity and conservation of the mammal has found.

Eleven scientists from institutions in the United States and Germany found that several important corridors for chimpanzee habitat and movements of overlap with existing logging, mining and agricultural concessions. They call on Liberia to make use of its findings in its current and future conservation efforts.

“Protecting primary forest is the most important step that can be taken for the conservation and protection of the western chimpanzee in Liberia,” Dr. Amy Frazier, an associate professor of Arizona State University’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, one of the authors of the study, told The DayLight in an emailed interview.

Liberia has the world’s second-largest population of western chimpanzees. Known as the closest relative to humans, 80 percent of the chimpanzees’ population has declined in the last three decades: from 175,000 in 1990 to 35,000 in 2014, according to a 2017 report. This decline is expected to continue in the future, conservationists say. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently classified the ape as “critically endangered.”

The research shows a concentration of western chimpanzees habitats in the southern and northern parts of the country and lesser populations in the country’s central region. But human activities such as transportation and agriculture in the central region contribute to chimpanzee group isolation in the northern and southern parts of the country, it says.

Road network and human habitation feature in the research’s methodology. Researchers ranked the distance of forest from roads very highly in modeling the relationship between the chimpanzees and their habitats. While human presence was an indicator, infrastructure was even a more important indicator for the researchers. That method supports the main findings of a 2019 study on chimpanzees in Sierra Leone, which found secondary roads in that country impact the mammal’s habitat.

The researchers modeled western chimpanzee habitat suitability, focusing on determining the most relevant environmental predictors and most appropriate scale for species-habitat relationship. The study included other scaling variables not used in previous studies. They also used the suitability map t conduct chimp-habitat connectivity analysis as well as Circuitscape, a tool for connectivity prediction.

The study calls for the need for multiscale investigations.

‘Not possible to bring back chimpanzees’

Liberia holds the largest portion (42 percent) of the Upper Guinea Forest, West Africa’s biggest remaining rainforests and a global biodiversity hotspot. It has committed to protecting 30 percent of its forest, and it is a part of the Good Growth Partnership and the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainability in Africa. However, it has leased more than a million hectares of forestland to logging companies, covering more than 1.5 million hectares. Palm oil concessions also cover approximately 690,000 hectares and mining more than 113,256 hectares. A recent study by the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA) revealed that Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL), the country’s largest palm oil company, destroyed carbon-rich forests of more than 1,000 hectares.

Logging is the third-largest contributor to Liberia’s revenue in 2018/2019, according to the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

Frazier said the country, which relies heavily on extractive industries, must find a balance with its conservation responsibilities and commitments. “In other words, the areas and the resource the chimpanzees need the most (primary forest) are the same areas and resource that have extraction value for others,” Frazier said. “In these situations, prioritizing conservation is likely to be the only way to ensure the protection of western chimpanzee habitat. Once the primary forest is gone, the land will no longer have the same value for either the chimpanzees or the logging companies. And while it will be possible to grow trees in other places, it may not be possible to bring back the chimpanzees.”

The study finds timber and palm oil concessions overlap with several important corridors for chimpanzee habitat and movement more than mining and rubber. Also, Liberia’s Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development focuses on infrastructure that could also overlap with regions study identified.

Blamah Goll, the technical manager for conservation at the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) said the government of Liberia needed to spend more money on protected areas and ecotourism.

“On the line of policy [the government] is doing well. Allocating funding is a challenge,” Goll told The DayLight in a mobile phone interview. All of over US$2.9 million allocated to the FDA in the current national budget is for salaries and other recurring costs.

“Even money for protected areas comes from development partners,” Gold added. “So, the national government needs to set aside money for protected areas, even if it is one or two every year.”

Yearly Archives: 2021

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