More Evidence Emerges FDA Permitted Illegal Timber Export

May 29, 2024

Top: The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) permitted West Water Group (Liberia) to export 797 logs in March. However, over half of the consignment was illegally harvested. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By James Harding Giahyue and Derick Snyder

Editor’s Note: This is the fourth part of a series on the Forestry Development Authority’s approval of illegal timber exports.

In February, the FDA’s log-tracking computer LiberTrace red-flagged 413 logs in West Water’s consignment with multiple problems. Yet the Forestry Development Authority ignored the warnings and approved the shipment.

The FDA dismisses DayLight’s initial investigation of the illegal export as an “intentional misinterpretation” of the facts

But DayLight traced some of the illegal logs back to the stumps of the trees from which they were harvested, supporting LiberTrace’s findings

A relook at the LiberTrace analysis found several discrepancies, indicating a cover-up

Last year, West Water did not have a valid harvesting certificate, FDA’s records reveal

The illegal approval reduced government taxes on the logs and encouraged unsustainable logging and impunity

GAYEPUEWHOE TOWN, Grand Bassa County – Last month, a DayLight investigation uncovered the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) approved the export of 797 logs (4,702.679 cubic meters) valued at an estimated US$1 million for a company.

The investigation was based on an analysis of the consignment generated by the FDA log-tracking computer system or LiberTrace. The report cited a screenshot of LiberTrace’s history of West Water Group (Liberia) Inc.’s logs.

Details of the red-flagged logs appeared on the export permit and a National Port Authority document. That proved the FDA did not ensure West Water corrected the issues LiberTrace raised before sanctioning the export.

West Water had harvested the logs in the District Three B&C Community Forest in Grand Bassa County, where the Chinese-owned company has a 15-year logging contract with villagers. The logs were loaded on the MV Tropical Star, a cargo ship that left Liberia on March 16 and arrived in China on May 26, according to the vessel information provider Marine Traffic. Satellite images show cranes offloading the logs.

The second part of this series found that West Water owed the community forests in Bassa and another in Nimba over US$100,000, a violation of a payment regulation.

The FDA dismissed the investigation, calling it an “intentional misinterpretation” of the facts, and an alleged smear campaign.

But additional evidence gathered from three visits to the forest and interviews with villagers knowledgeable about West Water’s operations corroborates the first investigation. Also, a relook at the LiberTrace analysis and other documents provided additional clues.

The DayLight traced several of the problematic logs to the stumps of trees from which they were harvested, using identification tags from the LiberTrace document. Once reporters matched the tag of red-flagged logs in the document to stumps, they measured the corresponding stumps with a tape rule, videotaping the process.

For instance, reporters traced one tree tagged “AF402RXT” that was red-flagged for multiple problems, including its size. When the reporters measured it, the reporters found the diameter of the tree was 65 centimeters. That is 10 centimeters less than the figure on the export permit and 15 centimeters less than the FDA-approved size for that species, dahoma (Piptadeniastrum africanum).

‘We will be the loser’

Unlike the tree stumps, reporters faced no difficulty in finding other pieces of evidence of undersized logs. A sea of immature logs with West Water tags decorated the forest and the roads leading to it.

A stump of one of the logs LiberTrace red-flagged for being unauthorizedly felled, undersized and other things. The DayLight/Emmanuel Sherman

Villagers, including those knowledgeable about West Water’s operation, said undersized logs were a normal thing there.

“I saw many trees that did not reach the complete diameter and they harvested them,” said Isaac Doe, a villager and an ex-West Water worker.

“If they keep cutting the under-diameter trees, we will set up [a] roadblock and stop them,” said Isaac Jimmy, an elder of that region.

“We will be the loser when they continue felling young trees,” added James Kawee, one of the community forest leaders.

Evidence of undersized logs lay bare in the forest but hid in plain sight in the LiberTrace analysis. When reporters took a closer look at the document, they made a stunning discovery.

Of the 413 problematic logs, 217 were below their harvesting sizes, known in forestry as the diameter cut limit. A total of 266 had been harvested without the FDA’s approval, the sources of 46 logs were unknown, and 55 had no GPS coordinates for tracking purposes. Each log had multiple legality issues.

All of the problematic logs were harvested in two weeks between late January and mid-February, during the post-elections transition.

There were five rounds of harvesting. The first occurred on January 29 with a mammoth 251 logs. It was followed the next day with 11 and the day after 25. Harvesting resumed on February 12 with 106 logs and the following day with 10.

Some villagers said they witnessed West Water felled and transported the wood at night. Their accounts are consistent with LiberTrace, which shows some felling occurred between 8 pm and 9 pm.

“I want the government to implement their rules and regulations to stop them,” said John Flomo, an elder in Paygar Town, one of 14 towns and villages that own the forest.

Reporters filmed West Water trucks transporting logs at night on a major route during their third visit to the forest. FDA’s regulation on timber traceability prohibits nightly transport of logs on public roads. West Water did not respond to queries for comments on this story.

Undersized logs adorned West Water’s contract area of the District Three B&C Community Forest in Grand Bassa County. The DayLight/Emmanuel Sherman

LiberTrace is a crucial component of timber traceability or the chain of custody system. Meant to prevent illegal wood from entering domestic and international markets, the system traces logs from their origins to their final destinations. The European Union and the United Kingdom funded LiberTrace.

But that was not all the evidence The DayLight gathered. The investigation found that West Water did not have a harvesting certificate when the felling took place. The one Merab shared with The DayLight was not signed by then Managing Director Mike Doryen or a deputy.

The invalid certificate ran from March to September last year and the valid one runs for the same period this year. Once more, this proves that all 413 logs West Water harvested in January and February this year were illegal, even by the FDA’s lowered standards.

A portion of the District Three B&C Community Forest in Wee District, Grand Bassa County. The DayLight/Philip Quwebin

That likely explains why LiberTrace red-flagged the dates all the 413 problematic logs were felled. It also appears to explain why the FDA’s legality verification department (LVD) provided a flawed breakdown of LiberTrace’s warnings.

“Out of 797 logs, 50 percent are traceable with red label because of diameter…,” Gertrude Nyaley, the Deputy Managing Director for Operations, who was the technical manager of LVD at the time of the export, handwrote the document.

“Based on the above results, we recommend that West Water… export permit be issued.”

Nyaley reduced the magnitude of the issues LiberTrace highlighted. The computer had listed up to 13 legality issues with the logs, including unauthorized harvesting.

The LiberTrace screenshot of the logs’ history shows West Water requested the export several hours before conducting the last harvesting.

Christian Barh, an LVD staff, rejected the request on February 19, 2024, by 3:03 PM, citing “major traceability errors.”

From L-R: FDA Managing Director Rudolph Merab approved the illegal timber, based on Deputy Managing Director Gertrude Nyaley’s advice. The DayLight/Harry Browne

The next day, Barh accepted the request and passed it on to Theodore Nna, SGS’ forestry project manager. SGS is a Swiss verification firm that built and powers LiberTrace. Nna okayed the request less than 48 hours later. Rudolph Merab would approve the illegal export in one of his first acts as the Managing Director of the FDA.

Nna flouted SGS’ sustainability standards by endorsing the export. The standards ensure traders and users that the timber they trade or use comes from sustainably managed forests, according to SGS’ website. Nna did not respond to emailed queries for comment on this story.

Cover-up exposed

Merab claims the errors and warnings were usual, and that some of them were corrected. “After log yard verification and physical scaling, the log will be exported,” Merab told The DayLight in a letter. “It’s a normal occurrence and we are open to [verifying] such an occurrence with you the DayLight.”

Those comments are not backed by facts. The export permit spec, which details the information on each log in the consignment, shows the issues were never fixed.

“[Merab’s] explanation is in line with the SOP but in contradiction of the action on the export permit approved,” one chain of custody expert, who prefers anonymity over fear of retribution, said.

“If and only if measures were taken to do the timber yard correction, this action could not reflect in the approved export permit.”

The expert was referencing LVD’s standard operating procedures (SOPs), which require errors corrected at different levels, not only during export. For instance, the FDA’s felling SOP requires LVD to ensure a company corrects any errors LiberTrace catches upon felling.

The FDA’s records show West Water exported more logs than it produced

Several documents the FDA provided contain inconsistencies, suggesting they were forged as part of an all-around cover-up.

One document is dated 2019 and 2024, listing Nyaley as head of LVD. Nyaley was the technical manager of the community forestry department that year, appointed to LVD in 2022. And West Water did not have a contract in Grand Bassa or anywhere in 2019, at least not a direct one.

Another document puts West Water’s export (3,275 logs) above its production (2,782). That is a difference of 493 logs.

Unlike for the initial investigation, Merab did not respond to The DayLight’s queries for comments on this story. He did not grant the newspaper’s access to West Water’s contract and harvesting maps, guaranteed under various legal provisions. The FDA had said it would not return future questions from DayLight regarding export permits.

A screenshot of LiberTrace’s history of the 797 logs shows the FDA some of the trees were still standing when West Water requested to export them. It took the FDA’s legality verification department less than 48 hours to approve the request after rejecting it over “major traceability errors.”

By approving the export, the FDA violated its laws.

Cutting trees without authorization and harvesting undersized logs constitute a fine per the FDA’s confiscated logs regulation. A violating company faces a fine of two times the value of the illegal logs and a public auctioning of the wood. That means West Water would have paid more revenue for the March export.

Jonathan Yiah, the lead forestry campaigner at the Sustainable Development Institute, criticized the FDA for not confiscating the logs and undermining LiberTrace’s credibility.

“Focusing on enforcement,” Yiah said, “will demonstrate and ensure both revenue generation and sustainable management and harvesting of our forest resources.”

[Emmanuel Sherman and Philip Quwebin contributed to this report]

The story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).

House Probes Miners Over Pollution

May 28, 2024

0

Top: A DayLight investigation found Z&C Investment Company is polluting Harrisburg’s land, water and air, prompting the House of Representatives probe. The DayLight/Charles Gbayor

By Gabriel M. Dixon

Monrovia – The House of Representatives is investigating a mining company over a media report of pollution in the historic Montserrado township of Harrisburg.

The House’s Committee on Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Environment investigation wrote Z&C Investment Company, which operates a quarry in Harrisburg, to appear before it on Thursday.

“The Decision of the committee to cite you is triggered by a grave report received by the House’s Committee… about the escalating issue of water, air and noise pollution within Harrisburg,” Anthony Williams, head of the committee and Maryland Representative, said in a letter, seen by The DayLight.

The committee’s decision comes barely a week after a DayLight report exposed alleged pollution caused by Z&C’s operation. It found the company’s use of explosions was destroying homes, while it backfilled water sources used by residents.

Z&C obtained a quarry license from the Ministry of Mines and Energy to quarry rocks on 50 acres near the St. Paul River.

“The Committee… has learned that the quarry’s activities have led to significant contamination of water sources in that area… and are also contributing to deteriorating air quality and damages to homes,” Williams’ letter noted.

The Committee has asked the company to provide copies of licenses and permits issued by the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia, and other documents to prove compliance.

Huge piles of rocks at Z&C’s quarry in Harrisburg, Rural Montserrado County. The DayLight/Harry Browne

Last year, an environmental audit by Ansumana Environmental Consultancy Inc. contradicted the company’s environmental standing. In its summary, the audit was inconclusive Z&C prevented water and air pollution. However, it was conclusive the Chinese-owned firm prevented water and air pollution.

Also, an environmental audit report incorrectly cited a water quality test by the University of Liberia. The test showed the presence of phosphate, iron and manganese above their accepted levels.

The DayLight’s report—including a five-minute video documentary—cited satellite images, physical evidence of pollution and interviews.

Residents rued how Harrisburg has changed from a pristine township founded by freed slaves to a repository of rock dust and particles.

“The dust is suffering us here, it takes over all the crops and plants that we planted,” Yatta Taylor, who lives about 12 meters away from the plant, told The DayLight.

“When we harvest the potato greens or cassava leaf to cook it, you have to wash it more than five times before cutting or [pounding] it to cook.”

Lofa Accountant Continues to Extort Plank Dealers

May 28, 2024

0

Top: Garmai Kennedy, Lofa County Accountant, llegally collects L$1,000 from each truck transporting planks within and out of Lofa County. The DayLight/Mason Kollie

By Mason Kollie

VOINJAMA, Lofa County – In August last year, the Superintendent of Lofa County William Tamba Kamba abolished an illegal fee he imposed on planks leaving the northwestern county following a DayLight investigation.

Kamba had accepted that the collection was illegal.

“We stopped the toll collection [because] the county council comprising of representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, [the Ministry of Internal Affairs], CSOs, and the youths did not approve [it],” said Kamba then.

Yet, a few months after Kamba’s admission, Garmai Kennedy, Lofa County’s accountant, reintroduced the illegal toll system.

Like under Kamba, plank dealers pay Kennedy L$1,000 for a truckload of planks transported within and out of the county, receipts of the transactions show.

“As long you are taking wood from Voinjama to Monrovia, you need to pay the Superintendent fee…, which I did two weeks ago,” Vesselee Lakpawolo, a plank dealer, said.

“I sent wood in town [recently] to my brother. I paid for the Superintendent fee to Garmai Kennedy, the accountant of the county,” Lakpawolo added, brandishing a receipt.

Lofa County Accountant Garmai Kennedy writes a receipt for a plank dealer at a carpenter shop in Voinjama. The DayLight/Mason Kollie

Plank dealers pay the fees directly to Kennedy, who gives them a receipt. She collects the fees at her home, in the streets of Voinjama and at the city’s checkpoint. One picture shows Kennedy writing a receipt to a dealer at a carpenter shop.

Kennedy has refused to account for the funds she has received, saying the money was for office use. “We have to buy [a] new flag, and facilitate some senior staff’s movements around the county,” she said.

Kennedy has been a cornerstone of the illegal plank toll in Lofa. During Kamba’s administration, she was responsible for collecting fees from all parts of the county, documents show.

A receipt The DayLight obtained in 2022 as part of another investigation revealed she received L$53,125 from a toll agent in Vahun. Kamba had introduced the illegal payment scheme in Vahun, following a leadership issue there before duplicating it throughout Lofa.

A 2019 document shows that she made several disbursements from fees collected from chainsaw millers in Foya.

County authorities collecting fees on plank goes against the practices of chainsaw milling, even in its unregulated state.

A man head carries planks in a forest in Kpasagizia, Lofa County in 2022. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

Local plank production or chainsaw milling began after the Second Liberian Civil War (1998-2003). It is the sole distributor of planks to domestic markets, with an estimated value between US$30 million and US$41 million, according to a 2017 report.

However, chainsaw milling has been unregulated since its emergence. Chainsaw millers get their wood by negotiating with forest owners in rural communities through verbal agreements. They pay the Forestry Development Authority (FDA)US$.60 per plank.

The Chainsaw Milling Regulation, completed by the FDA in 2022 and is yet to be enforced, recognizes community and FDA payments, but not the Office of the Superintendent.

Acting Superintendent Forkpa Roberts claims the toll collection is legal, citing a law. “Under the Local Governance Law (Act), the county authority has the right to generate revenue on [its] own,” Roberts told The DayLight.

Roberts’ claim is incorrect. The Local Government Act does not give superintendents or their staff any power to levy fees on any good. That power lies solely in the county council, a group that comprises chiefs, the youths, and the disabled community.

A county council has not been formed in Lofa, and superintendents or their staff are not members of the body, according to the law.

That was the same wrong claim Kamba made to defend the illegal toll system before admitting it was unlawful.

This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists (CoFEJ).

Company Exports Timber Amid Outstanding Community Projects

May 27, 2024

0

Top: A West Water skidder in District Three B&C Community Forest in Grand Bassa County. The DayLight/Philip Quwebin

By Emmanuel Sherman and Gerald Koinyeneh

Editor’s Note: This is the third part of a series on the Forestry Development Authority’s approval of illegal timber exports.

TONWEIN, Nimba and GAYEPUEWHOE, Grand Bassa – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) authorized a company to cut thousands of logs. However, it did not execute its social agreement with communities, violating a harvesting regulation.

West Water Group (Liberia) Inc. has operated in Blinlon and District Three B&C Community Forests in Nimba and Grand Basaa, respectively. During this time, it harvested 2,782 logs (20,095 cubic meters), according to the FDA.

But West Water has completed just a few out of dozens of mandatory projects for the communities, a DayLight investigation found.

“We will make sure they do that. I just want our people to be patient because these projects have been overdue,” said Eric Dahn, a leader of Blinlon’s community forest leadership.

“So, if it causes us to stop the company from operating until they fulfill all the promises, we will do it,” Dahn added.

This investigation adds to another published earlier this month, which found the FDA violated a payment regulation by approving West Water’s exports amid its indebtedness to the communities. Both payment and harvesting regulations empower local communities to benefit from forest resources.

The villagers’ plight had been thrust into the spotlight after an initial DayLight investigation found the FDA approved the export of West Water’s illegally harvested timber in District Three B&C.

West Water did not respond to questions for comment.

Failed promises

In 2020, West Water, a Chinese-owned company, signed a 15-year contract with Blinlon Community Forest for its 39,409 hectares of forestland in the Yarweh-Mehnsonneh District near the Nimba- River Cess border.

A West Water camp in Tonwein, Nimba County. The DayLight/Gerald Koinyeneh

The company promised the villagers a series of projects across Blinlon including a school, clinic, handpumps, roads and concrete bridges.

Nearly four years on, West Water has only done two out of 14 handpumps and has just started paving mandatory roads, which should have happened at the beginning of the contract. It has not done the school and clinic, which should have commenced in 2021, according to the contract.

The company only jumpstarted the roads after townspeople protested, blocking its workers from entering the forest in March. Both parties later resolved on March 5 to end hostilities.

“We will make sure they fulfill all the promises,” added Dahn.

Protest and Interference

The tension in District Three B&C Community Forest in Grand Bassa is higher. It mirrors a string of controversies, which have marred the community since it obtained community forest status in 2014. (communities own forestlands but must complete legal requirements to sign logging contracts)

At that time, the community forest contracted Renew Forestry Group to operate its 49,728 hectares of forest on the border of Grand Bassa, River Cess and Nimba.

However, a conflict erupted. The forest leadership recognized Renew Forestry Group, while the local and county authorities sided with West Water.

Ultimately, the forest was split between the two logging companies. Renew Forestry Group took Community Forest One, and West Water Community Forest Two.

Then in 2021, West Water signed a 15-year contract with District Three B&C Community Forest of 24,175 hectares of woodland. The company promised to build roads, concrete bridges, a clinic, a school, market tables, town halls and hand pumps.

Like its Blinlon contract, West Water has not lived up to its contract with District Three B&C. It has completed just one out of eight hand pumps, while villagers drink from polluted creeks. Three years into the agreement, it has not done the major roads, bridges, clinics, town halls and market tables. According to the contract, most of these projects should have been completed in two years.

“West Water is not doing anything good for us,” Alex Bonwin, a member of the community leadership said. “If the company is not doing what they’re supposed to do we revoke their document to get out.”

West Water’s failure to honor the contract has led to tension, with three protests already this year. In the latest one, which occurred last week, townspeople stopped seven log-loaded trucks from leaving the community.

Alfred Flomo, the representative of Grand Bassa Electoral District Four, where the community forest lies, interferes in the matter.

Gayepuewhoe Town is one of 14 communities that own the District Three B&C Community Forest. The DayLight/Emmanuel Sherman

In a May 12 meeting, Flomo asked the company to stay off the forest until it addressed issues the villagers raised, according to the meeting’s minutes seen by The Daylight. That was the second time he had taken such action.

Under the community forest law, lawmakers are members of the community assembly, the highest decision-maker, and the executive committee. However, they cannot unilaterally halt a company’s operations.

Flomo and the townspeople’s actions also violate the contract between West Water and the community. Both parties agreed to settle their dispute between themselves or through an arbitration procedure. Flomo did not reply to The DayLight’s emails and text messages for an interview.

The FDA did not respond to queries for comment on this story. However, in a recent interview, Director Rudolph Merab told the Associated Press he would work to scale back regulations. Those comments echoed ones he made during his induction in February, saying forestry reformers created laws “that cannot work.”

[Additional reporting by Philip Quwebin and Derick Snyder]

This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).

The Illegal Rock Quarry Polluting Harrisburg

May 22, 2024

0

Top: Z&C rock quarry, located 258 meters outside its license area, produces dust that covers everything in Harrisburg. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By Harry N. Browne and Derick Snyder

HARRISBURG – Before the miners came to quarry rocks, Harrisburg, founded in 1841 by returned free slaves from the United States, was one of the quietest and most beautiful places in Liberia.

“Harrisburg was fine. The plants used to grow fine. When you plant potato greens, it grows fine. If you plant cassava it grows fine. The creeks were fine,” Yatta Taylor, a resident, said.

By 2012, everything began to change after Z&C Investment Company arrived. It had acquired a license to quarry rocks in this Rural Montserrado township along the St. Paul River.

In the last 12 years of Z&C’s operations, a cloud of dust the quarry produces has grayed the once pristine landscape. The resultant sound of rock explosion and crushing replaces the township’s quietude.

“The dust is suffering us here, it takes over all the crops and plants that we planted,” Taylor, who lives less than 500 meters away from the plant, told The DayLight.

“When we harvest the potato greens or cassava leaf to cook it, you have to wash it more than five times before cutting or [pounding] it to cook,” she added.

The plant operates nearly 24 hours a day, crushing rocks. Between January 2022 and April last year, it produced 126,000 cubic yards of rocks, according to an environmental audit approved by the EPA.

The environmental audit is contradictory. In its summary findings, it was inconclusive whether Z&C prevented water and air pollution in Harrisburg. However, in the details of the findings, it was conclusive that Z&C prevented water and air pollution.

Conclusive or inclusive, the report also contradicts a University of Liberia laboratory testing on Harrisburg’s water. The test shows the levels of chemicals, including phosphate, iron and manganese, were above their accepted levels. Manganese, for instance, can cause problems with memory, attention and muscle movements.

Ansumana Environmental Consultancy Inc., the Paynesville firm that conducted the audit, did not respond to queries for comment.

But satellite images and evidence of pollution reporters gathered are consistent and contradict the environmental audit report’s findings.

The images from Google Earth, which provides a three-dimensional representation of the planet, reveal that Z&C’s quarry plant operates outside its license area. The Chinese-owned company initially obtained its license in 2012, covering 50 acres of land. However, the images show that the quarry plant is at least 258 meters outside its license area.

Up: A satellite image shows Harrisburg’s green landscape before Z&C Investment Corporation arrived in 2012. Here: A satellite image shows rock mining and quarrying changed the landscape 11 years later. Picture credit: Google Earth

Z&C did not grant The DayLight’s request for an interview.

‘Can’t sleep’

Reporters filmed a huge cloud of dust released into the air and the St. Paul River nearby. Earthmovers, which Z&C’s workers used to transfer and transport crushed rocks, create dust. Noise from those activities and the quarrying plant pierced throughout the township.

Generally, a rock quarry plant produces noise pollution up to 116 decibels, according to a 2015 study. Noise pollution is any unwanted sound that affects the health and well-being of humans, according to scientists. Sound leads to noise when it exceeds more than 85 decibels.

Noise pollution leads to some serious health issues, scientists say. It leads to hearing impairment heart problems, sleep issues, heart blood pressure, and poorer work and school performance. It affects every person but the worst of them are children.

The study found that trucks produce up to 114 decibels, shovels and bulldozers 103 decibels and 116 decibels, respectively, while the grader produces 105 decibels.

“We cannot sleep when Z&C Investment Company say that they are ready to work for true…we can’t sleep,” Sarah Swaray, the chairlady of Harrisburg, said.

Z&C Investment Company’s quarry produces a cloud of gray dust, which spreads throughout Harrisburg. The DayLight/Harry Browne

Swaray said at least five trucks moved in and out of Z&C’s operational area during the day.

Z&C begins daily explosions in the early morning hours, with earthmovers drilling holes into the mine. Then ammonium nitrate, a powerful explosive, is placed in the hole and ignited. The company’s blasting site is in Joe Ricks Town, about three minutes from Swaray’s home. The two other most affected communities are the Fire Point and Displaced Camp.

Blasting

A decade of Z&C blasting has left a huge open pit in Harrisburg. Elevated images show the pit gets deeper and wider, with three layers of digging.

The environmental audit found between January 2022 and April last year, Z&C used 1,423 bags of ammonium nitrate, which releases toxic gases—nitrogen oxide and ammonia gas—into the air.

Residents have raised their concerns for the safety of their children and the health of people in the community.

A mining pit has formed after more than years of Z&C operations in Harrisburg. The DayLight/Harry Browne

“Anytime Z&C [does]… blasting, the rocks fall over [the roofs of our houses]. When you check around this environment, you can see that many houses are cracked around here,” Prince Mitchell, a youth, said.

“The scent from the chemical affects us,” Thomas Ricks, a resident of Joe Ricks Town, said. “I do suffer from fresh cool, though no one has come up to say that it is from the dust.”

Dried, muddy creeks

Clearing the mine for explosions has led to the pollution of the creeks in Harrisburg. The Daylight reporters filmed earthmovers backfilling a valley through which a nearby stream flows.

The creeks in Harrisburg were a source of livelihood for many years. People used them for washing, cooking, drinking and other things. Now, no one uses them anymore. Other creeks have dried up.

Sarah Swaray, Chairlady of Harrisburg. The DayLight/Harry Browne

“They have closed the creeks that we normally drink from. They have spoiled everything,” said Kool J. Manyago, a resident.

The vibration from the explosions is also a worry for residents and their residencies. Many homes have developed major cracks due to the heavy blasting. Some of the cracks run from the roof to the floor of buildings.

As a result of the explosion and vibration, a family abandoned their home. They used to live close to mine, according to residents in the area. The house built from earth bricks finally fell to the ground. Debris of the home that are still visible among a bush.

“I am thinking in times to come what will become of [the pit they have dug here],” Elizabeth Kerkula, another resident said. Will the company be able to cover that hole? Will it be safe for others that will be living here…?

“I want the government to look at it.”

[Derick Snyder, Matenneh Keita and Charles Gbayor contributed to this report]

The United States Embassy provided funding for this story. The DayLight maintained editorial independence over the story’s content.

Motorcycles Vs Road Safety

May 21, 2024

0

Top: A man on a motorcycle and the police in Sinkor. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By Elchico M. Fawundu

I took a detour from Oldroad (Kailondo Junction) and hit Tubman Boulevard in full view heading to Congo town. While the road stretched out its receiving arms, I received a phone call from a pal. I took the phone and held it on a loudspeaker so that I could at the same, embrace the road. Almost immediately that affection seemed uncomfortable as I witnessed two motorcycles collision which instantaneously left one rider motionless at Catholic Junction.

I hastened to cut off my phone as this was almost like a motion picture in foreplay. The disoriented motorcyclist struggled to collect his counterpart who had passed out as though he was in an enchanted sleep and the passengers tried to recollect their possessions or at least what they could find. Then and there, I realized the magnitude of motorcycle accidents.

In all fairness, I must admit I have witnessed my fair share of motorcyclists always tumbling in front of my vehicle and the riders politely gathering themselves up but this was the first of its kind.

Seemingly, The Liberia National Police (LNP) in its new regulation to uphold public safety with emphasis on Road safety has caused quite a stir for bike riders, especially the regulation that deals with riders wearing protective gear (reflectors, helmets, driver’s licenses and insurance).

Basically, the ruckus has largely been due to poor or little public assumptions on the unceremonious request rather than the conventional usage of those gears.

The public mixed reactions are attributed to a lack of education and the unaccustomed use of those gears. However, some tangential and hygienic concerns have been raised.

Statistically, research conducted by Front Page Africa in its article: Liberia: 139 Die in Road accidents from January to September 2022, states that motorcycle-to-motorcycle deaths stand at 169, motorcycle car is 399, motorcycle-to-pedestrian is 116 and tricycle to motorcycle is 39, respectively.

It can also be emphasized that the supra stats notably recognize just three-quarters of a particular year and at the same time, leave out all fatal and minor associated injuries.

The need to address this public safety hazard cannot be overemphasized.

Interestingly, the new regulation has triggered the tease in most quarters, too much to some bemusement and too little to some annoyance. This may have stemmed from the unhabitual practice and its adverse effects.

Besides, the fact that Monrovia, if not Liberia has few traffic indicators which help in mitigating road hazards and helping in regulating traffic flow, many find the regulation meaningless.

Many equally find the regulation handy and timely as the impact of motorcycle accidents has large and lasting effects on its victims (both the driver and rider).

The center of commotion has up to this point been the hygienic and limited transportation aspects.

Transportation in our country has been a challenge in comparison. There is no statistical evidence available to point out the amount of vehicle to a person(s) and the last unofficial report from NTA placed public transportation at 2 poorly refurbished buses taken over from the past government. (OK FM, Morning Rush)

Thus, leading to a hike in Commercial motorcycles; there isn’t any at hand stat on the amount of motorcycles in circulation but it has proven convenient for students and commuters, especially in the early hours of the day and late hours of the night.

Conversely, riding motorcycles is more dangerous in general than other vehicles and this is because they don’t have safety features like airbags, or seatbelts, and riders are more vulnerable to a collision.

Many riders are keen on the final destination especially if the vehicle is unconventional order rather than the process of arriving safely. Comments on social media and radio reactions since the introduction have skyrocketed against the practice.

Hygienically, the risks of sharing a helmet can be identified as traction to the hair if it isn’t properly worn, exacerbates bacteria accumulation on the scalp surface and causes scalp infection if the inner lining (helmet) is unhygienic some of which are long-term effects. Furthermore, helmets if not the rightful size and/or model may result in discomfort, heat, restriction of vision hearing and hair damage; However, Helmets reduce the risk of serious brain injuries and death in the worst case during a fall and/or collision. It also absorbed shocks from impacts up to 250 pounds.

Realistically, there is far more work to be done by all parties involved, the Public, the hygiene and limited public transport while the LNP is concerned about public safety which in its essence is the overall protection of all parties (Motorcyclists and Riders) and some extent pedestrians, respectively.

Some mitigations would be to educate motorcyclists and riders on the safety of wearing protective gear and the reintroduction of street indicators with inclusive motorcycle indicators and also encourage the motorcyclists to buy some specific rider helmets (full face, open face and modular helmet) all of which result into different effects on riders( passengers).

This will help save the lives of many riders and at the same time, reach riders to final destinations in one piece.

Elchico M. Fawundu is an environmental science lecturer at Stella Maris Polytechnic University.

Bong Clan Desires Deed for Ancestral Land

May 21, 2024

0

Top: Villagers work on a farm in Jorpolu Clan in Jorquelleh District, Bong County. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By Matenneh Keita

JORPOLU CLAN, Bong County – In 2019, one year after the Land Rights Act, people in a clan in Jorquelleh District, Bong County, declared their intention to acquire an ancestral land deed.

Jorpolu Clan declared its intention to obtain a deed, known as community self-identification. Then it set up a governance structure to oversee land matters. Now, people of the clan are cutting boundaries with neighboring clans to decide their land size.

But there is a problem. Jorpolu has four boundary disputes with the neighboring Behquelleh and Suakoko Clans. Under the law, communities own land on which their ancestors lived, farmed and hunted. However, they must resolve all their boundary disputes to be granted a title deed.

“We’re talking with [the neighboring clans] and they’re consenting to the discussion,” says Austin Leayne, the secretary for Jorpolu land leadership. “They all can come together for us to discuss the best way forward for everybody to live in peace and harmony.”

Initially, there were 22 boundary issues between the Jorpolu Clan and the adjacent clans. Eighteen have been resolved, with the balance of four issues outstanding. Of those four disputes, Jorpolu has three with Behquelleh and the other with Suakoko.

The first dispute in Behquelleh regards a town called Gbaota. The family of a deceased famous chief there is claiming about 10 acres of land.

The second is related to the first. The land the family claims runs through another town called Gowarmue. However, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been drafted for the disputing parties to sign, according to Josephus Blim, program officer with Parley Liberia. The NGO assists Jorpolu and other communities through the legal process of acquiring a customary land deed. Its work is part of a US$3.45 million project funded by the International Land and Forest Tenure Facility headquartered in Sweden.

Jorpolu landmass covers thousands of hectares of land, including forest. The DayLight/Charles Gbayor

“Those are just minute places,” Blim said. “I don’t think it would stop the customary process from going on.”

The third land dispute Jorpolu has with Behquelleh is over farmland between a town called Gbarney in Jorpolu and another town in Behquelleh called Kpanyan.

The people from Jorpolu who settled on the land want the land to stay under Jorpolu but a family in Behquelleh wants it to remain there.

Jorpolu’s dispute with Suakoko is the most major. It is a longstanding issue between the two clans over at least 150 acres of land along a creek.

The Woue Creek evenly divides both clans. It takes a deep curve between Gbenjema on the Jorpolu side and Galai on the Suakoko side.

Farmers in Gbenjema who crossed the creek to farm on the land are claiming it but the family of a late elder in Galai counterclaimed it.

“We have made a breakthrough in getting the heirs of the elder to reach a compromise with Jorpolu to resolve the dispute,” Blim said. He added relatives of the late elder attended a recent meeting Parley Liberia organized.

Once Jorpolu resolves all the disputes, the Liberia Land Authority is mandated to survey to confirm the clan’s land and give it a customary deed in line with the law.

Thirty-one communities across the Country lands have been surveyed, according to the Land Authority. About 22 communities have already been granted customary deeds, with Fessibu in Lofa the latest.

Martha Sheriff is a member of Jorpolu Community Land Development and Management Committee. The DayLight/Harry Browne

People in Jorpolu cannot wait to join the list.

“This land deed is very important to me because during those days women did not have the right to plant anything. Even to plant cocoa on your father’s land… your brothers would say, ‘You don’t have property here,’” says Martha Sheriff, a member of Jorpolu land leadership.

But now, I feel good because of the Land Rights Act that has given me the right to own land and plant cocoa, rubber, and other things on the land for me and my children’s future,” Sheriff added.

“My brothers can’t stop me.”

While a customary deed would solve the Sheriff’s familial problem, it promises enormous benefits for Jorpolu.

In 2021, Huiren Mining Inc., a mining firm, signed an MoU with few people in the clan and did not live up to it. Neither Jorpolu’s land leadership participated nor was it aware of the document.

Austin Leayne, the secretary of Jorpolu Company Land Development and Management Committee. The DayLight/Harry Browne

Following three years of heightening tension over social benefits, the Ministry of Mines and Energy recently halted Huiren’s operations. A meeting between the company and affected communities is scheduled for next month.

Johnson Kong-bai, the head of the Jorpolu land leadership, rues the marginalization. He believes Jorpolu possession of an ancestral deed will prevent such a thing, though communities are guaranteed customary ownership by the law.

“If I have my deed, I got the full right to go to the company and say, ‘This place you want to operate is my area,’” Kong-bai tells The DayLight. “‘Before you do anything here, you and I will have to sit and discuss what will be the community’ benefit.’”

Following Liberia, Sierra Leone to Enact EITI Law

May 14, 2024

0

Top: Sierra Leonean miners at a diamond mine in Kenema in 2020. New Narratives/Eric Opa Doue

By James Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA – The Sierra Leone Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (SLEITI) will follow Liberia by enacting an EITI law, and include forestry and agriculture in it, a news release from SLEITI and its Liberian counterpart said.

The decision came after a five-day learning exchange between the SLEITI and the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) that ended last week.

“The completion of the event has further strengthened the outlook for EITI implementation in both countries, as participants shed light on adaptive methods of implementing EITI within their respective governance structures,” the release said.

“The weeklong event… has also strengthened the already existing ties between Liberia and Sierra Leone EITI,” it added.

The EITI is a Norway-based international NGO that seeks to promote good governance in the extractive sector.

Liberia and Sierra Leone are two of 55 countries implementing the EITI Standards, which require each member country to publish a report yearly on extractive transactions.

Liberia’s EITI established its program in 2007, one year before Sierra Leone. Adding forestry and agriculture to the EITI’s main industries—oil/gas and mining—Liberia won the Best EITI Implementing Country Award in 2009. That same year, the LEITI Act was created. It became the first African country and second in the world to become EITI compliant. It remains one of the most comprehensive EITI programs in the world.

Unlike Liberia, Sierra Leone has not legislated its EITI program.

The visiting SLEITI team said it would work to include forestry and agriculture in its EITI program. The team comprised civil society, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources.

Also following in Liberia’s footsteps, the SLEITI said it would work to create a beneficial ownership regulation to publish the shareholders of companies’ human owners.

“Sierra Leone’s goal is to utilize the Liberian experience on [beneficial ownership (BO) ] progress to improve its own BO, while Liberia is looking to build on the progress of Sierra Leone,” the release said.

Liberia added forestry and agriculture to its EITI program, something its Sierra Leonean counterpart said it would emulate. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

The SLEITI is effective at work planning and recommendation follow-up, according to a 2022 report by the EITI secretariat.

The LEITI said it would emulate Sierra Leone’s example by including local authorities in its extractive governance programs and letting senior government officials launch its annual reports. LEITI’s board of directors—known as the multi-stakeholders steering committee or MSG—does that.

It said it would include a braille version of its annual reports to promote the participation of people with visual impairment.

“Mr. Jeffrey N. Yates and Mr. Mohammed B. Koroma, National Coordinators of Liberia and Sierra Leone EITI Secretariats strongly expressed confidence that the peer exchange and learning event will objectively impact their respective country EITI implementation activities,” it added.

The German Cooperation (GIZ), the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry of Cooperation (BMZ) funded the exchange exercise.

Police Arrest ‘Black Sand’ Miners in Sinoe

May 13, 2024

0

Top: Four of the Vietnamese mineworkers arrested by the police in Bannah, Sinoe County. Picture credit: Facebook/Butaw Radio TV

By Gabriel M. Dixon

GREENVILLE – Police in Sinoe County have arrested nearly a dozen Vietnamese nationals for allegedly violating a mining moratorium, local media reported.

Eight men were detained on Saturday on the order of Superintendent Peter Wleh Nyenswah.

“This initiative is intended to buttress the national government’s effort in the fight against illicit mining,” Nyenswah told Radio Butaw.

The men work for STT Heavy Mineral Resources Limited, a medium-scale company that mines zircon sand commonly called “black sand” in Greenville. The Vietnamese-owned company has five active black sand mining licenses in Sinoe County, the ministry’s records show.

Nguyen Thanh Truc, STT’s majority shareholder, did not immediately respond to queries.

An STT mining plant in Morrisville, Sinoe County in January 2023. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

Last month, the government of Liberia banned black sand mining across the country after a video of an illegally extracted stockpile of the minerals, posted by a citizen journalist, went viral on Facebook. Before that, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fined Quezp Mining Company in Brewerville and Royesville for operating without an environmental permit.

FDA Lets Loggers Ship US$3.5M Logs, Denying Villagers’ Share

May 11, 2024

0

Top: West Water has a 15-year contract with District Three B&C Community Forest in Grand Bassa County. The company is indebted to the owners of the forest but was allowed to export timber. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By Emmanuel Sherman and Gerald Koinyeneh

Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a series on the Forestry Development Authority’s approval of illegal timber exports.

TONWEIN, Nimba and GAYEPUE TOWN, Grand Bassa – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) permitted a company to export several consignments of timber while the firm was indebted to communities where the logs were harvested, a violation of a forestry regulation.

From June last year to March 2024, West Water Group (Liberia) Inc. shipped seven loads, totaling 3,275 logs or 18,683.309 cubic meters, FDA’s records show. The shipments are valued at an estimated US$3.5 million, based on the FDA-approved prices and details of logs in the consignments.

Yet West Water owes Blinlon Community Forests and District Three B&C in Grand Bassa and Nimba Counties over US$100,000, according to the leaderships of both community forests. The debt—approximately three percent of the estimated value of the exports—includes fees for land rental, harvesting, scholarships, and health services.

“The money from those logs that were shipped has not come to the community,” Jeremiah Gayepue, the head of District Three B&C leadership, told The DayLight. “The people are suffering.” West Water did not respond to queries for comment.

The FDA’s approval of the exports violates the Regulation of Forest Fees, requiring West Water to make all outstanding payments before shipment or harvesting.

The exports came to the spotlight after a DayLight investigation found half of the logs in the March consignment had been illegally harvested. The FDA denies the report, saying the newspaper “misinterpreted” the export dataset.

‘[Get] them out’

In July 2020, West Water signed a contract with locals to operate the 39,409-hectare Blinlon Community forest in the Yarwin-Mehnsonnon District near the Nimba-River Cess border.

The contract mandates West Water to pay the community yearly land rental, harvesting and scholarship fees.

However, as of last month, the company owed the community over US$32,000, based on an interview with Junior Jacobs, the head of Blinlon’s leadership. The DayLight could not update that information at press time due to the lack of mobile phone connectivity in that part of Nimba.

Things are worse in District Three B&C, where West Water harvested four of the seven consignments of logs it exported.

The new Managing Director of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) Rudolph Merab approved one of the exports for West Water Group (Liberia) Inc., while the company owed community forests in Nimba and Grand Bassa Counties. The DayLight/Harry Browne

West Water signed a contract with the Grand Bassa villagers about a year after it sealed the Blinlon deal. The new contract covers 24,862.5 hectares along Grand Bassa’s borders with Nimba and River Cess.

West Water owes District Three B&C nearly US$80,000, according to The DayLight’s calculation, based on interviews with the community forest’s leaders. It has outstanding land rental, harvesting, scholarships and health services payments.

These outstanding payments and other issues have sparked two protests this year, the latest last month. Locals set up roadblocks and prevented West Water’s workers from going into the forest as the company has always been indebted to them.

“If the company is not meeting its obligation we will revoke their documents to get [them] out,” Alex Bonwin, a member of the community forest leadership, said.

Indebtedness

Created in 2007, the Regulation on Forest Fees is one of several reform provisions to ensure forest resources “directly benefit local communities and the government.”

Jonathan Yiah, the lead forestry campaigner at the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), blames West Water’s persistent indebtedness to the communities on the failure of the FDA to enforce the regulation.

Jeremiah Gayepue, the chief officer of the District Three B&C Community Forest in Grand Bassa County. The DayLight/ Emmanuel Sherman

Yiah said the lack of enforcement of the regulation would lead to the termination or suspension of West Water’s contract.

“If the current government of Joseph N. Boakai means business, then forestry laws must be enforced in totality so that both the government and the communities can benefit from our resources,” Yiah told The DayLight.

Yiah is not the only person to have said this.

A World Bank report released last month calls on the Liberian government to prioritize forest communities by managing forestry resources sustainably for peace and prosperity. The report found that climate change will push 1.3 million people into poverty and reduce the size of Liberia’s economy by 15 percent by 2050 if nothing is done.

‘Very repressive’

The FDA dodged queries for comment on its failure to enforce the Regulation on Forest Fees. The agency disclosed that the company also owed the government US$59,319.50, which also breaches the regulation.

“Yes, we confirm that West Water has tax liabilities,” Merab said in a letter to the newspaper. “However, [the Liberia Revenue Authority] is the lead determinant of tax obligation.”

Merab is a staunch opponent of forestry laws and regulations.

In an interview with the African Report in 2015 after Liberia signed a US$150 million deforestation deal with Norway, he claimed that logging’s legal regime had impoverished rural communities.

West Water’s camp in Tonwein, Nimba County. The DayLight/Gerald Koinyeneh

During his induction as Managing Director of the FDA, Merab aimed a dig at the crafters of the legal framework for creating laws “that cannot work.”

He stated that in a recent interview with the Associated Press, adding he would work to scale back regulations.

“Sometimes regulations become too cumbersome and it stifles productivity,” he said in the interview. “Same thing with laws. Sometimes the law becomes very repressive.”

Monthly Archives: May 2024

Podcasts

ABOUT US

FOLLOW US