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.
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.
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.”
Top: Bao Chico signed a 25-year mining agreement with the Liberian government in 2022 to mine iron ore in Bomi and Gbarpolu County. The DayLight/Derick Snyder
By Esau J. Farr
COMPOUND-SU JUNCTION, GbarpoluCounty – Last August, Augustine David, a driver of Bao Chico, was ordered to separate culverts for bridge construction in the area without protective gears. A steel rod he was using slipped and crushed the right index finger.
David was taken to the JFK Medical Center in Monrovia that day in August last year. He spent some days at JFK and two months to recover at the Bethesda Medical Center on Somalia Drive outside Monrovia.
“I am traumatized because I was [not] born crippled but I am now crippled,” David said as he held up his palm with the severed finger at Compound-Su Junction.
David is one of several workers at Bao Chico Resources Liberia Limited who have sustained lifetime injuries due to the Chinese firm’s unsafe working environment.
Augustine David, a Bao Chico driver, lost his index finger after a culvert he was ordered to move crushed it. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue
Owned by Zhan Zhen, a giant steel company in China, Bao Chico Resources Liberia Limited signed a 25-year agreement with Liberia in 2022 to mine iron ore, covering 87.4 square kilometers in Bopolu and Suehn Mecca Districts of Gbarpolu and Bomi Counties, respectively.
Its legislation was marred by controversy and its activities marred by protests ever since. Even the Liberian Senate has expressed concern over heightening insecurity relating to working conditions at the concession.
‘I felt bad’
David received US$500 for the loss of his finger from Bao Chico, 100 times his daily rate, in line with the Decent Work Act.
But Bao Chico has not employed David, flouting a memorandum of understanding (MoU) they signed. The document, seen by The DayLight, requires the company to employ him for five years after his recovery. However, five months after his full recovery, he remains a contractor.
“I have [repeatedly protested] and complained to the Labor Commissioner but all in vain,” David said. “Now, I am deciding to hire a lawyer [to plead my case].”
Momo Kromah also lost the little finger on his left hand in a machine accident at Bao Chico. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue
Like David, Momo Kromah of Baabu-Ta also got injured in late June last year after a Bao Chico machine cut off his left little finger.
Kromah worked as a machine assistant to a Chinese worker at Bao Chico. He alleges his Chinese workmate, who had earlier made two similar mistakes that week, caused the accident.
But unlike David, Kromah claims he received no injury benefits but, like David, has also not been employed.
“I felt bad at the time. It hurts [for] a family man to be working and get injured on the job,” Kromah said in a January interview. “I want for labor to [plead] for me so that I can go back to the job and be employed, according to my career.”
Jusu Sumo, Gbarpolu’s Labor Commissioner, knows of the injuries at Bao Chico and enforces the payment of workers’ benefits.
“When it comes to Augustine David’s issue, the management of Bao Chico is saying that they have their bosses that need to come so that their official employment letter can be prepared…,” Sumo said.
Sumo refuted Kromah’s allegation that Bao Chico did not pay him his injury benefits. He said the injured man was still a contractor with the company. He, however, attributed problems with workers’ benefits because of Bao Chico’s lack of a human resource officer.
Kromah’s activities appeared to support Sumo’s comments and contradict Kromah’s assertions three months ago. Kromah sat in a pickup truck with Chinese miners headed to a Bao Chico mine near Compound-Su. He evaded several attempts for a second interview.
Anthony Jackson’s injury was not as severe as David’s and Kromah’s but was bad enough to scar his left foot. A welder with Bao Chico, Jackson sustained the injury after a welding fume melted an improper footgear he wore, suffering a burn to his left foot.
Anthony Jackson sustained a burn while welding for Bao Chico without proper footgear. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue
Jackson told The DayLight Bao Chico gave him US$20 for almost four days of work lost because of the January 8 injury although he was being paid US$10 daily.
His ex-workmate Jedrome Biomah, sustained an eye injury due to a damaged goggle. A welding particle passed through the hole in the goggles and fell onto his eye, nearly blinding it.
Boimah, a former welder assistant, said he informed the company about his injury but was downplayed for about a month.
“So, when I was called to sign for my pay, I told them that I could not see anything and that’s how I got their attention,” Boimah told The DayLight.
Boimah took treatment at the JFK for six months, according to hospital documents seen by The DayLight. He alleges that he did not complete the full treatment due to Bao Chico’s failure to foot the bill. He was later dismissed over an alleged fuel theft.
Harris Kollie, a 26-year-old driller, sustained an injury to his neck and stomach. However, his aggressor was not a culvert, a machine, or welding particles. Kollie’s aggressor was a Chinese national.
On January 24, he quarreled with the Chinese man, which turned quickly to insults and then blows. Kollie sustained injuries to his neck and stomach in the ordeal.
A doctor at the Emirates Hospital in Bopolu gave Kollie a prescription, from which he bought medicines that were administered at home.
Harris Kollie was injured in a fight with a Chinese national at Bao Chico. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue
Bao Chico apologized to residents for the incident, according to James Scott, an elder at Compound-Su Junction. However, residents want the Chinese man who beat Kollie out of the community.
‘Relocate us’
Amid workers’ injuries, residents endure Bao Chico’s noise pollution. Everyone The DayLight interviewed had a story from the roaring sound of explosion and rain of rock particles from the nearby mines.
Perhaps, the most infamous victim is Zoe Freeman. A 50-something-year-old woman, Freeman fell off during one of the company’s explosion exercises and was rushed to the Emirates Hospital in Bopolu. Reporters confirmed that information with a healthcare worker who helped care for her.
“I spent two days in the hospital. I didn’t have a sign of hypotension but doctors said it was shock,” Freeman recalled.
But Freeman’s experience has altered the company’s conduct of explosions. Bao Chico now makes announcements for people to evacuate the area before the explosions. The Monrovia-Bopolu and Bomi-Bopolu highways are closed for half an hour under police supervision.
Zoe Freeman fainted during a Bao Chico mine explosion last year. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue
“The surrounding villagers, relevant construction personnel, vehicle and equipment should cooperate to withdraw from the warning range in time,” a January announcement read.
But affected communities say that is not enough. They want to be relocated to prevent any future injuries. They have repeatedly called on Bao Chico to relocate them but the company has not done so.
“We told them to relocate us but they said it can’t be done hurriedly. They have to put some measures into place,” Sampson Lamah, the communities’ spokesman, said.
‘Ministers will be involved’
The injuries at Bao Chico derive from the concessioner’s noncompliance with several levels of workplace safety standards. It lacks a workplace legal framework to secure the safety, health and welfare of employees, a violation of the Decent Work Act of Liberia.
Residents endure noise pollution and rock particles due to their closeness to Bao Chico mines in Compound-Su Junction, Gbarpolu County. The DayLight/Derick Snyder
It has violated the law by not establishing a safety and health committee to oversee and address all safety and health needs of workers.
Sumo, the Labor Commissioner, agrees Bao Chico is noncompliant with labor standards.
“It is true that they don’t have [legal framework and established safety and health committee] at all,” Sumo said.
“Workers need to be dressed up properly in protective gear before getting to work to avoid injury,” Sumo added.
“The Labor Ministry will engage Bao Chico on these issues. It has reached to a level now where all of the ministers will be involved and resolve some of these issues”.
Bao Chico’s violation of labor safety standards means it has breached the Minerals and Mining Law of Liberia.
There is no record that Bao Chico drew up its workplace regulations approved by the Ministry of Mines and Energy as required by the law. There is also no record it reported those injuries to the Ministry of Mines, another violation of the law.
Bao Chico did not respond to queries for comments on this story.
The United States Embassy provided funding for this story. The DayLight maintained editorial independence over the story’s content.
Top: An elevated view of Huiren Mining Inc. plant in Jackson Village, Bong County. The DayLight/Charles Gbayor
By Matenneh Keita
MONROVIA – The Ministry of Mines and Energy has halted a mining company’s operations in Bong County for violating its memorandum of understanding with local communities.
The ministry said it had invited Huiren Mining Inc. representatives and the Jorpolu Clan townspeople in Jorquelleh District, Bong County, to Monrovia to correct “serious errors” in the MoU.
“We notice that the company decided to close their eyes or play deaf ears to the MoU so, as an institution, the Ministry decided to move in,” said Arma George Fully, the Director of Mines.
“If a company will work effectively, the community where that company works should be satisfied,” Fully said.
Villagers celebrated the move.
I feel fine for the government to come in for our citizens to benefit,” said Benedict Belekabolu, the youth chairman of Gbarmue, one of Huiren’s affected towns.
“The Ministry of Mines and Energy coming in to close Huerin Mining Inc. is [a step] in the right,” added Washington Bonnah, the former District Commission of Jorquelleh District.
Daniel Toe, Huiren’s project manager, did not respond to queries for comments on this story.
Huiren, a majority-Chinese-owned company, was granted a medium-scale license to mine gold in 2021. Afterward, it signed an MoU with Jorpolu to lease the clan’s land in exchange for periodic payments and social benefits.
But three years on, the company has failed to live up to the MoU, leaving villagers to struggle for drinking water and other things.
People in Jorpolu struggle to get drinking water as Huiren Mining activities have polluted creeks like this one in the clan. The DayLight/Charles Gbayor
A recent survey by Civic and Service International (CSI), an NGO working in mining communities, found that affected communities do not have a copy of the document or are aware of it.
“This is an assurance and an opportunity for voiceless people to be heard and a game-changer…,” said Otis Bundor, CSI’s country director.
Fully told The DayLight the Ministry would make sure the new MoU will respect the rights of locals.
“Things that the community will need, things that the community wants to benefit… will be placed in that MoU,” Fully said. “We will not sit and the company go and draft an MoU and just put things that will benefit them and not the community.”
Marvin Cole, the Representative of Bong County District Number Three, oversaw the creation of the current MoU between the parties.
Cole squashed a previous MoU for being “weak” and a “disservice” because he did not participate in its writing. However, the one he helped carve reduced the villagers’ benefits by US$400 and veiled their relationship with the miners in secrecy.
Like the one before it, the Cole-inspired MoU did not obligate Huiren to erect handpumps, pave roads and build a clinic or hospital.
A DayLight investigation found that affected towns and villages were unaware the company paid money into a bank account Cole helped open.
Fully said Cole and local government officials would participate in drafting the new MoU. Cole did not immediately return questions for comments on the matter.
The United States Embassy provided funding for this story. The DayLight maintained editorial independence over the story’s content.
