Top: The unfinished guesthouse in Karquekpo, Sinoe County. Picture credit: Anonymous
By Esau J. Farr
KARQUEKPO, Sinoe County – The People who own the Central River Dugbe Community Forest had hoped that they would get a guesthouse for their Independence Day celebration—or their “26.”
A Nigerian-owned Iroko Timber and Logging Company leased 13,193 hectares of land from the leadership of the forest in exchange for the guesthouse and other benefits.
But photographs and a video The DayLight obtained captured on Thursday show the project barely at window level.
“Nobody is expecting the keys to that building tomorrow,” said Cyrus Kartor, a youth leader in Karquekpo, where the guesthouse is being constructed.
Bartee Togba, the chief officer of the forest in Sinoe’s Jaedae District, had said the guesthouse was being completed in less than a day. “They are working there presently as I speak to you. Tomorrow (July 26) they may also go to work. I am sure,” Togba said.
The pictures and video show there has been no work at the construction site for some time.
The guesthouse is one of several projects Iroko is required to conduct, according to the contract. It was initially expected to be turned over to locals in October last year but was extended by nine months.
The unfinished dirt block guesthouse indicates Iroko’s lack of capacity to run a community forest. Recent DayLight investigations found Iroko owes locals land rental, harvesting and others to the community, while it has abandoned an unspecified number of logs.
An earlier DayLight investigation uncovered Iroko was unqualified for logging when the FDA approved its contract in 2021. Its majority shareholder, Timothy Odebunmi, is linked to another company, Akewa, which was fined for fraud in 2019.
A forestry regulation disqualifies companies whose shareholders have been involved in an act of public dishonesty for five years.
This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).
