Top: C&C Corporation’s truckload of timber leaves Vambo Township in mid-March. The DayLight/Ojuku Kangar
By Emmanuel Sherman
MONROVIA – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and a logging company have asked the Commercial Court at the Temple of Justice to dismiss a US$5 million lawsuit against them for alleged damage to 3,200 acres of land in Grand Bassa County.
Khalil Haider, a Paynesville resident, claims that the FDA authorized C&C Corporation to harvest logs on the plot without his consent. He further alleges that the FDA honored a letter that forged Haider’s signature, ignoring his warning and approving C&C’s operations.
The land in question lies between the St. John River and Mt. Findley in the Vambo Township of Grand Bassa’s Compound Number Two.
The defendants challenged Haider’s claim and questioned the procedure through which he filed the lawsuit.
In its response, the FDA questioned the validity of Haider’s deed. The regulator argued that it was unlikely a deed was signed in 1958, 111 years after Liberia gained independence in 1847.
“Haider is a fabricator who would go to any length to tarnish the reputation of individuals managing the forestry sector, as evidenced by his assertions, which are all lies,” read the regulator’s petition.
The FDA added that Haider should have filed the lawsuit in his mother’s name instead of his own name. It denies receiving any communication from Haider, warning it about an alleged fake letter.
C&C’s only argument was about Haider filing the lawsuit in his name. It cited the Decedents Estate Law, a 1956 act that requires children to represent their late parents.
It is the prayer of [C&C Corporation] to dismiss [Haider’s] motion because it lacks legal basis,” the company’s petition read.
Haider’s counterargument
Haider insists on his US$5 million damages in his response to the FDA and C&C.
Haider counterargued that the FDA questioning of his deed’s validity was “unintelligible and lacked legal coherence.
“If counsel argument is that a deed executed in 1958 is invalid merely because Liberia gained its independence in 1847, such reason is unfounded,” read Haider’s response. “By that logic, all subsequent land transactions would be inherently fraudulent, which is patently absurd.”
On his lawsuit procedure, Haider said that Decedents Estate Law C&C referenced empowered him to sue in his name. He said his petition recognized his late mother as owner of the property. Haider’s response referenced a 1983 case and two 2001 cases.
“In view of the above, I pray respectfully that the Honorable Court deny Defendant’s request for dismissal,” said Haider, “as said request lacks legal merit.”
This story was a Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).
