Top: Amos Lewis displays an old map of Vambo Township, Grand Bassa County, where he claims to own 3,200 acres of land overlapped by a community forest. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By Emmanuel Sherman

Editor’s Note: This story is the second part of a series on illegalities associated with the Mavasagueh Community Forest in Compound Two, Grand Bassa County.

MONROVIA – A second person has claimed a huge plot of land in a newly authorized community forest in Grand Bassa County, proving that authorities conducted a flawed process, requiring a redo.

Amos Lewis’s claim covers 3,200 acres of land in the Mavasagueh Community Forest, a 26,003-hectare woodland in Compound Two.

“This is to inform your office that my father, the late Duzoe Reeves had 3,200 acres of land beginning from Duzoe Town and its surroundings in the Vambo Township,” read the letter.

“It is my understanding that the FDA has mistaken my father’s private land and has certificated the C&C Corporation to harvest logs from the land,” it added.

Lewis is the second person claiming the land along the St. John River with Mount Findley overlooking it.

In November, Khalil Haider, a resident of Buchanan, laid claim to the same land. However, Haider dropped his contention for a compromise with C&C Corporation (CCC), which had signed a contract for the forest.

A DayLight investigation on Monday found that the compromise was unlawful as community forests cannot overlap private land.

The investigation established that the FDA had leapfrogged some legal steps leading to Mavasagueh’s formation, ignoring NGO warnings. It also established that the FDA brokered the compromise between the company and Haider, not wanting to re-demarcate and remap the forest.

The two claims make it more certain that the regulator would redo the process in line with industry guidelines. The claims prove that the FDA did not conduct the demarcation and mapping in line with the guidelines, which have several safeguards to resolve any claims.

The FDA did not immediately respond to queries for comments on the matter.

Lewis’s claim

Lewis is a stepson of the late Paramount Chief Reeves, who originally acquired the land. Lewis’s name is on a paper he claims is the original deed.   

“Haider faked those things from his mother,” Lewis told The DayLight on Tuesday, displaying an old map of the Vambo Township.

Haider dismisses Lewis’ claim, saying Paramount Reeves transferred the ownership of the land to his late mother, Rosa Dillion. Like Lewis’, Haider’s deed was signed by the late President William V.S. Tubman.  

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