By Bill W. Cooper
The Consortium of Rubber Sector Actors of Liberia (CORSAL) has extolled President Joseph Boakai for lifting Executive Order #124, which places a ban on the exportation of unprocessed rubber.
The group also thanked Bong County District 7 Representative, Fody Fahnbulleh and the entire House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Jonathan F. Kofa, for their support to the Smallholder rubber farmers and other actors in the Rubber sector.
The Consortium of Rubber Sector Actors of Liberia (CORSAL) is a duly registered advocacy group under the laws of Liberia comprising Rubber Farmers, Rubber Brokers, Truckers, Rubber Exporters, and Forwarding Agents.
Their mission and vision are to advocate for the well-being and safety of rubber farmers as well as push for a more concrete action intended to liberate the economically deprived masses of Liberians in general and the Rubber Sector Actors in particular.
It can be recalled that President Joseph Boakai over the weekend, signed a new executive order to amend Executive Order #124, which upheld a moratorium on the export of unprocessed rubber from Liberia.
The new Executive Order #132 offers a brief period of reprieve in favor of “the farmers and business affected by the short notice in Executive Order #124, and to assist those rubber farmers affected by the ban.”
In response to the President’s decision, CORSAL noted that it sees the action by President Boakai by lifting Executive Order #124 as the “Rubber Revolution -Liberians Taking Charge For Communal Economic Growth.”
The group noted, “We can say this for the records, the decision made by the President will give the Liberian Smallholder rubber farmers the First Commercial Rubber Processing Plant where Liberians will process their rubber into TSR 20 or 10 and pay processing fees to the management of the Factory.”
“With our Motto: Unity is our strength, processing fees will be used to underwrite the cost of the factory operations and to pay back the investment. This approach will also allow Liberians to sell processed rubber for higher prices in overseas markets as opposed to being perpetual and historical raw material suppliers to factories in Liberia mostly owned by foreign capitals.
By this means the Liberians rubber farmers will be able to benefit from their labor and live a decent and rewarding life. We will produce Liberian millionaires from the rubber sector and not be perpetual and historical raw material suppliers to factories in Liberia mostly owned by foreign capitals and keep the smallholder rubber farmers poor and in economic and social crisis,” the group said.
CORSAL further, “Finally, we want to use this occasion to again extend our sincere gratitude to you the drum mayors of the people’s struggle in pursuit of Social Justice and Economic Freedom in our lifetime.”
“We would like to thank the Liberian Senate and in particular recognize and appreciate the efforts of Senators Albert Chie, Jonny Kpehe, Bill Traway, Nyan D. Tuayen, and all other progressive senators for their tireless efforts in ensuring that the interests of the Smallholder rubber farmers of Liberia and all other actors within the rubber sector are protected.
We like to use this opportunity to extend our infinite gratitude to all our gallant men and women who mustered the courage and gathered in their numbers at all times to express their absolute disapproval of being slaves in their own country and spectators in their economy,” CORSAL added.
