The Western part of Liberia has become a hot spot in recent years, in most part for the wrong reasons.
The region has become a scene of protestation since concessions like the Bea Mountain Mining Corporation, Sime Darby (former), Madina Rock Crusher, and Bio-Checo, started their operations in the area.
Few weeks ago, there was a protest in Kinjor that left some citizens dead and others badly wounded in the process.
On the other side, there was also protest action in Bopolu, Gbarpolu County against Bio-Checo, and a looming protest in Bomi County against Western Cluster.
These happenings prompted this paper to conduct an investigation in the region.
Cape Mount County:
In the last three years, Grand Cape Mount County has been the main area of protests due to dissatisfaction of the residents against the company.
Our investigation has uncovered lots of issues that have affected the people in the concession area over the years.
According to local staff of the company and some residents of Kinjor, Bangorma, and other affected areas, who claim anonymity for fear of reprisal, the company has refused to implement what is written in the Mineral Development Agreement (MDA).
“Even the ones they decided to implement due to pressure from citizens are all substandard and do not represent structures built by a multi-million-dollar company. We are completely disappointed in the way these Turkish people are treating us,” they stated.
During the tour, this paper further discovered that the company constructed a clinic, a youth center, and a technical vocational training center in the town for the people, but according to them, the structures were all poorly built with sub-standard materials and are not supported.
“We do not have electricity here, the roads are bad, Cape Mount sons and daughters are not given managerial positions. Liberians/black workers are harshly and inhumanly treated, while our white counterparts live in luxury,” they complained.
In a 38-count resolution drafted by the protesters, they demanded in one of the counts that the company’s Country Manager, Debah Allen, resign his post, on grounds that he is working against the people of Grand Cape Mount County and Liberia.
When we contacted the Acting Chairman of the Cape Mount Caucus, Senator Simeon B. Taylor, he said they are doing everything to have the situation resolved and compel the company to implement the MDA.
In Bopolu, Bio-Checo Concession area was also a place of action when citizens came out to demand the company to live up to the Mineral Development Agreement (MDA).
In their demands, which they submitted to the County Legislative Caucus and Bio-Checo Company, the citizens called on them to employ more citizens from Gbarpolu, including managerial positions.
They said, going forward, if the company reneges on implementing the MDA, further actions to stop their operations in the county will be carried out.
Similar to that of Cape Mount and Gbarpolu, Bomi County is also sitting on a time bomb, due to dissatisfaction with the way Western Cluster is operating in the county.
While on the tour in Bomi, we observed that almost 100 dump trucks transport the Iron Ore from Tubmanburg to the Free Port of Monrovia every day. We further noticed that transporting the ore by road in heavy duty trucks has greatly affected, and in fact, damaged the road.
It is a cause for concern, even more so with citizens commuting between Monrovia and the region in commercial cars.
Western Cluster too, like Bio-Checo and Bea Mountain, have not fully implemented its portion of the MDA, and residents of Bomi are strategizing to stage protest actions against the company in the demand of full implementation.
This report also uncovered that tons of resources are leaving the region without any tangible development; this in fact is the cause of the continuous protest actions being carried out by citizens of the region.
Cape Mount, Bomi and Gbarpolu are counties endowed with gold, diamond, iron ore, rivers, lakes, rain forest, and many other resources that could help transform the lives of the people of the region if they were properly managed. Between the 1930s and 70s the region had companies like Liberia Mining Company (LMC), LNOC, Goodridge, etc., which extracted millions of dollars’ worth of resources from the region, but still left it poor without any real development, both in infrastructure and human capacity.
