The Minister of Mines and Energy, Wilmot Paye says a new policy approach that enhances Liberia’s custody and ability to encourage partnerships with credible investors will be thoughtfully considered.
Making the statement when he took over as Minister of Mines and Energy, Minister Paye noted that some investors sign Mineral Development Agreements (MDAs), do absolutely nothing to start operations yet, sit with the rights granted under those MDAs.
“We cannot employ 19th Century natural resources management models to tackle poverty, especially at a time the rest of Africa is moving away from leaving their destiny in the hands of foreign companies,” Paye said.
He assured Liberians that only partnerships that encourage full Liberian participation can unlock the mineral and resource potential.
“Let me stress again that corporations operating mining projects here do so not because they love Liberia, but because of what this land contains. We cannot therefore continue to award our mineral for a token,” he noted.
The Minister said he was not sent to the Ministry to complain or give excuses, as the tasks at hand need urgent attention and commitment therefore, he along with his team are required to act.
He justified that the country should not be sitting atop vast natural resources with potential while its citizens continue to suffer saying, “We will not complain while our natural resources are being depleted for the sake of three percent or five percent royalties.”
Paye, who bragged that his ascendency to the Ministry is not by chance or coincidence, but rather to help make real the promises contained in the President’s ARREST agenda, warned that various categories of licenses issued by the Ministry are not additional sources of income for staff or employees, but rather, tools for regulation by the Ministry.
He however regretted the Kinjor incident that led to the deaths of two persons and the destructions of several properties, including homes and the local police station and other valuable assets.
“While we regret the recent loss of lives and destruction at Kinjor, as horrendous as it is, this is only a symptom of the real problem. This is why instead of looking for where to place the blame, we must act, and quickly. Poverty always festers in resistance, strife, and social tension,” he said, stressing that the Ministry of Mines and Energy must work to gain trust, not only from foreign investors, but also from community members as well.
While calling on the Ministry to be proactive, he observed that one of the President’s top policy priorities is a compliance review on concessions with the objectives to establish whether or not the terms specified in the MDAs are being protected, and to identify gaps for consideration in subsequent amendment.
“Let me stress here that this is not about targeting any particular concessionaire, nor is it about discouraging others. But the situation in the mine and energy sector has reached crisis point and it is now a matter of national economic and security emergency,” Paye said.
The Mines and Energy boss promised to undertake a quick review of licenses, which he claimed will help the Ministry to separate legitimate license holders from illegitimate ones, pointing out that for a country that relies heavily on revenue from its mineral resources, there is a need that the Ministry takes a critical look at how it issues exploration license.
He averred, “We cannot be promoting direct and full Liberian participation while at the same time, Liberians holding Class ‘C’ license are robbing themselves by colluding with foreigners to steal our mineral resources. This Ministry will cancel such Class ‘C’ licenses without delay.”
Paye claimed that over time, the Ministry issued various licenses to operators, including, but not limited to, ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’, but after 2018, those licenses were issued by the Ministry of State, observing that it was not only usurpation, but also undermined the regulation and exposed the sector further.
He reported that he is taking over a Ministry that lacks everything it needs to be effective, which has a workforce of 552 personnel, including 330 permanent employees, 2 contractors, and 220 volunteer inspectors.
“The Ministry of Mines and Energy does not need volunteer inspectors. It needs inspectors, who must receive just compensation for their service, and are accountable and responsible for their actions or inactions,” the Minister said.
Meanwhile, the Minister said that the Liberia cannot meet its growing energy demands and that the generation capacity has remained stagnant, while modest progress has been achieved in energy supplies, aggregate technical and commercial losses may have dropped and electricity network expanded to some parts of the country.
“Our total installed generation capacity, including Mt. Coffee Hydro Power of 88MW, Bushrod thermal Plant of 38MW, Cross-Border Imports of 8MW and CLSG imports of 27MW, stands at 161 MW. The fire incident of January 2021 that affected one of the four turbines at Mt. coffee Hydro Plant has reduced this capacity to 139MW,” he added.
Meanwhile, Paye has described poverty in Liberia as man-made, noting that if God wanted Liberians to be poor, and live in perpetual misery, He would never have endowed the country with abundant natural resources such as gold, diamond, iron ore, and traces of oil, heavy mineral beach and sand deposits, bauxite, phosphate, uranium, manganese, etc.
“And about hydrocarbon potential in particular, we must move to end the exploration phase and take custody of our seismic data. The only way to achieve this is to swiftly build our capacity and not rely on International Oil Companies (IOCs) to determine and quantify this potential,” he pointed out.
The former Minister of Mines and Energy, Gesler Murray, pledged to support the incoming administration with his expertise in the areas if he’s called upon. “I congratulate you, Mr. Paye, as you take up the office of the Minister of Mines and Energy, and to assure you of my support in any area that you think that I can be of help,” he said.
