1) Tata Steel cleared of charges by Liberian govt; eligible for new bid, 2) Bomi

development: Speaker Tyler sets up committee, 3) Unknown men attack Guthrie

Rubber Plantation, 4) Liberia: GOL, AfDB/IFAD Sign U.S.$28 Million Program, 5)

Liberia: Development Boost!, 6) Liberia: Country Eligible for Millennium

Challenge Corporation Threshold Program, 7) Liberia: Newly Furbished Medical

Center for Firestone Workers, 8) US$2.6 Billion Investment For Bong Mines, 9)

Liberia: CDC Officials Wants Rice Price Reduced, 10) Closes Deal With Severstal

to Develop Iron Ore Asset & Mano to Receive US$12.5M to Progress Other Assets,

11) Venga's Affiliate Purchases Principal Dredging Equipment for Liberian Gold

Mining Operation, 12)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/





1) Tata Steel cleared of charges by Liberian govt; eligible for new bid



BS Reporter / Kolkata December 19, 2008, 18:38 IST



Tata Steel today said that the Ministry of Justice, Republic Liberia, has

cleared the company of all allegations and invited to join the bidding process

for the Western Cluster iron ore project.



According to the company statement, the ministry has informed in a communiqué

that the investigations had not shown any involvement by Tata Steel in any acts

of impropriety, as alleged in media reports, as these have not been

substantiated by the investigation panel of Liberia’s Public Procurement and

Concession Commission.



The communiqué was in response to Tata Steel’s letter of remonstration to the

government of Liberia against the alleged acts of impropriety. The company’s

letter also expressed Tata Steel’s anguish and protest against the media

report quoting government spokesperson and putting allegations against the

company without checking the veracity of the reports and discussing with the

company especially in view of the fact that Tata Steel’s bid was rated very

high on terms of technical, financial and social aspects by international

consultant, engaged by the government of Liberia, said the Tata Steel release.



In addition to this notification received from the ministry, the Appeals Board

has decided that Tata Steel is eligible again to participate in the re-tendered

bidding process for the Western Cluster Iron Ore deposits. The project is likely

to entail an investment of $1.6 billion.



“Tata Steel had always been upfront and transparent in its dealings, as has

been the philosophy of the company and the Tata Group, in relation to the

bidding process. It would be



prudent to mention here that Tata Steel and Tata Group are the world benchmark

in corporate social responsibility and remains committed to improving the

quality of life of all the



communities in its areas of operations and believes that it can favourably

impact the population of Liberia in ensuring that benefits from its operations

reach them,” said the company.



Business Standard (India)



+++



2) Bomi development: Speaker Tyler sets up committee

Written by Mack Rogers

Wednesday, 17 December 2008

STAR RADIO



The Speaker of the House of Representatives has set up a five member committee

to assess and verify projects in Bomi County.



Speaker Alex Tyler set up the committee after Superintendent Mohamed Massaley

made a financial break down on all projects in the county.



According to our correspondent, citizens present at the forum claimed the report

was faulty.



The five member committee has been mandated to submit its findings in ten days.



+++



3) Unknown men attack Guthrie Rubber Plantation

Written by Mack Rogers

Wednesday, 17 December 2008

STAR RADIO



Report from the Guthrie Rubber Plantation in Bomi County says unknown persons

have burnt down the security booth in the area.



Several concerned workers who called Star Radio said the security booth was set

ablaze Monday night.



According to the callers tension is brewing in Guthrie as most of the

plantation’s managers have abandoned the area.



One report says a company vehicle which had gone to the main compound for fuel

was turned back by angry men.



Star Radio has also credibly learned that aggrieved tapers have threatened to

manhandle anyone entering the plantation until their concerns are addressed.



The workers are demanding the immediate restoration of twenty percent of their

salary deducted by the company’s management.



The workers argued the deduction was carried out without their consent.



The General Manager of Guthrie Lindall Teage confirmed the workers’ claim but

said management acted with the consent of the workers’ union and the two

senators.



+++



4) Liberia: GOL, AfDB/IFAD Sign U.S.$28 Million Program

17 December 2008



An aide memoir valued at twenty eight million United States dollars has been

signed between the Government of Liberia and the African Development

Bank/International Fund for Agricultural Development (AfDB/IFAD).



Performing the signing ceremony last Thursday at the Agriculture Ministry in

Sinkor, Minister Dr. J. Chris Toe signed on behalf of government, while the Team

Leader of the Joint AfDB/IFAD program signed for the two organizations.



According to inside sources, the government and the international financial

institutions will kick off the initiative in 2009 to continue up to 2015.



The program will seek to improve the livelihoods and living conditions of rural

communities through restoration and development of agricultural production.



It is expected that funds from the program will support residents in rural

communities especially, residents of counties that have not received adequate

assistance in the past including, Grand Cape Mount, Grand Bassa, Rural

Montserrado, Grand Gedeh, River Gee, Grand Kru and Maryland Counties.



Speaking during the ceremony, Agriculture Minister, J. Chris Toe, expressed

delight over the signing of the Aide Memoir, saying that the program is part of

the "Lift Liberia" Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS).



He said the programme, whereby farmers' capacity will be improved and domestic

food production increased considerably.



"I wish to implore AfDB/IFAD for the speed at which this program is being

implemented and the amount of resources that are being infused in the Liberian

economy to assist the poor and most vulnerable people" Dr. Toe noted.



Also speaking, Dr. Marianne Kurzweil, Team Leader of the Joint AfDB/IFAD Program

said the program will contribute significantly to poverty reduction; improve

agro processing, provide employment opportunities and build the capacity of

relevant agricultural institutions.



"I'm optimistic that this program will be a major contributor to the food

security situation of Liberia, Dr. Kurzweil said. Of the US$28 million dollars,

AfDB will provide US$17 million, IFAD US$10 million and the government of

Liberia US$1 million dollars.



There are five components of the program: Component 1 will provide Support to

Household Capitalization and Agricultural Development; Component 2 - Support to

Community-Based Institutions and Participatory Development; Component 3 -Rural

Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Development; Component 4 - Access to Rural

Financial Services; and Component 5 - Program



Management spearheaded by the Ministry of Agriculture to include other relevant

agencies of government



Copyright © 2008 The Analyst.



+++



5) Liberia: Development Boost!

16 December 2008



The United States of America's endless engagement with accelerating good

governance in every country is paying off, handsomely.



Every year, the Millennium Challenge Corporation established by the American

government assesses performances of governments in meeting the needs of their

citizenry as a precondition for their eligibility for financial grants to those

countries.



In this line, Liberia, which has been a worse case scenario over the years, has

attracted the attention of the MCC to the point of crossing the initial

threshold status that qualifies it to begin applying for compact with the

Corporation for grants to help reduce pervasive poverty.



The Analyst picks up from a dispatch emanating from Washington D.C. to highlight

the remarkable developmental boost made by the country through the sagacity of

the President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf -led government.



The Board of Director of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) based in

Washington D.C., the United States of America, on December 11, 2008 declared

Liberia eligible for MCC's threshold program.



The threshold program provides smaller grants to help reform-minded governments

improve their performance so as to meet up with policy indicators necessary for

participation in the compact program.



In the opinion of the Board, Liberia's performance, "Over the past several years

has improved significantly on many of the MCC eligibility indicators."



"The Board took note of the strong evidence of Liberia's commitment to reforms

that will foster economic growth and poverty reduction," said MCC Chief

Executive Officer Ambassador John Danilovich.



The Board also selected Colombia, Indonesia, and Zambia as new countries

eligible for large-scale grant funding under the U.S. government's innovative

foreign assistance program to reduce poverty through economic growth. Following

the announcement, countries may begin the process of applying for the five-year

MCC compacts.



According to the communication from Washington, since its inception in 2004, the

MCC has approved compacts totaling over $6.3 billion with 18 partner countries.



While congratulating the selected countries to participate in the compact, the

MCC Chief Executive Officer, reminded them saying," Your commitment to good

governance and dedication to promoting economic freedom and investing in your

people has placed you among a select group of countries working diligently to

reduce global poverty through sustainable economic solutions."



In selecting a country as having met the requirements, the Board of Directors

considers the policy performance the country using 17 indicators in three areas.

The three areas that countries must demonstrate their commitment to good

governance include Ruling Justly, Investing in People, and Encouraging Economic

Freedom.



According to the Board, these areas and indicators measure a country's

demonstrated commitment to policies that promote, among other things, political

and economic freedom, investments in education and health care, control of

corruption, and respect for civil liberties and the rule of law.



The Board also takes into consideration the opportunity for MCC to reduce

poverty and generate economic growth, and available budgetary resources.



Ambassador Danilovich added, "Being eligible for MCC funding does not mean a

country will automatically receive a compact. Governments must demonstrate

leadership in the broad-based consultative process to develop proposals that

address barriers to poverty reduction and economic growth."



Additional countries that the Board has declared to be able to continue the

process of developing compacts for 2009 include Jordan, Malawi, Moldova,

Philippines, and Senegal.



"Given sufficient resources allocated by Congress, MCC looks forward to

long-term partnerships with these countries as they create their own plans to

empower their poorest citizens," said Ambassador Danilovich.



"The Board agreed that the Philippines remain eligible for developing a compact

proposal, but emphasized that the MCC will not sign a compact until the country

passes the indicator criteria on corruption.



The Board also reiterated the importance of this principle with respect to all

its partner countries. The Board called upon the government of the Philippines

to intensify its efforts to fight corruption and will closely monitor the

country's performance," said Ambassador Danilovich.



The Board also voted to suspend assistance for new activities under the $175

million MCC compact in Nicaragua because of actions taken by the Nicaraguan

government that are inconsistent with MCC's eligibility criteria.



MCC will therefore not approve disbursements for activities not already

contracted by MCA-Nicaragua.



Providing justification for the suspension of the Nicaraguan compact, the Board

indicated that the political conditions leading up to, during, and following the

recent elections in that country were not consistent with MCC requirements that

include a commitment to policies that promote political freedom and respect for

civil liberties and the rule of law.



In order to get the suspension lifted, Nicaragua has to develop and implement a

comprehensive set of measures to address concerns regarding the government's

commitment to democratic principles. When these measures are taken, the Board

will review the response of the Nicaraguan government and determine subsequent

actions at the next quarterly Board meeting that will take place in March 2009.



"The MCC model is based on aid with accountability and good governance. The

Board determined that recent actions by the Nicaraguan government were

inconsistent with the core principles of the MCC's and therefore had to take the

difficult decision," said Ambassador Danilovich.



"Nicaragua's compact with MCC goes to benefit hundreds of thousands of poor

Nicaraguans by providing better roads, property titles, and agricultural

business support. For the sake of the poor of the country, we sincerely hope

that the Nicaraguan government recommits to the principles of democracy and the

rule of law so that MCC can reestablish what has been an effective partnership.



" It should be remembered that our partnership with Nicaragua is dedicated to

both poverty reduction and good government policies."



The MCC Board also decided not to reselect Bolivia, Ukraine, and Timor-Leste as

eligible for MCC compact assistance. The Board did, however, designate

Timor-Leste as threshold eligible and invited the country to submit a threshold

program proposal.



MCC will continue to work with Ukraine as it implements its ongoing threshold

program specifically addressing weaknesses in its policy performance. In

addition, the Board decided that Yemen is no longer eligible for threshold

program assistance.



The Board also reviewed progress made on reform measures initiated by the

government of Armenia over recent months.



The Board reiterated its concerns about the status of democratic governance in

the country and underlined its expectations that the government of Armenia

fulfill commitments to implement substantive reforms.



The Board noted that it would again review Armenia's performance and examine

continued collaboration with the country during its March meeting.



The dispatch highlighted that the meeting was the last for the public members of

the Board who are members of the current George W. Bush administration.



"It has been an extraordinary opportunity and privilege to serve with the

members of the Board," said Ambassador Danilovich.



"The MCC is strengthened in fulfilling its mission to reduce poverty through

economic development by the dedication of worthy public servants from the

Department of State, Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Trade Representative,

and USAID and also by our four private sector Board members.



My fellow colleagues at MCC deserve abundant praise and credit for their great

achievement in creating what is now internationally acknowledged as an

innovative and successful model of development assistance. Our Deputy CEO,

Rodney Bent, will remain at MCC to ensure continuity of our model and country

programs during this period of political transition."



The Millennium Challenge Corporation is a unique government agency that includes

private and public sector members on its Board.



The MCC Board of Directors is composed of the Secretary of State, the Secretary

of Treasury, the U.S. Trade Representative, the Administrator of USAID, the CEO

of MCC, and four private sector members appointed by the President of the United

States with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. The Secretary of State is

the Chair of the Board and the Secretary of Treasury is the Vice Chair.



The Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. government agency designed to work

with developing countries, is based on the principle that aid is most effective

when it reinforces sound political, economic, and social policies that promote

poverty reduction through economic growth. For more information about MCC, visit

www.mcc.gov.



Copyright © 2008 The Analyst.





+++



6) Liberia: Country Eligible for Millennium Challenge Corporation Threshold

Program

15 December 2008





President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has welcomed an announcement last week that

Liberia has qualified for a threshold program of the Millennium Challenge

Corporation (MCC) of the United States of America. An Executive Mansion release

says the President described the development as a manifestation that steady

progress is being made in Government's efforts towards reform. The President

expressed the hope that in two years, significant progress would have been made

to fully qualify Liberia for MCC benefits. The President said that despite

daunting challenges, Government will continue to accelerate its reform agenda.



The President lauded Government ministries and agencies as well as other

development partners for their contribution in achieving Liberia's full

designation under the Millennium Challenge Account.



The Board of Directors of the MCC last week selected Liberia for the Millennium

Challenge Corporation's threshold program. The program provides smaller grants

to help reform-minded governments improve their performance on the policy

indicators necessary for participation in the complete program.



In an announcement last week, MCC's Chief Executive Officer, Ambassador John

Danilovich, said Liberia's performance has improved significantly on many of the

MCC eligibility indicators.



The MCC Board, he said, took note of the strong evidence of Liberia's commitment

to reforms that will foster economic growth and poverty reduction.



Planning & Economic Affairs Minister, Amara Konneh, described the country's

qualification for the MCC threshold program this year as a great achievement for

Liberia. "It is an endorsement of the leadership of President Ellen Johnson

Sirleaf and the diligent implementation of our country's Poverty Reduction

Program," Mr. Konneh told a news conference Monday at the Planning Ministry.



In making its country selection decisions, the MCC Board considers the policy

performance of candidate countries using 17 indicators in three areas-Ruling

Justly, Investing in People, and Encouraging Economic Freedom. These indicators

measure countries' demonstrated commitment to policies that promote, among other

things, political and economic freedom, investments in education and health

care, control of corruption, and respect for civil liberties and the rule of

law. The Board also takes into consideration the opportunity for the MCC to

reduce poverty and generate economic growth, and available budgetary resources.



Columbia, Indonesia and Zambia were selected last week as new countries eligible

for large-scale grant funding under the U.S. Government's innovative foreign

assistance program to reduce poverty through economic growth.



Following last week's announcement, the eligible countries may begin the process

of applying for the five-year MCC final eligibility status. Since its inception

in 2004, the MCC has approved programming totaling over USD$6.3 billion with 18

partner countries.



Copyright © 2008 Liberia Government.



+++



7) Liberia: Newly Furbished Medical Center for Firestone Workers

13 December 2008



Monrovia — The newly refurbished Firestone Medical Center in Harbel, Margibi

County, has been formally dedicated. The facilities were opened Friday by

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf at ceremonies marking the occasion.



President Johnson Sirleaf, in remarks marking the formal opening of the Medical

center, praised the Firestone Company for working towards improving the needs of

the workers. The President expressed satisfaction that much of the terms of the

contract Government renegotiated with the company under its concession, are now

in place. The Liberian leader also commended Firestone for producing a five-year

development plan under the renegotiation of concession terms. Despite the

progress, an Executive Mansion release quotes the President as saying, there is

still more that needs to be done.



Responding on behalf of the company, the Managing Director of Firestone Liberia,

Mr. Charles Stuart, described the Medical Center as a step in a long journey. He

assured the President



of his company's fullest support in Government's reconstruction drive. The

ceremony was also attended by Mr. Dan Adomitis, Chief Executive Officer of

Firestone-USA and United States Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield.



Located around the Duside vicinity, the 300-bed room Medical Center includes 2

health centers, 4 health posts and a mobile unit. The center is expected to

cater to the workers of the company as well as the general public.



In another development, President Johnson Sirleaf has broken grounds for the

construction of a market in Cotton Tree, Margibi County. The market is to be

constructed on a two-acre



landscape by Measuagon Limited, a non-governmental organization owned and

founded by the Liberian leader. The President was joined Friday in the

ground-breaking ceremony by the head of the Margibi County legislative caucus,

Senator Clarice Jah. The project comes out of a request made by the women of

Margibi County to the Liberian leader.



The President has also participated in the 176th Founders' Day celebrations of

Edina City in Grand Bassa County. The Liberian leader paid tribute to what she

described as 'the deep sense of history of Edina' and challenged members of

government who hail from the area, to work towards its development, by

constructing homes or promoting its rich tourism potential.



As part of the celebrations the President also laid a wreath on the grave site

of Liberia's former President Joseph Cheeseman, who hailed from Edina and is

buried in the area.



Like many areas in Liberia, Edina bore its share of country's civil conflict

leaving many of the settlement's infrastructures in ruins.



Copyright © 2008 Liberia Government.





+++



8) US$2.6 Billion Investment For Bong Mines

2008-12-18

By Morrison O.G. Sayon

Barely a week following the arrival of Seaboard Corporation with an initial

investment of US30million, another company has arrived in the country with a

huge investment package.



A Chinese company, China Union Investment Company, Limited has arrived in the

country with an investment of US$2.6 billion believed to be the largest

investment under the administration of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.



China Union Company Limited is expected to invest in one of Liberia’s most

prosperous site, the Bong Ranges, formerly operated by the Bong Mines Company

(BMC). The Chinese company recently successfully won a bid to operate Bong mines

with a very high score.



Speaking yesterday at the National Investment Commission (NIC) offices where a

team of government negotiators and a high powered delegation from the China

Union Company held their first meeting, NIC Chairman, Dr. Richard V. Tolbert

described the US$2.6 billion investment project as very important to the

government of Liberia.



Dr. Tolbert said the investment project is the largest to come to Liberia since

the inception of the Unity Party government headed by President Sirleaf. He said

the coming of the investors to invest such huge amount in Liberia that is just

emerging from a devastating civil unrest is a clear manifestation of the level

of trust and interest the international community has in Liberia.



“This will be a substantial project and a long time future for our nation.

Your presence here today indicates your interest in Liberia. You won the bid

based on transparency and you won 99% out of 100%,” the NIC boss averred.



He said if the negotiation that is ongoing between the company and the Liberian

government goes well the project will be implemented in 2009 and in five

year’s time, China Union will create about 3,000 jobs for Liberians.



Presenting a graphic description of the investment project, the Chief Executive

Officer (CEO) of China Union, Mr. Yin Fuyou disclosed that his company will

construct a 130MW Hydro Power Plant on the St. Paul River to supply electricity

to Monrovia and other areas.



Mr. Yin who spoke through an interpreter noted that Bong Mines will be

transformed with modern facilities including a residential area for employees of

the company. He said the company will also create an agricultural site where

rice and other crops will be planted.



China Union, according to Mr. Yin, will also build a park where livestock will

be raised. He said the ore that will be extracted from the mountains of Liberia

would benefit every Liberian as the company will be producing steel in the

country.



Earlier, Labor Minister, Samuel Kofi Woods stressed the need for the creation of

more jobs for thousands of Liberians who are jobless. Minister Woods said to

create jobs is a major factor to economic growth and a boost for social economic

development.



The Labor minister and other ministers on the government’s negotiation team

lauded the Chinese Company for winning the bid and assured the company of

government’s support to its operation in the country.



2005 The Inquirer Newspaper



+++



9) Liberia: CDC Officials Wants Rice Price Reduced

12 December 2008

The Inquirer



A Senior Executive of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) Mr. Acarous M.

Gray says he still feel fearless and have no regret as one of the Executive of

the CDC who publicly denounced the inauguration of an unpopular president madam

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who he claimed election in no uncertain terms remains

disputed.



In a four page statement issued to the Inquirer yesterday bearing the name of

Mr. Gray indicated that realizing the caricature and bloody past associated with

the 1927, 1951, 1995 and 1997 presidential election in Liberia coupled with the

CDC aimed of demonstrating political vow for a peaceful Liberia he was moved by

the years of suffering of Liberians and chose the patriotic path of abandoning a

protest that could reward Liberia another bloodletting.



The statement said that some compatriots may envisage the humble compromise for

peace as cowardly but noted that he (Gray) 'CDC action was a clear manifestation

of those who bear the true standards of nationalism and patriotism.



"Today I feel more obligated to defend to political death Liberians who are

voiceless and those of our people who are victims of corrupt and tyrannical

Liberian regimes" the statement lamented.



The statement further said that Mr. Gray commitment to his people, meaning the

haves-not, will not wither nor will he kowtow to the political accommodation of

the current administration.



The statement continued that as the gap between the rich and the poor deepens,

the bad policy on food security keeps hunting the masses coupled with the rhythm

of corruption deeply echoes into the spine of the Sirleaf-led administration,

backed by imperial pieces of evidence ranging from Knuckles Gate II, the BRE

agreement, the ADEX oil deal, the GAC Audit Report, and the Central Bank

criminal cartel among others.



The CDC Executive statement further indicated that as the party painstakingly

gravitate towards the close of the year 2008 and with a call from impoverished

Liberians to champion their economic concern he was gratified to execute their

unwavering quest to see an immediate and drastic reduction in the price of

Liberia's staple food rice.



The statement also reminded president Sirleaf of her campaign promises of free

market, instead of flooding the rice market with what the statement termed as

(political midfielders such as: Mr. John Bestman, Abdallah Sherif, and Allen

Brown among others.



The statement continued by saying that months ago the Liberian government

through the ministry of Commerce and Information strongly justified the

astronomical increase in the price of rice on the local market.



According to the government the statement continued it was bad harvest in Asia

backed by an increase in the price of rice on the world market indicating that

factors that led to the domestic hiking in the price of rice.



According to the statement a metric ton of rice made of twenty rice bags was

costing about US$ 650.00 to US$ 860 including shipment to Liberia.



The CDC executive statement also stated that today a metric ton of rice

including shipment to Liberia is about US$ 450.00.



The statement added that the above price reduction coupled with other domestic

taxes will in no doubt put the cost of US$ 35.00 for a bag of rice to a maximum

cost about US$27.00.



Sadly, the statement continued that the price of a bag of rice ranges from US$

35.00 to US$60.00 on the local market.



The statement said on many occasion this year, the government of Liberia and its

propagandists boasted of having the cheapest sale of rice in West Africa, but to

the dismay of the Liberian masses the bag of rice sold in Liberia for US$ 35.00

is sold in Sierra Leone for US$ 27.00.



The statement later made reference to president Sirleaf upon taking office where

by the ministry of Commerce cruelty introduced a monopoly on the importation of

rice to Liberia thus giving an exclusive right to the ephemeral Sinkor Trading

Company (STC) to bring in rice.



The CDC executive statement attributed to newspaper reports that these papers

were able to establish that Sinkor Trading Company (STC) was operating without

an official office site and at the same time proceeds from the rice

stabilization funds were use to settled taxes for the company with the hope of a

future payment.



Meanwhile, the CDC executive said that with the exception of FOUTA Corporation

business the rest of the importers of rice which includes: Harmony Trading

Company, SDTM and Group Seven are all new in this establishment in this

lucrative business.



The statement also question as to how FOUTA,one of the local importer survive or

continued to survive the test of time.



Copyright © 2008 The Inquirer.



+++



10) Closes Deal With Severstal to Develop Iron Ore Asset & Mano to Receive

US$12.5M to Progress Other Assets

Friday, Dec 12, 2008



Mano River Resources Inc Mano River Resources Inc, the TSX-V and AIM-listed

exploration and development company focused on iron ore, diamonds and gold in

west Africa, is pleased to announce that it has closed the transaction with

Severstal Resources indirect wholly-owned Dutch subsidiary, Lybica Holding B.V.

to finance and develop the Companys Putu Range iron ore project in south eastern

Liberia which is held under African Iron Ore Group Ltd.



Further to the agreement signed on 22 May 2008, Severstal has now acquired a

61.5% equity interest in AIOG while Manos holding has been reduced from 80% to

38.5%. In light of Severstals majority interest, AIOG will be re-named Severstal

Liberia Iron Ore Ltd. and Severstal will become the operator on the Project. The

parties have also entered into a shareholders agreement to govern their

relationship. The Company had previously announced on 24 October 2008 the two

year extension of Manos Putu Range Iron Ore exploration licence, which satisfied

all material legal requirements for the Company to close the deal with

Severstal.



Source: Trading Markets



+++



11) Venga's Affiliate Purchases Principal Dredging Equipment for Liberian Gold

Mining Operation: Venga Increases Its Ownership Interest in GMI to 20%

Tuesday, December 09, 2008



TORONTO, ONTARIO, Dec 09, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) ----Venga Aerospace

Systems Inc. (TSX VENTURE: VAV)(PINK SHEETS: VNGAF) (the "Company") announced

that its mining affiliate, Global Mineral Investments, LLC ("GMI"), has now

purchased the main mining dredge and related equipment that will be used in

GMI's gold dredging operation that will be carried on in those portions of the

Upper Tartweh River flowing through GMI's GoldMatta concession located in the

Sanquin Mining Zone, Sinoe County,



Republic of Liberia. Delivery of the newly acquired mining dredge to GMI's

GoldMatta mining site is expected to occur in early March of 2009.



Venga further announced that pursuant to the funding and operational agreement

(the "Funding Agreement") that Venga entered into with GMI and first announced

in the Company's press  releases dated October 10 and November 24, 2008, the

Company has now increased its ownership interest in GMI from 4% to 20%. The

Funding Agreement also grants Venga a two-year option of acquiring up to a

further 5% equity interest in GMI at a price of $100,000 USD per 1% of GMI that

the Company so elects to acquire.



This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the

"safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of

1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and

uncertainties that may cause the Company's results to differ materially from

expectations and speak only as of the date hereof.



SHARES ISSUED: 239,171,893



The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or

accuracy of this release.



Contacts: Venga

    Aerospace Systems Inc. Hirsh Kwinter President (514) 489-7175 Email:

venga@... SOURCE: Venga Aerospace Systems Inc.



mailto:venga@... Copyright 2008 Market Wire, All rights reserved.



+++



12)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



###

1) Liberia: Nimbaians to Hold Unity Day Program, 2) Lawmaker Embarks On Clean-Up

Campaign, 3) A Protest Letter to FrontPageAfrica : Is the Environment Relevant

in Liberia?, 4) Director General named Director of the year, 5) China Union to

invest in Liberia's iron ore mine, 6) Trouble at Guthrie, Salala Rubber

Plantation, 7) Delta Sues Liberia Over $1.6 Billion Mining Project, 8) Prince Of

Wales Expresses Interest To Help Manage Liberia’s Forests, 9) Diamond Fields

Suspends Namibia Marine Operations, 10) GC holds decentralization forum, 11)

"Need to rethink County Development Funds", says Pres. Sirleaf, 12)See also:

http://liberianature.blogspot.com/





1) Liberia: Nimbaians to Hold Unity Day Program

Morrison O.G. Sayon

30 December 2008



Nimbaians in their thousands will tomorrow converge at the commercial district

of Ganta, Nimba County to celebrate a 'Unity Day' ceremony.



The ceremony is intended to bring together citizens of Nimba who have been

involved in ethnic/religion and land disputes for some times now in the county,

Nimba County Representative Nohn Kidau told this paper in an interview.



Rep. Kidau said at the Unity Day Conference, citizens of Nimba County

irrespective of their tribe, religious and political affiliation, will make a

resolution promising to unite and work together as one family. The Nimba County

lawmaker noted that over the years, there had been division amongst citizens of

the county especially Christian and Muslims on one hand and lands dispute on the

other hands, something that continues to create problems in the county.



She then called on Nimbaians to get involved in the peace process by embracing

one another. "Peace must come from within and so we must all get involved in

this process and bring unity among ourselves," Rep. Kidau stressed.



She said at the ceremony a video movies would be screened to help the citizens

in making peace among themselves. The Unity Day program is expected to be held

on Wednesday in Ganta, Nimba County.



E-mail this news to a friend



Copyright © 2008 The Inquirer.



+++



2) Lawmaker Embarks On Clean-Up Campaign

By Jimmey C. Fahngon



..In District #1 Of Mont. County



Montserrado County District # 1 Representative Alomiza Ennos Barr Saturday

embarked on a clean-up campaign to give her district a face-lift for the New

Year season.



Rep. Ennos-Barr told reporters at the commercial district of Waterside that the

clean-up exercise is intended to create a safe environment for residents

especially the children who are very quick to contact sickness.



She said it is important that every Liberian cleans his or her community to

ensure an environment free of disease and sickness.



The clean-up campaign, she said, is a regular initiative that she launched some

time ago to keep her district clean.



She commended the youth in the district under the banner “District Youth

Council” (DYC) for buttressing her effort by helping to keep the district

clean.



Rep. Barr then assured residents of her continuous support in undertaking

development projects for the betterment of the district.



Darran Y. Waylor, a representative of DYC who also spoke to reporters said the

exercise was in their interest as such, they thought it wise to buttress Rep.

Ennos-Barr’s effort.



He added “cleanliness is next to godliness, so we think that by cleaning up

our community, we will ensure a healthy environment for ourselves.”



Waylor lauded the effort of Rep. Ennos and called on residents of the district

to support the exercise.



©2005 - 2008 The News Online



+++



3) A Protest Letter to FrontPageAfrica : Is the Environment Relevant in Liberia?

(Dec 28, 2008) By: Morris T. Koffa

Dear Editor-In-Chief,





The Africa Environment Watch (AEW), Inc., an umbrella organization of Liberia

Environmental Watch, is gratified by the effort of FrontPageAfrica (FPA) to

annually share with the Liberian people “scorecards” or government officials

performance evaluation exercises to inform the public on how our government is

managing our national affairs. AEW views FPA initiatives of “scoring” our

officials job performances as a positive development.



However, AEW is equally concerned that the 2008 “Scorecard” or Report

entitled “Liberian Government Three Years Later: Who Made It: The Grades Are

In” didn’t include the “scorecard” for the Environmental Protection

Agency of Liberia (EPA), though FPA included other government institutions such

as Governance Commission (GC), Civil Servants Service (CSS), Bureau of Maritime

Affairs (BMA), Liberia Petroleum Refinery Corporation (LPRC), National Oil

Company (NOC), National Police Force (NPF), Liberia Produce Marketing

Corporation (LPMC), Robert International Airport (RIA), National Port Authority

(NPA) and National Investment Commission (NIC), just to name a few, in its 2008

annual evaluation of Liberian government officials.



EPA is the only institution in Liberia charged with the responsibility of

protecting the nation’s environment and representing Liberia’s global

interest at many international environmental conventions including but not

limited to Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous waste,

Ozone Layer Protection etc. The environment holds key to the success of the

Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) or “LIFT Liberia” being advanced by the

current administration. Therefore, the Liberian public deserves and needs to

know how EPA is measuring up to the annual deliverables goals like the rest of

the ministries and agencies.



It can be recalled in 2007 FPA omitted the EPA “scorecard” or annual

evolution and we raised our concerns in the form of a protest under the titled

“Is the Environment Relevant” commentary and appealed for inclusion in the

next circle of the scoring. In spite of our official protest, it is very

disappointing that FPA could, again omit EPA for the third time. While AEW does

not want to out rightly conclude that FPA has no interest in Liberia’s

environmental health, its endless oversight is troubling, especially when

Liberia faces serious and enormous environmental challenges.



Life expectancy in Liberia stands at 41.5 and over 75% of the death statistics

are environmentally related. For example, in 2003 life expectancy in Liberia was

47 years (UNEP) and in 2005 it was 45 years according to another independent

study. The trends of these statistics are strong indicators that more people are

getting sicker and dying at an alarming rate. With malaria on the rise as a

result of more breeding grounds for mosquitoes due to poor environmental impact,

air pollution at its peak in the streets of Monrovia and other parts of the

country, safe drinking water inaccessible to over 70% of the population;

deforestation on the rise due to lack effective reforestation and afforestation

program, erosion and flood unmitigated, are among other concerns impacting

ordinary citizens. These underlining factors could very well be the contributing

factors to the economic stagnation the nation is experiencing. There is an

urgent need for EPA scorecard to

  be submitted to keep our people informed.



We can only hope that these confluents of environmental health issues would

serve as a motivation for FPA to submit an addendum for EPA scorecard for 2008

for the benefit of the Liberian people and our environmental community.



Merry Christmas and happy New Year,





Environmentally yours,

Morris T. Koffa

Executive Director

Africa Environmental Watch



© Copyright 2008 The Liberian Journal



+++



4) Director General named Director of the year

- Dec 26, 2008



LBS Director General named Director of the year?

A local advocacy group, the Progressive Alliance Movement of Liberia, has named

LBS Director General, Charles Snetter as Director of the year 2008 for his

remarkable performance at the national station.



Speaking during an honoring program for the LBS Boss at his office in

Paynesville, the National Chairman of the Progressive Alliance Movement of

Liberia, Mamadee Keita described Mr. Snetter, as a dedicated media manager whose

performance has brought immense improvement to ELBC within a relatively short

period.



He named the expansion of the system?s coverage to nearly the rest of Liberia as

a major break through in providing efficient and professional media services to

rural Liberians.



According to Mr. keita, such development has now providing rural Liberians to

opportunity to be adequately informed about the policies and programs of the

Liberian Government.



Also the Progressive Alliance Movement of Liberia is calling for more financial

and logistical support for the Liberia Broadcasting System, as it strives to

carryout its statutory mandate to the public.



For his part, LBS Director General commended the leadership of the Progressive

Alliance Movement of Liberia for the recognition.



According to Mr. Snetter, such honor has increased his vigor to perform beyond

the call of duty to serve the Liberian people, through factual and efficient

broadcast services to the country.



The LBS Boss however noted that the honor, resulting from hard work would not

have come to pass without the cooperation being received from the LBS Family.



The Liberian Executive then commended his able lieutenants and the entire

workforce of LBS for working alone with him, thereby bringing about

productivity.



Mr. Snetter disclosed that the national broadcaster is currently covering about

99 percent of Liberia and that its coverage wills shortly reach hundred percent,

as soon as the remaining area becomes accessible by road.





Liberia Broadcasting System, ©2007 All rights reserved.



+++



5) China Union to invest in Liberia's iron ore mine

Dec. 23, 2008 (China Knowledge) - China Union Holding Ltd (China Union)<000036>,

a Chinese investment conglomerate, has agreed to inject unprecedented US$2.6

billion into Liberia's iron ore mine, sources reported, citing Tolbert, Liberian

Investment Minister.



China Union promised to set up a refining plant with an annual capacity of 1

million tons within a year. Besides, China Union will sign the contract in

January next year and pay the Liberian government an initial amount of US$40

million on improving the infrastructure and people's living standards in the

country.



It is estimated that 3,000 jobs will be created in the African country in three

years through the investment.





Copyright © 2008 www.chinaknowledge.com



+++



6) Trouble at Guthrie, Salala Rubber Plantation

Written by Matthias Daffah

Monday, 22 December 2008

STAR RADIO



Report reaching Star Radio says unknown persons have attacked and burnt down two

rubber weighing depots   at the Guthrie Rubber Plantation.



A spokesman for the concerned Guthrie workers, K-rich Foeboy told Star Radio,

Lofa Estate was attacked and set on fire Sunday night.



Mr. Foeboy further reported that operations on the plantation remain completely

paralyzed as a strike action there has entered its 7th day.



According to Mr. Foeboy, the strike will remain enforced until monies deducted

from their salaries are restored.



When contacted, the General Manager of Guthrie confirmed the strike action but

said management and the workers union have since reached an agreement.



Mr. Logan Teage also confirmed that arson attacks have taken place on the

plantation but said described them as minor cases.



He however, assured that the striking workers would return to work Tuesday based

on a new arrangement.



Meanwhile, report reaching Star Radio says the Salala Rubber Plantation in

Margibi County has been shut down.



According to the report, the plantation was shut down for failure to pay its

taxes in advance as required by government.



+++



7) Delta Sues Liberia Over $1.6 Billion Mining Project



By Ron Derby



Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Delta Mining Consolidated Ltd., the Johannesburg-based

mining company, said it’s suing the Liberian government after the west African

country canceled a $1.6 billion iron ore project in September.



The “government’s purported reasons for not awarding Delta the concession

have no basis in law,” the company said in an e- mailed statement today. The

suit was filed in the Liberian Civil Law Court for the Sixth Judicial Circuit,

Delta said.



The Western Cluster iron ore project consists of two mines that closed in 1976

and 1985 due to civil war and three other deposits. Liberia canceled Delta’s

contract and barred the company and India’s Tata Steel Ltd. from participating

in a new tender, claiming the initial bid may have been compromised by

“external influence or impropriety.” Tata said at the time it wasn’t

involved in any such action.



Liberia’s Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy Eugene Shannon declined to

comment when reached by telephone. He referred questions to Attorney General

Phillip Banks, who didn’t pick up calls made to his mobile phone.



On Nov. 24, Delta and Tata were cleared to participate in the new tender, after

Delta filed a complaint against its disqualification.



The government invited new expressions of interest in the project on Dec. 15.

Delta said today it’s made an application to halt the process.



To contact the reporter on this story: Ron Derby in Johannesburg at

rderby1@...

Last Updated: December 22, 2008 11:21 EST



+++



8) Prince Of Wales Expresses Interest To Help Manage Liberia’s Forests

The Inquirer Newspaper

Monday, 22nd December 2008



The Prince of Wales is interested in working with countries around the world,

such as Liberia, which is seeking to make sure that its forest regions are

wisely use for the benefit of its people, and the nation.



Anna Creed, who is working with ’The Prince Rainforest Project’, told

members of the Liberian delegation attending the UNFCCC summit taking place in

Poznan, Poland, during a meeting on Wednesday, that His Royal Highness Charles,

the Prince of Wales, is interested in initiating dialogue with the Liberian

forestry authorities on what can be done for the country to help it reap

benefits from its natural forest regions. Ms. Creed is part of the Prince

Rainforest Project delegation attending the Poznan summit.



Speaking shortly after the meeting, the head of the Liberian delegation at the

ongoing Poznan summit, Mr. Ben Donnie, said the Prince of Wales is interested in

working with countries around the world, such as Liberia, which is seeking to

make sure that its forest regions are wisely use for the benefit of its people,

and the nation. He said that as part of the aims and goals of the Prince

Rainforest Project, the delegation was informed that the project would work with

local community dwellers and seek their economic advancement. The project and

local dwellers can work together in areas such as forest preservation, and put

in place a proper and prudent management system that would ensure natural

resources are used in the overall interests of a nation and its people.



“As a clear manifestation of the Prince’s desire to help us manage our

forests, the Liberian delegation has been invited to Wales next year, to meet

with the Prince and hold further discussions with the project officials on the

way forward in helping Liberia manage its forests,” he said.



Liberia is one of the West African countries that have forests, which are very

vulnerable to illegal trading in forest produce, and the indiscriminate cutting

down of trees for timber. These illegal actions had become rampant during the

course of the country’s 14-year civil war crisis, with money generated from

trade landing in the pockets of the country’s political leaders, or a

privileged few, to the detriment of ordinary citizens.



Earlier this year, in partnership with the international community, the

government of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, elected democratically after the

civil war ended in 2003, drafted and adopted a new forest regulation that seeks

to control illegal forest-related trade and transactions.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has

approved funds of the amount of US $2 million for the construction of a mini

hydro project that will help boost power supply to the country. The Director of

the Energy and Climate division of UNIDO, who is in Poznan to attend the UNFCCC,

made this disclosure today, when he met with the Liberian delegation attending

the summit.



Mr. Pradeep Monga of UNIDO told the Liberian delegation that as part of

UNIDO’s decision to approve the money, a delegation from the organisation

would pay an official visit to Liberia next January, to meet with and hold

further talks with the Liberian energy authority, on the way forward in

implementing the mini hydro project.



At the same time, the Liberian delegation has told summit delegates to consider

gender as a mainstream issue in the results that would come out of the summit.



The Liberian delegation said its decision comes against the backdrop that women

and children are considered the most vulnerable groups in matters concerning

climate change. Liberia’s position has so far received the backing of most

nations and, notably, Sierra Leone. By: Patrick K. Wrokpoh, from Poznan,

Poland..



2005 The Inquirer Newspaper



+++



9) Diamond Fields Suspends Namibia Marine Operations



RAPAPORT

Information that means Business



By Avi Krawitz  Posted: 12/21/08 04:43



RAPAPORT... Diamond Fields International Ltd (DFI) has suspended operations of

its DF Discoverer mining vessel off the coast of Namibia until further notice.

“The Board of Directors  made this decision based on the severity of the

global economic downturn and the sudden drop in the price of rough diamonds,”

the company explained.



Diamond Fields said it would nevertheless “aggressively” move forward with

drilling at its Liberia gold discovery in January with joint venture partners

Silverhill Enterprises Ltd. and Ducor Inc.



© Copyright 1982-2008 by Martin Rapaport.



+++



10) GC holds decentralization forum

Written by Emmanuel Broh

Saturday, 20 December 2008

STAR RADIO



The Chairman of the Governance Commission says there is a commitment in the

reform agenda to vesting some powers in local government across the country.



Dr. Amos Sawyer said the decentralization of governance would be done through

processes that will involve the Liberian people.



Dr. Sawyer told Star Radio consultation at every level is taking place in

conceptualizing the process of governance decentralization.



He said the Governance Commission is still at the level of trying to put

together a national policy on decentralization.



Dr. Sawyer spoke to Star Radio Friday during a one-day Liberia Decentralization

Policy Workshop held in Monrovia.



According to him, the workshop is one in a series of discussions the commission

is holding with various segments of the population.



The workshop is being held under the theme: “Political Parties and Local

Elections under Decentralized Governance.



It is being supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa.



+++



11) "Need to rethink County Development Funds", says Pres. Sirleaf

Written by Vivian Gartyn

Thursday, 18 December 2008

STAR RADIO



President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf says there is a need to rethink the management

of the County Development Funds.



The President said the current management is causing serious problems

undermining the essence for which the funds were budgeted.



The County Development Funds are being managed by county officials in

collaboration with the Legislature.



The President disclosed lawmakers are giving instructions to the Finance

Ministry for payment of funds, something she described as totally inappropriate.



There have been claims and counter-claims of corruption from across the country

over how the County Development Funds are expended.



There are also calls for the General Audit Commission to audit the funds but the

President said the GAC should be allowed to carryout bigger audits.



She assured that other companies like Momo and company can be contacted to audit

the county funds.



Meanwhile, President Sirleaf announced a pending reshuffle of her cabinet but

was quick to state that is not about corruption or dishonesty by those to be

affected.



The Chief Executive further clarified that the pending reshuffle is intended to

make her government more effective.



President Sirleaf acknowledged that some of her earlier appointments were about

political considerations and pay-backs for support during the elections.



She said now that her government has reached its mid-point, there is a need for

some changes to ensure more achievements.



The reshuffle is expected to affect every level of government and will see the

transfer and dismissal of some officials.



In another development, the President has disclosed that the Dunn Commission

will present its report in January 2009.



She assured that any recommendation from the commission would be implemented.



Over two hundred thousand U.S. dollars was approved for the commission to

investigate the authenticity of the emails scandal that linked the office of the

President.



+++



12)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



###

1) Huge investment in the mining sector to transform economy, 2) Ambassador

Barnes Challenges Grand Gedeans to Get Involve in Liberia, 3) Zoellick Urges

Rethink On Post-Conflict Rebuilding [EXCERPT], 4)Businessman decries dormancy of

logging sector, 5) Liberia: Executive Branch to Take Charge of County

Development Funds - President Sirleaf, 6) Liberia Needs $50 Million to Repair

Deep-Water Port in Capital, 7) Environmental Protection Agency protects ozone

layer, 8)Liberians selling water to stay afloat, 9)See also:

http://liberianature.blogspot.com/





1) Huge investment in the mining sector to transform economy

  Jan 9, 2009

Liberia Broadcasting System



National Investment Commission Chairman, Richard Tolbert, says the pending 2.6

billion United States dollar-Investments for Bong Mines will bring about total

transformation to the Liberian economy.



According to Dr. Tolbert, the 2.6 billion United States Dollar investments will

provide jobs for thousands of Liberians and positively contribute to

Government�s Poverty Reduction Strategy.



Dr. Tolbert said, the decision by the China Union Investment company to invest

in the former concession area of Bong Mines, is a further demonstration of

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf�s leadership to attract more foreign capital

and ensure a more robust economy.

He described the proposed 2.6 billion dollar investment, especially at the time

of the global financial crisis, as a significant progress in the investment

sector of Liberia.

Dr. Tolbert spoke Thursday at the NIC in Sinkor, during the second phase of

negotiations between the Liberian Government and the China Union Investment

Company over the 2. 6 billion US-dollar-investments for Bong Mines.



For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of the China Union Investment Company,

Yin Fuyou, pledged his company�s commitment to contributing to the growth of

Liberia�s Post Conflict Economy.



Mr. Fuyou lauded the Liberian Government for ensuring an attractive investment

climate for the Country.



Liberia Broadcasting System ©2007 All rights reserved



+++



2) Ambassador Barnes Challenges Grand Gedeans to Get Involve in Liberia

(Jan 9, 2009) By: Kai G. Wleh



Washington, D.C., January 9, 2009: The Liberian Ambassador accredited near

Washington, D.C., Mr. Nathaniel Barnes has challenged Liberians to play a

pivotal role in the process that empowers the West African nation economically,

socially and politically.



Ambassador Barnes observed that the full participation of all of our citizens is

fundamental in determining the common destiny of the Liberian nation. The

Liberian envoy made the observation when he served as Keynote Speaker at a

Development Forum organized by the Grand Gedeh Association in the Americas

(GGAA) in Philadelphia, PA on January 3, 2009.



He pointed out that those who sit idly by and do nothing are just as bad as

those who wreak havoc through mismanagement, corruption, intolerance, and

impunity, and urged Liberians to “get involved in Liberia.”



Ambassador Barnes told his compatriots to advocate for and market Liberia as a

nation with “focused purpose of a new dispensation of freedom, justice and

economic prosperity for all.”



He added that the challenges facing the emerging democracy in Liberia are

numerous but can be trounced in unity, reconciliation and common purpose.



Ambassador Barnes also called on Liberians to invest in their homeland, adding

“we keep looking for investment for Liberia while we may hold the key

ourselves. When we start to seriously invest our money, time and talents in

Liberia, others will follow”.



He asserted that “no matter where we live, our lives must exemplify what we

would like the Liberian legacy to be”, stressing that “we must be upright,

outstanding, law-abiding citizens and teach our children through instruction and

by example our rich Liberian history, culture and values which hold respect,

dignity and courage in high esteem.” Click Here to See Larger Slideshow with

Captions...



The Liberian diplomat lauded the Grand Gedeh Association in the Americas for

striving to be “an integral part of a Miracle of Hope in Liberia for the role

the organization and its leadership   played and continue to play in bringing

hope to Grand Gedeh County and to the nation of Liberia.”



Earlier the President of the Grand Gedeh Association in the Americas, Mr. Henry

Kohn Glay, who welcomed Ambassador Barnes and party to Philadelphia, said his

administration has endeavored to create and maintain a sustainable partnership

with the Government of Liberia because the building of partnership is an

essential tool to finding solutions to some of the problems facing our people.



Mr. Glay then praised the Sirleaf Government for the Grand Gedeh 2008-2012

County Development Agenda prepared by the County Development Committee, in

collaboration with the Ministries of Planning and Economic Affairs and Internal

Affairs.



He observed that from consultation with political and opinion leaders of Grand

Gedeh County the study that culminated into the County Development Agenda, which

was supported by the UN County Support Team project and funded by the Swedish

Government and UNDP, provides a way forward for our people.



Mr. Glay added: “We are particularly impressed with the core value vision

expressed in the documents”, pointing out that “ the document seeks to

provide equal access to opportunities for all Grand Gedeh Citizens; assurance of

peace, security and the rule of law; transparent and effective governance;

sustainable economic growth; and preservation of natural resources and the

environment.”



The Grand Gedeh Association, Mr. Glay continued, will utilize every opportunity

to work closely and collaboratively “with the county leadership on the ground

in Grand Gedeh in order to ensure that the core values embedded in the County

Development Agenda are fostered and enhanced”.



He said the participation of all Grand Gedeans is essential to ensuring that the

operation of the county’s natural resources benefits our county and county.

Mr. Glay emphasized that his association remains available to partnership with

the Liberian Government under the leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,

to put in place the construction of health, water and sanitation facilities,

rehabilitation of educational infrastructures, including skills training–

agricultural and housing development in the county. He also called on Diaspora

Grand Gedean intellectuals and scholars to return home and effectively

participate in the Sirleaf government whenever they are called to duty.



He said there is a need for Grand Gedeans in the Diaspora, especially those with

the financial means, to return home and invest in the economic development of

Liberia. Mr. Glay explained that the Development Forum was designed to raise

fund and rally support to purchase a generator for the Martha Tubman Memorial

Hospital in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh, and to also secure educational materials for

faculty members and students of the county.



Mr. Glay lauded Diaspora Grand Gedeans for the support they continue to accord

his administration, underscoring the need for his fellow compatriots to work

tirelessly to provide the much needed service to their county and people as

“our people reconstruct their lives and county.”



He said his administration will always avail itself to opportunities to

positively engage the leadership of the Sirleaf government, county and opinion

leaders of Grand Gedeh County in a partnership that promotes reconciliation,

stability, lasting peace, socio-economic development while empowering the people

of Grand Gedeh County and Liberia.



Mr. Glay expressed gratitude to Ambassador Barnes for accepting their invitation

and assured him of his administration’s support to Liberia’s Poverty

Reduction Strategy (PRS) as well as the country’s mission to the United

States. Click Here to See larger Slideshow with Captions...



© Copyright 2008 The Liberian Journal - All Rights reserved.



+++



3) Zoellick Urges Rethink On Post-Conflict Rebuilding [EXCERPT]

  Friday, January 9, 2009



In Haiti, in the Caribbean, Zoellick said donors must reduce the administrative

burden they impose on a very weak state. ‘Haiti was the site of too many

feel-good projects draped in national flags. Haiti's partners paid too little

attention to governance, anti-corruption and building the legitimacy of the

government,’ he said. Turning finally to Liberia, Zoellick praised the

government's commitment to economic development. He said donors should

front-load their aid projects so that assistance quickly reaches the population.

…” [Voice of America/Factiva]



+++



4)Businessman decries dormancy of logging sector

Written by Moses Wenyou

Thursday, 08 January 2009

STAR RADIO



A Liberian businessman has called on President Sirleaf to intervene and stop

what he called the high level of dormancy in the logging sector.



Mr. Edward Slangar said since the lifting of the ban on logging in 2006,

activities in the sector are very slow, resulting to massive unemployment.



Mr. Slangar observed there are too many bureaucracies involved in obtaining

permits from government to operate a logging company.



According to Mr. Slangar, these bureaucratic bottlenecks are created by foreign

groups considered partners of government.



He said government must be careful because these foreigners have interest in

marginalizing Liberian firms in favor of foreign logging companies.



Mr. Slangar also observed the Forestry Development Authority is not independent

in deciding who should be authorized to do logging.



He said it is the same foreign partners that are given absolute authority to

grant permits to logging company.



Mr. Slangar recalled since 2006, only three logging companies have been legally

registered to operate in the country, something he said is disappointing.



+++



5) Liberia: Executive Branch to Take Charge of County Development Funds -

President Sirleaf

7 January 2009



Monrovia — President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has announced that the Executive

Branch of Government will take full responsibility of the administration of the

county development funds, in keeping with its constitutional mandate.



Speaking in Rivercess early this week during a Town Hall meeting, the President

said although the exercise surrounding the allocation of the funds was a

collaborative one, the process has been derailed by problems.



The decision by the President to exercise Executive oversight of the

administration of County Development funds comes amid increasing reports of

financial mismanagement and concerns raised by citizens of Rivercess.



Some members of Legislative caucuses, the President said, have already been

informed of the decision, and "henceforth, we will take full responsibility so

that if anything goes wrong we (the Executive) will be held accountable."



The President announced that an audit, covering both financial and physical

assessments, will be conducted. The Liberian leader warned that anyone who is

proven to have mismanaged county resources will be prosecuted. She called on

citizens of Rivercess to work together for the development of the county because

Government cannot do it overnight. "We have restored some basic services in some

areas, but it will take time to develop all areas," the President said, asking

for continued patience and understanding.



The President criticized citizens of Rivercess who, she said, have not erected

any structures in their area. "It is because they all live in Monrovia that your

county may lose seats under the new threshold act," the Liberian leader

cautioned.



During the visit to Rivercess, the President dedicated a newly renovated high

school, an administrative building as well as City Hall in Cestos City.



Monday's trip to Rivercess also included a visit to Grand Bassa County where the

President inspected and dedicated a number of projects. The visits are part of

the Liberian President's ongoing tour of the political sub-divisions of the

country to discuss with citizens their development needs in line with the

country's Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), otherwise known as "Lift Liberia."



Copyright © 2009 Liberia Government.



+++



6) Liberia Needs $50 Million to Repair Deep-Water Port in Capital



By Ansu Konneh



Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Liberia’s Finance Ministry said it needs $50 million to

repair the deep-water port in the capital, Morovia, as it prepares to hand over

management of the facility to private investors.



What we are doing right now is sourcing where to get those funds, Finance

Minister Augustine Ngafuan told reporters on Jan. 5 in the capital, Monrovia.



In November, Liberia announced plans to convert its state- owned port system

into a public-private partnership over the next two years. The Monrovia port is

the only functioning port out of four facilities in Liberia.



Liberia is rebuilding its economy after a civil war between 1989 and 2003 in

which an estimated 250,000 people died and most of the country’s

infrastructure was destroyed.



To contact the reporter on this story: Ansu Konneh in Monrovia via Johannesburg

at pmrichardson@....



Last Updated: January 7, 2009 08:15 EST



2009 BLOOMBERG L.P.



+++



7) Environmental Protection Agency protects ozone layer

  - Dec 31, 2008



Environmental Protection Agency protects ozone layer? The Environmental

Protection Agency says no ozone depleting substances and equipment will be

permitted into the country after January one 2009.



Addressing a press conference in Monrovia Tuesday, the Executive Director of the

Environmental Protection Agency, Ben Donnie said the decision is in consonance

with the United Nations Vienna Convention, which calls for the protection of the

ozone layer.



He said using such substances is illegal and punishable, under section 89 of the

Environmental Protection Management Laws of Liberia.



The EPA Boss is meanwhile calling on Liberians in the business sector to

cooperate with the entity in protecting the environmental and ozone layer of

Liberia.



Liberia Broadcasting System, ©2007 All rights reserved.



+++



8)Liberians selling water to stay afloat

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Christina Holder THE WASHINGTON TIMES

MONROVIA, Liberia



As the sun beats down on Liberia's ruined capital city, Anthony Yeakar pushes a

red metal cart packed with large water jugs through the dirty streets.



Mr. Yeakar, 23 and only in the 10th grade, dreams of being a doctor.



In a postwar Liberia, he will have to settle for being a water carrier, at least

for now.



"Money is in water," Mr. Yeakar said.



Five years after Liberia's 14-year civil war, many are just like Mr. Yeakar,

struggling to make a living in this country of nearly 3.2 million. Without basic

infrastructure, like running water or a fully functioning power grid, most are

forced to continue living as mere survivors.



The slow pace of rebuilding also has left Liberians with both the daunting task

and the golden opportunity to capitalize on the government's gaps. The lack of

running water, for example, has spurred a water-selling industry in the clogged

capital city.



Mr. Yeakar begins work at 7:30 a.m. by a city well in downtown Monrovia. He

fills five-gallon jugs with water and lugs up to 30 of them at a time in his

cart with the help of his half brother, Samuel.



The Yeakar brothers drop grimy jugs at businesses and government buildings,

including the broken-down palaces housing the Education, Finance and Commerce

ministries. The water often is used to flush waste down broken toilets.



They charge about 20 Liberian dollars, or 33 cents, per jug. A day's work will

yield between $11 and $14. They pay the well owner about $80 a month.



The brothers´ monthly take-home cash is a considerable sum in a country in

which many workers on an official payroll make much less. A teacher here makes

about $50 a month, a police officer about $60.



The Yeakar brothers work all week, including Sunday -- when the crowds on

Monrovia's sidewalks are thin and many sellers are at home keeping God's day of

rest.



But Mr. Yeakar sees working seven days as a black-and-white issue.



"I have customers to supply, and they need water every day," he said.



Daily sewage spills and the city's mostly defunct power grid further complicate

life.



With most of Liberia's power coming from private generators, refrigerated water

is a luxury. Those in search of cold, safe drinking water, eagerly buy plump

plastic bags filled with chilled water -- the equivalent of water balloons --

for about 12 cents apiece. The water is treated and bagged at one of at least 15

water-purifying factories that have popped up in the Monrovia area in the last

few years.



Some sellers keep the bags in coolers filled with blocks of ice. Others use a

generator. Boakar Perry powers a deep freezer stuffed with the water bags for

$500 a month.



About 50 young sellers -- many of them children -- visit his freezer throughout

the day. They pay Mr. Perry about 33 cents for seven bags of chilled water, and

then sell one bag to thirsty Monrovians for about 12 cents.



Mr. Perry, one of ex-President Charles Taylor's drivers, began chilling the

water about three years ago.



Liberia, founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century, has struggled to

turn itself around since the brutal war ended in 2003 and President Ellen

Johnson Sirleaf took office two years later.



Back-to-back wars from 1989 to 2003 sparked vicious factional fighting that

killed an estimated 250,000 and displaced millions, according to the Associated

Press.



Since the fighting ended, Liberia has struggled to turn itself around.



But with Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf's election, Mr. Perry lost his job.



Self-employment became the means to an end.



"I don't have anything to do, and my family has to sustain itself," he said.



Today Mr. Perry makes about $30 a day. But his generator costs cut his profit by

more than half.



It's frustrating, living in a capital city largely without basic infrastructure,

he said.



But Mr. Perry, like many Liberians who are eager to fill the government's gaps,

has a remarkable hope and patience for a restored Liberia.



"During the war, everything damaged, and now we can't get it overnight," he

said. "We just have to struggle and get it." Mr. Perry and the Yeakar brothers

are but two of Liberia's water sellers, but they represent a country full of men

and women who are living with the crippling effects of war.



Poor water and sanitation systems are leading to 42 percent of Liberian children

under age 5 dying from malaria and 22 percent under 5 dying from diarrhea,

according to the Liberia WASH Consortium.



Crime is high owing to the more than 100,000 ex-fighters who have returned to

society without being fully rehabilitated. Now many of them terrorize Monrovia's

neighborhoods as armed robbers. The literacy rate is about 20 percent.



Most Liberians are desperate for work or education or both. The country's

unemployment rate, which does not account for self-employers like Mr. Yeakar, is

estimated at 85 percent.



The capital city is clogged with people desperate for any job that will put them

to work. Young boys push yellow wheelbarrows down the city's broken sidewalks.

They carry random, secondhand goods - sheets, folded jeans, shoes scrubbed into

new life with a bar of soap and a little water.



Those who don't have wheelbarrows turn their bodies into traveling displays.

They carry phone chargers on their fingers, pirated movies in their arms, shiny

steering-wheel covers around their necks.



William E.D. Warner, deputy managing director of Liberia Water & Sewer Corp.

(LWSC), said restoring water is slow because Monrovia's water system was

destroyed over the 14 years of fighting.



Looters dug up the water pipes and sold them for scrap metal. The existing pipes

eroded because they weren't maintained. After the war, there was little money to

restore the ruined infrastructure.



Today, those challenges remain. Looters continue to dig up water pipes for scrap

metal. Residents hire plumbers to steal city water by illegally connecting their

lines.



And when water is on, some people are afraid to drink it.



In rural Kakata City, a bustling town that seems to pop out of undeveloped

countryside just an hour northeast of Monrovia, water pumps were turned on in

July for the first time in 14 years.



Soon a rumor had flooded the town: The water didn't have any medicine in it.



"They have been out of water, safe drinking water, for a very long time," Kakata

station supervisor Hilary T. Yoryor said. "They are afraid." To allay fears, the

LWSC is requiring residents who apply for running water in their homes to attend

an educational workshop.



But even those who know the water is treated are waiting awhile before drinking.



Mohamed A. Kamara, 32, is one of about 25 residents who applied for running

water in Kakata.



He was glad to have water back in Kakata after so many years of war, but he

didn´t trust it at first. He said his 1-year-old son, Dauda, would drink only

mineral water -- the kind in the plastic bags -- for a few months.



Until Liberians can trust the water system, they will continue to fill the

pockets of sellers like Mr. Perry and the Yeakar brothers.



Back down on Monrovia's frantic Broad Street, Mr. Yeakar loads his jugs onto his

red metal cart and he still dreams of being a doctor.



He also dreams of a Liberia that is restored and can provide a better life for

his 2-year-old son, aptly named Success.



"I will make sure he goes to school, and he graduates from school and goes to

college, and graduates from there," Mr. Yeakar said, "to be somebody."



Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC



+++



9)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



###



Complete archives at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nature_Liberia/

1) Pres. Sirleaf re-instates Bong County Superintendent, 2) Rubber farmers in

Bong unhappy, 3) Pres. Sirleaf appoints new officers, 4) China Union Liberian

negotiation in final phase, 5) Delta sues Liberia govt over iron-ore concession,

6) FDA boss speaks on resuming logging, 7)Soil Scientists Join Efforts to Boost

Food Security (Africa), 8) Firestone gives marketers deadline to move, 9) Fire

at LPRC, causes minor damage, 10)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/





1) Pres. Sirleaf re-instates Bong County Superintendent

Written by Vivian Gartyn

Friday, 16 January 2009

STAR RADIO



President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has re-instated Bong County Superintendent

Rennie Jackson and ordered him to restitute ten thousand U.S. dollars.



President Sirleaf said Superintendent Jackson had no right to use the amount

from the county development fund to travel to the United States.



President Sirleaf took the decision Thursday in Gbarnga during a town hall

meeting with the citizens.



She also said the Bong County Superintendent had no link to the hundred and

forty-seven thousand U.S. dollars given Mak Incorporated.



Mak Incorporated is the construction company hired to rehabilitate the Bong

Mines-Hendi Highway.



President Sirleaf said the audit report established that Superintendent Jackson

and the Bong Legislative Caucus jointly gave the money to Mak Incorporated.



She indicated Superintendent Jackson should not have allowed the Legislative

Caucus to disburse the amount at once to Mak Incorporated.



Superintendent Jackson meanwhile, called on Bong County citizens to put behind

them the bitter past and work together for the development of the county.



He told Star Radio he wants to see a prosperous and a peaceful Bong County.





+++



2) Rubber farmers in Bong unhappy

Written by Clarence Jackson

Friday, 16 January 2009

STAR RADIO



Rubber farmers in Bong County say as of January 19 there will be no rubber sale

in the county.



The rubber farmers took the decision Thursday at a meeting in the central

provincial city of Gbarnga.



The rubber farmers said their decision stem from an abrupt cut in the price of

the commodity.



The rubber farmers said at present, they are finding it difficult to maintain

their farms due to the current price of rubber.



They said the deduction of 2 US dollars for the RPAL by companies and four

percent deduction on a ton of rubber by government without flag receipt is

unhealthy.



The RPAL is the Rubber Planters Association of Liberia.



According to our correspondent, the rubber farmers have set up task to ensure

the implementation of their decision.



The rubber farmers vowed to continue their action until government addresses

their concerns.





+++



3) Pres. Sirleaf appoints new officers

Jan 16, 2009



Pres. Sirleaf appoints new officers'.



President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has made several appointments in government,

pending confirmation buy the Liberian Senate.



According to an Executive Mansion release, those appointed are, Osman Tall,

Assistant Agriculture Minister for Planning and Development, Gbleh-bo Brown,

Superintendent, Maryland County, Melita Gardner, Assistant Superintendent for

Development, Maryland County and McDonald Wlemus, Assistant Superintendent,

Sinoe county.



Others are Brigadier General Francis Dolo, Assistant Director General, Bureau of

Veterans Affairs, Maj. Fred Sumo Assistant Director General for Administration,

Veteran Affairs Bureau, Ophelia Hinneh, Assistant Director General for Women and

Children Affairs, Veteran Affairs Bureau.



The President has also appointed Tarpeh Lunbay, local Aide-de-camp, Nimba County

and Rajah Toe, Local Aide-de-Camp, River Gee County.



In another development, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has re-echoed

government's commitment to make Liberia self sufficient in food production.



Speaking Thursday on a guided tour of the 32 acres of land in Kpatawee, being

cultivated by the Agriculture Ministry in collaboration with the Chinese

Government, President Johnson-Sirleaf extolled the efforts of the Chinese

Government and people in buttressing government's "back to the soil" campaign.



The 32 acres of farmland, according to the Agriculture Ministry will be

harvested in three months.



Meanwhile, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is expected to break grounds today

for the construction of a hospital in Nimba County.



According to Health Minister, Dr. Walter Gwenigale, the construction of the

hospital is in line with Government's determination to provide health services

for its citizens.

Speaking to Reporters Monday, Dr. Gwenigale said, the construction of the

hospital is part of government's US.7million provided to the Ministry of Health.



He also recounted progress being made by the Health Ministry to provide basic

health services, especially the construction of major hospitals in the fifteen

counties and training of midwives, among others.



Liberia Broadcasting System, ©2007 All rights reserved.



+++



4) China Union Liberian negotiation in final phase

Friday, 16 Jan, 2009



Liberian Observer reported that 16 man high powered delegations from The

People's Republic of China is in the country to finalize the USD 2.6 billion

iron ore contract being negotiated between the Government of Liberia and China

Union.



The Chinese delegation comprises representatives from the China Africa

Development Fund, Mr Yin Fuyou the board of directors of China Union and the

China Development Bank.



(Sourced from liberianobserver.com)

Copyright © 2004 - SteelGuru and respective copyright holders.



+++



5) BHP Billiton investing, maintaining volumes, new Barrick CEO sees

‘exciting’ time for gold, Delta sues Liberia govt over iron-ore concession



By: Martin Creamer

Published on 16th January 2009

Updated 6 hours ago

The world’s largest mining company, BHP Billiton, is proving exemplary, even

during the worst global financial meltdown since the 1930s. Read on page 4 of

this edition of Mining Weekly that BHP Billiton is maintaining its sales volumes

and continuing to invest.



BHP Billiton has a low $6,3-billion net debt and a high $115-billion market

capitalisation, with cash flows sufficiently strong to support “continued

investments through the commodity cycle”. For now, its emphasis, in developing

its projects, is on lower-risk brownfield expansions in areas of known

geographies.



The world’s biggest gold-miner, Barrick Gold, has named chartered accountant

Aaron Regent the company’s new CEO, effective January 16. Read on page 14 of

this edition of Mining Weekly of Regent’s belief that the gold industry has

reached an “exciting” and “challenging” point.



“In these times, in particular, gold is a unique property as a store of value

that is emerging as an asset class of increasing importance,” Regent says.

Barrick is looking at “just about everything in the marketplace” in terms of

acquisitions.



Diversified resources firm Delta Mining Consolidated is taking legal action

against the government of Liberia, challenging its decision not to award a

$1,6-billion iron-ore concession to the company, despite having earlier declared

it the provisional winner.



Read on page 11 of the South Africa-linked company filing an application in the

Liberian civil law court for the sixth judicial circuit for judicial review of

the government’s refusal to award Delta the Western Cluster Iron Ore Deposit

concession.



Delta has been granted an interim stay of the bidding process. Delta’s

argument centres on the government’s purported reasons for not awarding Delta

the concession having no basis in law, asserting that Liberian law does not

permit the government to cancel a bid “without due process”.



In February 2008, the government declared Delta the provisional winner of the

$1,6-billion concession.



Mining Weekly’s daily online offerings of news as it happens as well as videos

and podcasts can be accessed at www.miningweekly.com.



Editor: Creamer Media Reporter

Copyright © Creamer Media (Pty) Ltd



+++



6) FDA boss speaks on resuming logging

Written by Moses Wenyou

Wednesday, 14 January 2009

STAR RADIO



The Managing Director of the Forestry Development Agency says 2009 is a year of

implementation in the forestry sector.



Mr. John Woods said three Forest Management contracts are currently on the desk

of the President to be signed and forwarded to the Legislature for ratification.



Mr. Woods said following the ratification of the contracts, the three logging

companies would begin operation.



According to Mr. Woods, two of the logging companies would be based in Rivercess

while the other would operate in Gbarpolu and Lofa Counties.



The FDA Managing Director said government has already awarded six timber sales

contracts, three of which have gone into active production.



He said by June this year, it is hoped that six concessions including three

timber sales and three forest management contracts would be operational.



Mr. Woods admitted there are many procedures involved in approving timber

contracts under the National Forestry law and the Public Procurement and

Concession Act.



He said the procedures are necessary to ensure that timber trade takes a

different dimension from the past, which prompted the imposition of sanctions.



Mr. Woods clarified that the GEMAP agent at the FDA does not interfere with the

awarding of contracts to timber companies.



The FDA boss however, said GEMAP only assists with ensuring transparency and

accountability in the process of awarding those contracts.



+++



7)Soil Scientists Join Efforts to Boost Food Security (Africa)

13 January 2009





Nairobi — A digital soil-health surveillance system, launched on 13 January in

Nairobi, will enable soil scientists to map areas at risk of soil degradation

and facilitate appropriate interventions that could help to curb food insecurity

across the continent.



Undertaken by the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the

"first ever" detailed digital map for 42 countries combines the latest soil

science and technology with remote satellite imagery and on-the-ground efforts

to develop an online map.



According to CIAT, this digital map of the continent's depleted soils will offer

insights crucial for boosting food production. It will help provide solutions

for poor farmers who suffer from chronically low-yielding crops due to degraded

soils.



Wycliffe Oparanya, Kenya's Minister of State for Planning, National Development

and Vision 2030, who launched the African Soil Information Service (AfSIS) at

the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) in Nairobi, said the soil map would

provide scientists and policy-makers with more detailed and accurate information

on soil fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa.



"There has been an effort to develop high-yielding varieties of crops but the

fact that soil fertility has remained low across many countries in Africa,

[means] we have not been able to harness the benefits of the improved crops to

capacity," he said. "Therefore, investing in soil health is a key concern that

we must all address ourselves ... to achieve food security for our people."



He said the food crisis facing many countries had become a global phenomenon

that posed a new threat to the stability of the social framework and to the

prosperity of all nations, "especially the small nations".



Oparanya said: "Throughout the world, more and more people are unable to find

food. There are increased cases of food riots, which in turn lead to political

instability. This means that all nations must increase and sustain the

production of staple food crops such as wheat, rice, maize, millet and potatoes,

among others."



CIAT is establishing the African Soil Information Service through a four-year

US$18 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Alliance

for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). The digital map ultimately will be

developed as part of a global soil mapping initiative, known as

GlobalSoilMap.net



Other partners in the effort include the Earth Institute at Columbia University,

the World Soil Information at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and the

Nairobi-based World Agroforestry Centre.



Productivity boost



"Helping small farmers increase their yields and incomes is one of the most

important things that the world can do to alleviate hunger and poverty," Rajiv

Shah, director of agricultural development at the Bill & Melinda Gates

Foundation, said. "Access to better information about their soil will empower

African farmers to use methods tailored to their conditions so they can boost

their productivity and build better lives."



AGRA president Namanga Ngongi said: "This project will benefit farm families in

Africa by showing how they can reverse the trend of declining soil fertility, a

major reason for slow growth in the region's agricultural productivity during

recent decades."



Pedro Sanchez, the director of tropical agriculture and rural environment

programme and director of the Millennium Villages Project at Columbia

University, said as Africa's food crisis deepened, people were beginning to see

the importance of soil health surveillance.



"The digital soil map has brought soil science to the 21st century," he said.

"At the push of a button, you have answers on soil erosion, where to farm and

what crops to grow on what type of soils."



[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]



Copyright © 2009 UN Integrated Regional Information Networks.



+++



8) Firestone gives marketers January 15 deadline to move

Written by Archie Weefur

Tuesday, 13 January 2009

STAR RADIO



Firestone-Liberia has issued a statement reaffirming that January 15 remains the

deadline for the re-location of the Harbel Market.



Firestone said the old market will be demolished in order to build modern

housing units and schools for employees and their families.



Firestone said there are some individuals who occupied the market area

unlawfully, which it labeled as high crime area.



But marketers and residents of the area have vowed they would not vacate the

area.



According to them, they acquired the place legally through the Liberia Marketing

Association in 1985.



+++



9) Fire at LPRC, causes minor damage

Written by Matthias Daffah

Friday, 09 January 2009

STAR RADIO



Fire on Friday gutted one of the control rooms of the Liberia Petroleum Refining

Company, causing minor damage to the entity’s facility.



The Fire Safety Manager of LPRC, Ben Karnga told Star Radio the fire started

from a switch in the control room and spread briefly.



Mr. Karnga however, said fire fighters led by LPRC and the National Fire Service

managed to bring the blaze under control.



LPRC fire fighters described the fire as class “B” which simply needed fire

extinguishers to bring it under control



The incident disrupted normal activities at the LPRC with Liberian Police and

UNMIL troops beefing security around the compound.



Management says it has since resumed normal operations.



+++



10)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



###



Complete archives at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nature_Liberia/

1) Armyworms occupy 75% of Zota District, 2) LEITI complains 19 companies, 3)

Invading army-worms enter major border town, 4) Liberia inks pact with China

Union for Bong iron ore mines,

5) Gold Star Acquires West African Oil and Gas Concessions, 6) LIBERIA:

Villagers flee invading caterpillars, 7) Liberia-China- Agreement, 8) Bio

Professor on ill-equipped laboratories,

9) Liberia: President Sirleaf Tours Project Sites in Bong County, 10) Insect

plague devours crops, 11)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/







1) Armyworms occupy 75% of Zota District

Written by Matthias Daffah

Thursday, 22 January 2009

STAR RADIO



The Commissioner of Zota District in Bong County has disclosed that up to 75% of

land area has been taken over by the armyworms.



Commissioner Joseph Urey further disclosed that between ten and fifteen thousand

people in Zota District have been affected by the pest invasion.



According to Commissioner Urey, the impact of the caterpillar invasion could be

felt in about thirty-five communities in Zota District.



Mr. Urey told Star Radio the rapid spread of the worm-like caterpillars was

negatively impacting agricultural activities in the district.



The Zota District Commissioner appealed for immediate intervention to help

restore safe drinking water to the suffering people of that central regional

district.



For its part, the Food and Agriculture Organization says it is closely

monitoring the situation in Zota District and surrounding towns.



The Emergency Coordinator of the FAO, Tim Vaesen said his organization was

studying the situation in order to make a determination.



Mr. Vaesen said a thorough investigation was needed to establish the origin of

the caterpillars and their life circle.



He said the information was needed to put in place a pest control mechanism.



According to Mr. Vaesen, after the assessment, the FAO might compile and present

a proposal to donors for possible assistance.



He said for now the FAO will simply monitor the situation in Zota District and

be prepared for any eventuality.





+++



2) LEITI complains 19 companies

Written by Wellington Geevon Smith

Thursday, 22 January 2009

STAR RADIO



The Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, LEITI has reported

the failure of nineteen companies to submit their payment reports to the body.



LEITI said the nineteen companies, mainly mining companies, failed to submit

their payment reports from July 2007 to June 2008.



The public transparency agency gave the delinquent companies up to Tuesday

January 27, 2009 to submit their reports before the close of working hours.



LEITI further reminded the companies that the Presidential Proclamation that

created it obligates companies to submit periodic report of their payment to

government.



According to the body, the Presidential Proclamation also empowers it to

institute appropriate sanction on any company failing to submit its report.





+++



3) Invading army-worms enter major border town

Written by Clarence Jackson

Wednesday, 21 January 2009

STAR RADIO



Report reaching Star Radio says invading armyworms have attacked a major town

along the Liberia-Guinea border.



The Chief Medical Officer of Bong County told Star Radio, the armyworms

numbering several million have invaded Lawein Town forcing residents to flee.



Dr. Garfee Williams said ten of the ninety-six houses in Lawein Town have been

abandoned and people were seeking refuge on farms untouched by the pests.



According to Dr. Garfee the caterpillars are climbing the walls of houses and

taking over rice farms in the area.



The Bong County Chief Medical Officer said of the affected towns and villages

Lawein was the worst hit with creeks and wells   badly contaminated.



Dr. Garfee recommends a massive aerial spraying exercise to rid central Liberia

of armyworms.



Also, government has appealed for concerted international efforts to combat the

swarm of armyworms that have invaded central Liberia.



Agriculture Minister Dr. Chris Toe said the extent of the damage being caused by

the pests requires the help of all international partners.



Minister Toe told Star Radio helicopters were urgently needed to carry out

aerial spraying of places attacked by the worm-like caterpillars.



Dr. Toe also appealed for motorized sprayers in order to spray treetops that

have been permanently seized by the caterpillars.



On Tuesday Government launched a minimum effort using Knapsack sprayers to

combat the swarm of armyworms.



The Ministry of Agriculture has deployed more than thirty technicians in the

affected areas to spray the surrounding bushes with insecticides.



Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture has warned residents of Zota and Suakoko

Districts not to eat dead chickens during its ten-day operation in the

districts.



According to agricultural experts the insecticides currently being applied

remains active for seven days before disintegrating.



+++



4) Liberia inks pact with China Union for Bong iron ore mines

Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009

APA-Monrovia reported that the Liberian government and theChinese mining company

China Union have finally signed a 25 year USD 2.6billion mineral development

agreement for the mining of iron ore in Bong Minesin central Bong Countyin

northern Liberia.



The concession agreement was signed on Monday following daysof intense

negotiations between Liberia’sinter ministerial council and officials of China

Union. The agreement isexpected to be sent to the national legislature for

ratification and subsequentapproval.



Speaking during the official signing ceremony, Lands, Minesand Energy Minister,

Dr Eugene Shannon and National Investment CommissionChairman Dr Richard Tolbert,

described the signing of the agreement as asignificant milestone for

Liberia’seconomic revitalization.



Dr Tolbert said the signing and subsequent ratification ofthe mineral agreement

with Chinawould improve private capital growth and enhance government’s

developmentefforts.



Mr Yin Fu You CEO of China Union said that the signing ofthe agreement is the

beginning of successful corporate relations with theLiberian government.



The concession which will provide more than 3,000 jobopportunities has been

described as the largest investment ever in Liberia,more than the USD 1.7

billion mineral development agreement signed nearly twoyears ago with the

world’s largest steel company, Mittal.





Source: SteelGuru



+++



5) Gold Star Acquires West African Oil and Gas Concessions



VANCOUVER, BC -- (Marketwire) -- 01/21/09 -- Gold Star Resources Corp. (the

"Company") (TSX-V: GXX) is pleased to announce the signing of an Agreement (the

"Agreement") to acquire 90% of the issued and outstanding share capital of

International Resource Strategies Liberia Energy, Inc. ("IRSLE"), a private

company based in Monrovia, Liberia.



IRSLE is the holder of Hydrocarbon Reconnaissance License No. NR-001 issued by

the National Oil Company of Liberia ("NOCAL"). The License grants exclusive

rights to conduct exploration for oil, gas and any other hydrocarbon in an area

of 1,366.37 square kilometers within the Roberts and Bassa Basins of south

coastal Liberia.



The License is for an initial period of 12 months, and requires IRSLE to spend a

minimum of (US) $1,750,000 on reconnaissance work on the property within the

next 12 months, and may be renewed for an additional 12 month period. Upon

successful reconnaissance work which identifies a hydrocarbon prospect, IRSLE

shall have the first right of refusal to apply for a Petroleum Production

Sharing Contract over the target area.



Prior to the signing of this agreement, the Company retained Dr. Martin Keeley,

PhD, to accompany a representative from IRSLE to the project area. Dr. Keeley is

an oil exploration professional with 28 years of international operational

experience including work with Shell Oil, and is credited with commercial

hydrocarbon finds in Egypt, Algeria and Columbia. He has also served as Visiting

Professor in Petroleum Geology at University College of London, and was an

editor of the Journal of Petroleum Geology.



While conducting due diligence on behalf of the Company, Dr. Keeley visited the

License area and noted seepages indicative of potential hydrocarbon deposits.



Cost of the acquisition to the Company is as follows:



On signing of the Agreement, pay to IRSLE a total of (US) $125,000. On approval

by the TSX Venture Exchange, issue to IRSLE 1,500,000 shares of the Company, and

1,500,000 non-transferable share purchase warrants, with each warrant entitling

IRSLE to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.20

per share for a two year period from the date of issuance.



Upon formalization of a subsequent joint venture or earn in agreement, on terms

satisfactory to the Purchaser, issue to IRSLE an additional 1,500,000 common

shares of the Company and an additional 1,500,000 non-transferable share

purchase warrants, with each warrant entitling IRSLE to purchase one additional

common share of the Company at a price of $0.20 per share for a two year period

from the date of issuance.



As consideration for certain funds advanced towards the permitting process by

third party investors (the "Guarantors"), and in conjunction with the Agreement,

the Company will issue a total of 1,000,000 shares of the Company, and 1,000,000

non-transferable share purchase warrants, with each warrant entitling the

guarantors the right to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a

price of $0.20 per share for a two year period from the date of issuance. In

addition, the Guarantors will be paid a total of (US) $50,000 as partial

re-imbursement for funds advanced to IRSLE necessary for the permitting process.



A finders fee will be payable on this transaction as per TSX Venture Exchange

policy.



The Agreement, and all share and warrant issuances are subject to the approval

of the TSX Venture Exchange, and will be subject to hold periods as per TSX

Venture Exchange policies.



Pat Morris, President of Gold Star, commented, "We are pleased to put this

transaction together, and look forward to commencing exploratory operations in

Liberia. West Africa has shown increased promise to develop new hydrocarbon

deposits in areas such as onshore Liberia, where previous exploration was never

completed due to political concerns within the country. Thankfully, the Liberian

political situation has become stable in recent years, with the local government

encouraging international investment to further exploration for natural

resources."



On Behalf of the Board,



"Patrick Morris"



Patrick Morris, President and CEO



THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR

THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.



For further information, contact:

Patrick Morris

President and CEO of the Company

pm@...

Telephone: (604) 641-4450

Facsimile: (604) 669-9335



© 1999-2009 SmartBrief, Inc.



+++



6) LIBERIA: Villagers flee invading caterpillars



MONROVIA, 20 January 2009 (IRIN) - Millions of invading caterpillars have forced

thousands of Bong County residents to flee their homes and the situation is

"getting worse", according to county superintendent Rennie Jackson.



The caterpillars, also known as army worms, have destroyed crops, entered houses

and contaminated water sources with their faeces, local authorities say.



"The situation is getting worse," Jackson told IRIN. "Most drinking water

sources, including creeks and wells, have been polluted with the faeces of the

worms. The number of affected people is in the thousands."



Authorities in Bong County, 150km from the capital Monrovia, held emergency

meetings on 20 January and are scheduled to meet with representatives from

international organisations on 21 January. Agriculture Minister Christopher Toe

has appealed to the international community to help fight the infestation.



Representatives from the ministries of agriculture, health and internal affairs

and Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency are assessing the extent of the

damage in Bong County alongside experts from the UN Food and Agriculture

Organization (FAO).



The caterpillars invaded Sanoyea District of Bong County on 15 January, rapidly

spreading to Zota and Suakoko districts, invading an estimated 31 villages,

according to county superintendent Jackson.



Army worms are caterpillars that eventually develop into nocturnal moths. In

their larval stage they can be very destructive, attacking cereals and grazing

land. This is the first major invasion of the insects in Liberia, according to

an 18 January statement by the Agriculture Ministry.



Lost livelihoods



IRIN witnessed hundreds of villagers fleeing in vehicles and on foot to Bong

County’s capital Gbarnga, where people are sheltering with extended family

members or in public buildings.



Farmers told IRIN they will lose their crops to the caterpillars. Farmer Eric

Kollie, who returned to Liberia from Guinea to farm his land in 2007, was in

tears as he said: "I saw caterpillars eating up my cassava farms and I am in

pain as all of my efforts [of] last year have gone in vain."



"The caterpillars are destroying the rice farms that we were about to harvest,"

a 50-year-old woman told IRIN. "There is nowhere to go as the caterpillars are

still entering our homes."



"The government really has to come to the rescue of the residents as the

situation is getting worse by the day," Joe Urey, chief of Zota District, told

IRIN. "So far 15 major rice farms have been destroyed by the army worms."



After Lofa County, Bong County is Liberia’s most important food-producing

area, growing much of the country’s cassava, eddoes, plantains, bananas and

potatoes, according to the Agricultural Ministry.



Entomologists from the Agriculture Ministry have travelled to Bong County to

spray affected areas with insecticide but they do not have enough spray,

according to Agricultural Minister Toe.



"Additional insecticides, motorised sprayers and other protective gear are

urgently needed to combat the situation," Toe told IRIN on 20 January.



ak/aj/np





Copyright © IRIN 2009.



+++



7) Liberia-China- Agreement

APA 2009-01-20



Liberia signs mineral mining agreement with Chinese firm



APA-Monrovia (Liberia) The Liberian government and the Chinese mining company

China Union have finally signed a twenty-five year, US$2.6 billion mineral

development agreement for the mining of iron ore in Bong Mines, in central Bong

County in northern Liberia.



The concession agreement signed Monday, following days of intense negotiations

between Liberia’s inter-ministerial council and officials of China Union.



The concession which will provide more than 3,000 job opportunities has been

described as the largest investment ever in Liberia, more than the US$1.7

billion mineral development agreement signed nearly two years ago with the

world’s largest steel company, Mittal.



Speaking during the official signing ceremony, Lands, Mines and Energy Minister,

Dr. Eugene Shannon and National Investment Commission Chairman Dr. Richard

Tolbert, described the signing of the agreement as a "significant milestone" for

Liberia’s economic revitalization.



Dr. Tolbert said the signing and subsequent ratification of the mineral

agreement with China would "improve private capital growth and enhance

government’s development efforts".



For his part, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of China Union, Mr. Yin Fu You,

said the signing of the agreement is the beginning of successful corporate

relations with the Liberian government.



The agreement is expected to be sent to the national legislature for

ratification and subsequent approval.



TSS/daj/APA

2009-01-20



+++



8) Bio Professor on ill-equipped laboratories

Written by Hilary Vasco Wiagbe

Tuesday, 20 January 2009

STAR RADIO



A Biology Professor at the University of Liberia says it is not possible to

properly prepare science students in the country without well equipped

laboratories.



Madam Mary Metieh said the laboratories of the universities, offering degrees in

science are very low and substandard.



Madam Metieh indicated that the laboratories of the universities including the

UL lack sufficient equipment and chemicals.



Commenting on the high school level, she said only a few private and public

schools across the country have laboratories.



The Biology Professor however, noted the conditions of these laboratories are

poor.



According to Madam Metieh, the situation is worst at the public schools with no

public school in rural Liberia operating with laboratories.



The Biology Professor further called for the lifting of the ban on the

importation of chemicals to the country.



She sees the ban as one of the factors greatly hampering the effectiveness of

the departments of science at universities, offering the discipline.



Madam Metieh spoke to Star Radio Monday when she presented a report on the state

of Science in Liberia to UNESCO office in Monrovia.



+++



9) Liberia: President Sirleaf Tours Project Sites in Bong County

18 January 2009



President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has toured a number of development projects in

Bong County, expressing satisfaction of the level of progress taking place at

the sites. An Executive Mansion release says the President over the weekend,

toured a Chinese run rubber processing factory in Nyanforla, Salala district,

the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), a proposed agriculture

technology center, being built by the government of the People's Republic China

and a hybrid rice development project in Kpatawee, also being supervised by

Chinese agricultural experts in Bong County.



Accompanied by Chinese ambassador Zhou Yuxiao, the President said the setting up

of a rubber processing factory in the country was in line with Government's

efforts to ensure that the capacity of the rubber industry is expanded, through

the provision of skills training and employment opportunities for Liberians.

Operated by the Lee Group of Enterprises, the President said government will

fully support the project because it is in line with it's determination to have

rubber companies process finished rubber products in the country. Speaking of

the agricultural research centers, the Liberian leader said, they represent a

demonstration of government's determination to expand the agricultural base of

the country through mechanized farming. Chinese ambassador Zhou, said his

country remains supportive of government's efforts to meet its goal of

self-sufficiency in food production. Ambassador Zhou put the cost of the

agricultural technology center at US

  $5-million. The Center, he said, will be fully functional in a year and a half,

and turned into a commercial enterprise after three years. Liberia is one of

thirty African countries benefiting from the Chinese gesture.



The Liberian leader, has meanwhile, lauded war affected youths of Bong County

for engaging in productive endeavors. President Johnson Sirleaf described the

decision of the youth to become constructive citizens as a move worth emulation.

Government, the President said, welcomes such self-help initiatives and will

provide the necessary support to sustain them.



Supported by the Bangladeshi battalion, the Bong Agro farm project involves

about 4-hundred war affected youth and their families. Presently, harvesting is

taking place of 2 acres of swam rice, 3-acres of hilly ground rice, 4-acres of

cassava, 3-acres of a variety of fruits and vegetables including watermelon,

pumpkin, cucumber, ginger, among others.



"BANBATT-14 is not here only to maintain peace and stability, but working for

peace building in Liberia in many ways," a battalion officer said during the

program on the outskirts of Gbarnga. Also speaking at the occasion, the chairman

of Youth & Development of Bong County, Mr. Mark Dowee, commended the Liberian

President for accepting the youths' invitation to visit the project site at

short notice. He assured the President that with additional support from

Government, more youth will join in constructive activities for the growth and

development of the country.



The project which kicked off in November 2007 now covers 25-acres of land

provided by the authorities of Bong County.



Copyright © 2009 Liberia Government.



+++



10) Insect plague devours crops

January 18 2009 at 04:24PM



Monrovia - Hundreds of thousands of insects known as army worms have attacked

several towns and villages in central Liberia, destroying an important quantity

of crops, Liberia's government said on Sunday.



A seven-strong team of experts had reported back from Belefania and Bong

districts saying that the situation there was "alarming and worsening",

Agriculture Minister Christopher Toe told journalists.



The team, which is led by an entemologist, reported that the worm-like

caterpillars were consuming all vegetation in their path and polluting creeks

and running water with their faeces.



Specialists from government farming, health and environmental protection

agencies had been sent to the affected areas to assess the extent of the problem

and spraying of insecticides had already started, said Toe.



"When the caterpillars near maturity, approximately one to 1.5 inches in length

(2.5 to 3.8 centimetres), they can lay waste to an entire crop in a matter of

days" said Toe. - Sapa-AFP



© 1999 - 2009 Independent Online.



+++



11)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



###



Complete archives at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nature_Liberia/

1) Liberia’s Sirleaf signs $2,6bn iron-ore 
deal with China Union, 2) Cocoa

price shoots up following West Africa supply concerns, 3) ECOWAS donates US$

100,000 to Liberian victims of army worms, 4) ArcelorMittal becomes an EITI

Supporting Company, 5) Bong leadership meets on invading armyworms, 6)Liberia in

BHP, Sime Darby Talks to Boost Commodity Industries, 7) West Africa: Ecowas,

Others Organise Workshop on Forestry, 8) Agriculture explains moratorium, 9)

Agri Min. briefs Pres. Sirleaf on Army Worms invasion, 10) Liberia expects Bong

iron ore production in 18 months, 11) Another Roadmap to Sustainable Cocoa

Production (West and Central Africa), 12) Man says Akron missing its chance He

suggests city use wood from Firestone rubber trees, 13) Tatas expand partnership

with New Millennium (EXCERPT), 14)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/





1) Liberia’s Sirleaf signs $2,6bn iron-ore 
deal with China Union



By: Martin Creamer

Published on 30th January 2009

The West African country, Liberia, has signed a $2,6-billion agreement with a

Chinese conglomerate, China Union, to develop what is described as its “main

iron-ore mine”.



Also pursuing iron-ore in Liberia is the world’s largest steelmaker,

ArcelorMittal, and South Africa’s Delta Mining Consolidated, which is taking

legal action against the government of Liberia for not awarding Delta an

iron-ore concession.



A report from the Liberian capital, Monrovia, sourced from the news agency AFP,

describes the latest Chinese investment as the largest ever in the West African

country headed by



President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.



The AFP report says that Sirleaf signed a mineral development agreement with

officials from the Chinese mining company to develop the Bong mines.



The deal has been sent to Parliament for ratification.



Liberia’s National Investment Commission chairperson Richard Tolbert announced

in December that China Union had promised to build a

one-million-ton-a-
year-capacity operation at the Bong iron-ore mines, about


150 km north of Monrovia, within 12 months.



He said 3 000 jobs would be created by the project, with up to 
15 000

following indirectly.



Delta has launched an appli-
cation in the Liberian Civil Law Court for the

Sixth Judicial Circuit for judicial review of the government’s refusal to

award it the Western Cluster Iron Ore Deposit concession, and has 
applied for

an order preventing the government from reopening a bidding process for the

concession.



Delta is also seeking a 
review of a ruling handed down by the Independent

Complaints, Reviews and Appeals Panel of the Liberian Public Procurement and

Concessions Commission 
regarding the government’s refusal 
to award Delta

the concession.



Delta argues that the government’s purported reasons for not awarding Delta

the concession have no basis in law.



The company also asserts that Liberian law does not permit the government to

cancel a bid 
“without due process” once a provisional winner has been


declared.



In February 2008, the government declared Delta the provisional winner of the

$1,6-billion concession.



However, on September 14, it announced that it had taken a 
decision not to

award the concession to Delta and to bar Delta participating in a rebid.



Editor: Martin Zhuwakinyu



Copyright © Creamer Media (Pty) Ltd



+++



2) Cocoa price shoots up following West Africa supply concerns



Last Updated- Jan 30, 2009 7:15



Cocoa rose to the highest price in five months on speculation that crop-damaging

armyworm caterpillars will spread into Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s

leading growers.



The plague that has destroyed crops in Liberia may spread to much of West Africa

unless action is taken, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said in a

statement today on its Web site. Ivory Coast, which shares a western border with

Liberia and is adjacent to Ghana on its eastern side, may produce 1.1 million

metric tons of the beans this season, down 20 percent from a year earlier, an

exporter said today.



“A decrease in production has been the theme lately,” said Fain Shaffer,

president of Infinity Trading Corp., a commodities brokerage in Medford, Oregon.

“Any type of disease that’s going to threaten the crop could definitely take

the price higher.”



Cocoa futures for March delivery rose $9, or 0.3 percent, to $2,801 a metric ton

on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Earlier, the price reached $2,837, the highest

for a most-active contract since Aug. 29. The chocolate ingredient gained for

the fifth straight day and the eighth time in nine sessions.



Cocoa harvesting in Ivory Coast, which officially starts Oct. 1, began late this

year because of bad weather and prolonged rainfall. Arrivals of cocoa at ports

in Ivory Coast fell as much as 40 percent in the current season, International

Cocoa Organization statistician Laurent Pipitone said this month. World output

will fall short of consumption, Pipitone said.



Cocoa has gained 5.1 percent this month. In 2008, the price jumped 31 percent,

the most among 19 raw materials in the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index.



Source: Bloomberg





+++





3) ECOWAS donates US$ 100,000 to Liberian victims of army worms

1/30/2009



News - Africa news

Abuja, Nigeria - The ECOWAS Commission has donated US$ 100,000 to the Liberian

government to help support its citizens who have suffered great losses caused by

millions of ravaging caterpillars in the Sanoyea District of Bong County.



The victims have lost their homes, farms and other sources of livelihood due to

the devastation caused by the caterpillars that are now spreading to other

districts such as Zota and Suakoko.



The money was presented to the Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf by the E

COWAS Commissioner for Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Oussein

i Salifou, who led an ECOWAS assessment mission to Liberia.



The delegation included representatives of the ECOWAS Emergency Response Team

(EERT), the West African Health Organization (WAHO) and the Departments of Agric

ulture, Environment and Humanitarian and Social Affairs of the ECOWAS

Commission.



The report of the mission will enable the Commission determine an additional con

tribution to be made in the areas of medical supplies, equipment, spray machines

and insecticides.



Similarly, the report will help facilitate ECOWAS' action against the spread of

the devastating attack to neighbouring countries.



The caterpillars, also known as army worms, have emerged with the rains which st

arted in Liberia this year earlier than expected.



Abuja - 30/01/2009



Pana



+++



4) ArcelorMittal becomes an EITI Supporting Company



From:  Arcelor Mittal

Date:  1/30/2009





ArcelorMittal confirmed its support of the Extractive Industries Transparency

Initiative (EITI), after being an active participant of the EITI in Liberia

since May 2007.



The EITI supports improved governance in resource-rich countries through the

verification and full publication of company payments and government revenues

from oil, gas and mining.



Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, commented: "We know that our

position as the leader in the steel industry brings unique responsibilities. The

EITI's principles regarding the prudent use of natural resources, transparency,

accountability, and stakeholder dialogue complement ArcelorMittal's own

corporate values and Corporate Responsibility policies."



Peter Eigen, Chair of the EITI Board, welcomed ArcelorMittal to the EITI family

and stressed: "From Kazhakhstan to Liberia, we are seeing how the initiative is

building trust between companies, governments and communities."



ArcelorMittal is the 40th extractive company to become an International-level

EITI Supporting Company.



For further information on our role in the EITI, visit www.eitransparency.org



+++



5) Bong leadership meets on invading armyworms

Written by Clarence Jackson

Wednesday, 28 January 2009

STAR RADIO



The Bong County Legislative Caucus in collaboration with the county

administration has held a strategic meeting to combat the armyworms.



The Bong County Legislative Caucus on Saturday convened a development meeting in

Gbarnga with the caterpillar invasion dominating the agenda.



The Chairman of the Bong County Legislative Caucus including Superintendent

Rennie Jackson and local officials attended the meeting.



For his part Representative Edwin Juah told Star Radio he was lobbying with his

colleagues in the Legislature to secure funding to fight the worms.



Bong County Superintendent Rennie Jackson believes the use of fire to eliminate

the habitat of the worms was one of the best integrative solutions.



However, residents of Zota District hold the view that the use of fire to

eliminate the worms would require huge manpower.



The Bong County officials are collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture and

international partners to combat the invading pests.



Meanwhile, the Clan Chief of Kparkolie Clan in Bong County has accused

Representative Edwin Juah of neglecting his people.



Clan Chief Richard Kerkulah alleged Representative Juah has turned a blind eye

on the suffering of his people in the wake of caterpillar attack in Zota

District



Chief Kerkulah also alleged the Zota District Lawmaker has failed to identify

with them even though he was formally notified about their plight.



Responding to the allegation, Representative Juah pleaded with the citizens to

be patient with him, as he did not abandon them.



He told Star Radio since the caterpillar invasion, he has been lobbying with his

colleagues in the House to secure more funding to deal with the outbreak.



The District Number Six Representative said the situation in Bong County was

serious and needed concerted effort to successfully combat it.





+++



6)Liberia in BHP, Sime Darby Talks to Boost Commodity Industries



By Ansu Konneh



Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Liberia is in negotiations with foreign companies to

revive the west African country’s rubber, palm oil and mining industries after

years of civil war, President Johnson-Sirleaf said.



The government is in talks with Kuala Lumpur-based Sime Darby Bhd about

reactivating and expanding the Guthrie, the country’s third-largest rubber

plantation, as well as with Salala Rubber Corp. and Societe Internationale De

Plantation D’Heveas SA for the Cavalla plantation in Maryland County, Sirleaf

told reporters in the capital, Monrovia, yesterday.



Talks are also being held with Sithe Global Power LLC to help expand rubber and

palm-oil output, and with BHP Billiton Ltd. for iron ore exploration at the

Kitoma mines in the Grand Bassa and Nimba counties, Sirleaf said. Similar

negotiations are taking place with Mano River Resources Inc. about iron-ore

deposits in the Puti range in Grand Gedeh county, she added.



To contact the reporter on this story: Ansu Konneh in Monrovia via Johannesburg

at abolleurs@....



Last Updated: January 28, 2009 09:53 EST



copyright Bloomberg



+++



7) West Africa: Ecowas, Others Organise Workshop on Forestry

Aisha Umar

27 January 2009



---------------------------------------------------------------------



The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission in

collaboration with the UEMOA Commission and the Food and Agricultural

Organization (FAO) is organizing a three-day



meeting of West African experts on forestry at Accra, Ghana from Monday, January

26, 2009.



A statement in Abuja said the meeting would study the Draft Report on Forest

Dialogue for West Africa and would be attended by forestry experts from the 15

member states of ECOWAS and other stakeholders.



According to the statement, participants will examine and validate the Draft

Report on Forest Dialogue for West Africa in preparation for a ministerial

meeting which will soon be determined.



"The document which is predicated on the need for wealth creation from forests

products in the national economies of Member States, addresses trans-border

issues, improvement of competency in forest governance, ways of appreciating the

value of forest products as well as how best to coordinate forest policies.



"The outcome of this internationally supported regional initiative will

culminate in an efficient management of shared resources, harmonization of

policies and programmes, cooperation in research with financial backing, mutual

reinforcement of capacity and sharing of lessons and experiences," the statement

said.



Copyright © 2009 Daily Trust





+++



8) Agriculture explains moratorium

Written by Vivian Gartyn

Monday, 26 January 2009

STAR RADIO



The Agriculture Ministry says the moratorium on export of unprocessed rubber is

to generate income for Liberians and stop illicit activities.



Agriculture Minister Chris Toe says the moratorium is to also ensure that

rubber-processing plants in Liberia have adequate raw materials.



Dr. Toe recalled the constant abuse and misuse of the rubber industry before the

issuance of the Executive Order led to inadequate raw materials for the plants.



But since the issuance of the moratorium, rubber farmers and Southeastern

lawmakers have opposed it, saying it was doing more harm than good.



They cited low buying prices in Liberia unlike the period before the exportation

of unprocessed rubber was banned.



According to one lawmaker, local buyers are reducing prices because of bad

roads.



However, the Agriculture Ministry blamed the low price on the reduction in

rubber price in the world and not the moratorium.



Minister Toe warned that any agent found contravening the Executive Order will

be banned from acting as agent in Liberia.



+++



9) Agri Min. briefs Pres. Sirleaf on Army Worms invasion

Jan 26, 2009



Agriculture Minister Chris Toe, has been briefing President Ellen Johnson on the

intensity of the Army Worms invasion in Bong County and recommendations to

tackle the spread of the worms to other areas.



Dr. Toe explained to President Sirleaf about the sixty five towns and villages

in Bong County have so far been successfully taken over by Army Worms.



The Minister also said parts of Lofa and Gbarpolu counties are being affected by

the Army Worms.



The Minister recommended what he called, aerial spraying with environmentally

friendly chemicals in pursuit of these destructive pests.



At the same time the Ministry of Health and humanitarian organizations are

preparing to provide safe drinking water, as the task force sprays the affected

areas.



In a related development, the Liberian government has described the agriculture

sector as the most important, generating one hundred seventy one million United

States dollars earning in export for the country in 2007.



Commenting on executive order number sixteen issues by the Liberian Government,

Dr. Toe said the order was influenced by the need to generate income for

Liberians, and stop illicit activities that pervade the rubber industry.



The Executive Order places a moratorium on the exportation of unprocessed

natural rubber from Liberia.



According the Minister, the viability of the rubber industry is being undermined

by illicit tippers and thieves, thus having huge economic consequences on

employment and revenue generation for Liberia.



An Agriculture Ministry release, says in a bid to enforce the Executive order

number sixteen, plant protection officers and law enforcement authorities have

been mandated to stop anyone found transporting or moving unprocessed natural

rubber outside rubber plantations between six in morning and eight in the night.



Liberia Broadcasting System, ©2007



+++



10) Liberia expects Bong iron ore production in 18 months

Monday, 26 Jan, 2009



Reuters reported that the first productions of iron ore pellets from China

Union's USD 2.6 billion Bong development project in Liberia is expected within

18 months.



Mr Richard Tolbert chairman of Liberian National Investment Commission said that

the full USD 2.6 billion capital investment by China Union would be disbursed

over a period of between 8 to 10 years.



He added that the contract signed this week between China Union and the Liberian

government foresees 25 years of iron ore production from the Bong deposit, which

is estimated to contain 300 million tonnes of low grade ore.



Mr Tolbert further said that "Within 18 months, we will see the first one

million tonne palletizing plant up and running." He added China Union had also

been granted a license to explore for ore in an area adjoining the Bong deposit,

which would open the possibility of increasing the ore resource.



The deal, which beat 9 rival bids, went ahead at a time when many firms have

scaled back or postponed African mining projects as metals prices have crashed

in the past six months.



Ms Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, at a ceremony to mark the

signing, said that she hoped the China Union deal would encourage other

investors to come to Liberia, which is still struggling to recover from a

destructive 1989-2003 civil war.



Under its contract to mine the Bong deposit, which lies to the north east of the

capital Monrovia, China Union intends to recondition the capital's port and

build a hydro power plant to supply the city with electricity. The contract

includes a USD 40 million cash signature fee to be paid to Liberia once its

parliament ratifies the contract and it is promulgated. This was expected in the

coming months.



(Sourced from Reuters)



+++



11) Another Roadmap to Sustainable Cocoa Production (West and Central Africa)

By Olaolu Olusina, 01.25.2009



There is no doubt that cocoa is currently blazing a trail. Now regarded as one

of the market's best performing commodities, it has defied the current global

meltdown that is sending shivers down the spines of economic policy makers. The

price of the commodity that is also known as the ‘Tree of Life’,   in fact,

hit a 23-year high last December.



Coming at a time when the price of crude oil is sliding in the international

market, the average price of cocoa keeps appreciating, with London and New York

March deliveries standing at $2,581.6 per tonnes as at early January.

Expectations are high that the price may peak at $3,000.



This is surely a good development for West and Central African countries which

accounts for 70 per cent of the world's cocoa output. From Nigeria through

Ghana, and down to Cote'd'Ivoire and Gabon, cocoa is currently enjoying a boom.

In South West Nigeria, which is regarded as the cocoa belt of the country,

accounting for 70 per cent of Nigeria's annual production of 242,000 metric

tonnes,  cocoa merchants are reaping a bumper harvest, with the price going as

high as $2,148 per tonnes.



In the Ashanti region of Ghana, commercial activities in the cocoa sector are

currently at the peak. While output for last year stood at about 650,000metric

tonnes in Ghana, with a projection of about 700,000 tonnes for the cocoa season,

Nigeria put up a not-too encouraging 242,000 metric tonnes as at the end of last

year.



In Nigeria, for instance, the free fall of the naira against the dollar is also

giving cocoa a boost as the commodity is valued in dollar at the international

market. The story is not different in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire as increasing

demand, buoyed by increasing value addition, is pushing up the price of the

commodity.



Market watchers, in fact, believe that the price may go up further as the

shortfall in Cote d'Ivoire's output of 396,000 metric tonnes from the previous

season's 721,413 tonnes is bound to affect supply as the country alone accounts

for between 35 and 40 per cent of the world output. Bush fires in Ghana, low

rainfall in the West African region and the unsustainable methods of production

had resulted in the low production recorded despite increasing demand.



Placing the development in proper perspective, Michael Owusu-Manu, Head of the

Economics Department at the Cocoa Producers' Alliance (COPAL), an

intergovernmental organisation with headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria told THISDAY

that what is pushing up the price is because “consumption is increasing and

output is decreasing.”

Owusu-Manu stated that “more value addition is also taking place in Ghana,

Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire,” adding “the dollar is getting stronger, thus

making the real rate of cocoa higher, when compared to what we had about six

months ago.”



While all of these, ordinarily, should offer a ray of hope and be seen as a good

development for a region in dire need of full control of its produce at the

international market, analysts are worried as to how long the boom will last,

with concerns being raised over declining productivity in the face of increasing

demand.



Owusu-Manu confirmed this fear; saying despite the current boom, cocoa

production in West and Central Africa is not done in a sustainable manner.

According to the COPAL official, African farmers are still cultivating larger

expanse of land for fewer yields as against what obtains in other regions where

smaller farmlands are producing higher yields.



The total area under cultivation worldwide in 2007, he disclosed, was 7,415,081

hectares with production standing at 4,043,784 metric tonnes. Out of this,

Owusu-Manu said, Africa which cultivated 4,738,232 hectares produced 2,614,749

metric tonnes whereas America with 1,486,004 hectares produced 108,398 metric

tonnes.  The COPAL official further stated that Asia and Oceania with only

731,345 hectares produced 1,140,963 metric tonnes during the period.



Explaining further, he said Asia and Oceania showed a good potential of

overtaking Africa as its yield per hectare stood at 772 metric tonnes whereas in

Africa, the yield per hectare was 539 tonnes with America recording 327 tonne

per hectare in 2007.



This scenario, Owusu-Manu said, poses a great challenge as Africa may eventually

lose its prime position to other regions with sustainable methods of production,

with Asia and Oceania strongly showing great potential.



  It is important to note that the World Commission on Environment and

Development (WCED) has defined sustainable development as "development that

meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future

generations to meet their own needs."



Given this premise, Owusu-Manu, therefore, affirmed that cocoa production can

only be said to be economically sustainable "when it is at all times

sufficiently attractive for small holder farmers to properly maintain their

farms, rejuvenate their farms as required and to buy the necessary production

tools and inputs to achieve optimal yields.”



Maintaining that cocoa farming “should be seen as a business and not a

destination,” he said with farm size in most West and Central African

cocoa-producing countries averaging one-and-a-half to two hectares, the farm

family cannot earn enough to get out of poverty. What is therefore needed, he

affirmed, is “a system that allows cocoa to play a strategic role in improving

the livelihood of cocoa farmers, their families, communities and the country

concerned.”



Stakeholders, it must be noted, had also expressed concerns at the gloom

starring the sector in the face, despite the apparent potential that could be

derived. Only last October, about 250 delegates from the COPAL member countries

converged on Kumasi in the cocoa-producing region of Ghana for the 'African

Academies Cocoa Symposium 2008’.



The aims, among others, were to come up with a vision for cocoa in West and

Central Africa in the next 30 years; to develop the logic to get there; and to

secure commitment to a partnership for the future of cocoa in the region.



Sponsored by MARS Incorporated in collaboration with COPAL, and co-sponsored by

the Governments of Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia and Togo,

the Kumasi gathering, which had as its theme, 'Theobroma cacao: the Tree of

Change', was a follow-up to the 2006 cocoa  symposium that was held in

Washington DC, United States of America.



Bringing to the fore the role of science in ensuring sustainable production,

delegates at the symposium agreed that socio-economic development could also be

achieved through remunerative incomes for farmers even as they stressed the need

for ensuring that the environment precursors to meet future’s demand are put

in place.



Realising the absence of, and the urgent need to create a “Cocoa Partnership

for the Future,” the overarching objective of the Kumasi meeting was to

determine the status, trends and future scenarios for cocoa production in the

region and how they relate to the increasing global demand.



Delegates at the conference took a cursory look at the development in the

African cocoa industry and listed the problems in the sector to include

“multiple constraints both in policies as well as social, economic and

environmental limitations.”



According to the delegates, these limitations had to do with lack of new sources

of agricultural land and ambiguous land tenure; low soil fertility and high land

degradation; lack of new and improved planting materials; low education and

employment opportunities, poor road and communication infrastructure; inadequate

nutrition and health in working population, especially in women and their

children.



The limitations identified also include an aging population as well as dwindling

interest in cocoa farming among many of the youths; high incidence of poverty

and few opportunities to climb out of poverty; high risk of pests and disease as

well as weak extension services and poor knowledge dissemination.



Before coming up with what is now known as the Kumasi Cocoa Agreement,

representing the views of policy, industry, donors, scientists, farmers and

others, the delegates brought to the fore the critical implications of a

scenario where “productivity achieved (in the region) is below that achieved

in other regions” just as they affirmed that gains made so far had “occurred

at the expense of massive losses to biodiverse forests.”



They lamented that “the sector has lost competitiveness and risks losing its

leadership position on the global market at a time when increase in demand for

cocoa exists due to its health/nutritional benefits as well as greater

purchasing power in emerging markets."



While noting that the future of the African cocoa industry is fragile and

unsustainable, they called for "an urgent need to address the many challenges

faced by cocoa farmers in order to expand production and returns within a

revitalised multifunctional, agricultural sector - making cocoa an engine of

change of the rural economy."



COPAL Secretary-General, Sona Ebai, in his presentation: “Making it Happen,

Production Possibilities,” focused on how the cocoa sector in West and Central

Africa can continue to play a pivotal role in socio-economic development while

at the same time become a dependable source of supply to the world market and

contribute to a sustainable world cocoa economy.



Providing an overview of the world cocoa economy, indicating strengths and

weaknesses of cocoa production in the region, Ebai noted that the greatest

weakness was low productivity and inefficiency, resulting from several

challenges in the sector.



He said for West and Central Africa to be competitive in the global scene,

farmers need to improve productivity, become more efficient and improve the

quality of produce. These, according to him, can be achieved with the necessary

support from government and industry in addressing all the identified challenges

to ensure a brighter future.



Erstwhile world number one cocoa-producing country, Cote d’Ivoire, presented a

pathetic picture at the meeting. In a paper entitled 'Agro-forestry and Durable

Cocoa Farming in the Context of Forest Shortage', Alex Asiri of the

Abidjan-based Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA) said that more

than 2,000,000 hectares of land was under cultivation , with a production volume

of more than 1,200,000 tonnes, which, of course, translates into  38 per cent of

world product.



Asiri disclosed that this was leading to the exhaustion of forest reserve due to

aging of the existing area under cultivation. Ironically, as espoused earlier by

Dr. Daniel Sellen of the World Bank, Cote d'Ivoire, in his presentation, “The

Ivorian Sector: Recent Developments,” the country had the lowest farm gate

prices and the taxation on cocoa in the region.



The World Bank, according to Sellen, is therefore recommending a profound

restructuring of the Ivorian sector to ensure future development through

improved competitiveness and equitable distribution of value addition. Good

governance, a cocoa development strategy, as well as a reduction in sector

taxation, Sellen disclosed, were therefore fundamental to the World Bank’s

agenda in Cote d'Ivoire.



Alan Fredericq of the Archer Daniels Midlands Co., (ADM), in a paper titled

“African Cocoa: (on) Sustainable Leadership?’ which focused on the strength

and weakness of African cocoa as a world leader, disclosed that the world cocoa

consumption was growing in relationship to the world Gross Domestic Product

(GDP).



According to him, “cocoa is one of the three most preferred flavours worldwide

with a wide range of uses, and consumption enhanced by the recent findings on

the health and nutritional benefits.” He contended that even though Africa

accounts for about 71 per cent of world cocoa production, and 15 per cent of

grindings, cocoa production in the region still has to be sustainable.



Fredericq insisted that for Africa to retain its position as world leader it has

to take advantage of its strengths and opportunities, while at the same time

improve its image, regarding production and quality by building a positive

consumer image.



With the price of the commodity on the ascendancy and the worrisome drop in

production despite increasing demand, farmers in West and Central Africa need to

take drastic steps for the region to retain its leadership position. Only by

doing this, and very fast too, with the support and collaboration of all

stakeholders, can cocoa production be seen to be a sustainable venture, with

farmers reaping bountifully from their toil.



Until this is done, only time will tell if whether partnership for the future,

could be formed for cocoa in producers in West and Central Africa.



© Copyright 2000-2009 Leaders & Company Limited



+++



12) Man says Akron missing its chance He suggests city use wood from Firestone

rubber trees



By Bob Downing

Beacon Journal staff writer





Published on Sunday, Jan 25, 2009



Akron missed a great opportunity in building its floating wood-decked Towpath

Trail across Summit Lake, Walt Oshinsky says.



Instead of a Brazilian hardwood, Akron should have used wood from old rubber

trees on Firestone's rubber plantation in Africa, he says.



Such a move would make the national news and put Akron as the rubber capital

back on the map, said Oshinsky, 60, a former B.F. Goodrich worker from the

Portage Lakes.



''It would be very cool to have Firestone wood used on projects in Akron,'' he

said. ''It would be the perfect tie-in.''



The city was unaware that Bridgestone-Firestone is starting to market the

African hardwood, said Akron spokesmen Mark Williamson and Mike Teodecki.



Akron is satisfied with the hardwood from Brazil. It is strong, durable and

water resistant and will

require less maintenance and less structural support on the floating trail,

Teodecki said.



It is unclear whether the Firestone lumber, used mostly for flooring and

furniture, would have been appropriate for the project, the city spokesmen said.



Tina Gaines, spokeswoman for Firestone Diversified Products in Indianapolis,

said the wood is comparable to oak or maple but would not be appropriate for

outdoor use.



But Williamson said Akron intends to look into the Firestone rubber wood to

determine whether it would be an appropriate choice for future projects because

of the Akron connection.



Firestone Liberia is starting to look for worldwide markets for its African

lumber, Gaines said.



The new Firestone rubber tree wood has been featured at several trade shows and

is the subject of a new brochure, she said.



The Firestone Natural Rubber Co. LLC has a natural rubber operation that covers

118,000 acres in Liberia in West Africa. The company employs nearly 7,000 in its

Liberian operations that



started 80 years ago.



It has an estimated 8 million mature rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis) on the

farm's 200 square miles.



The plantation was named Harbel after Firestone founder Harvey Firestone and his

wife, Idabelle.



The company annually replants 5,000 acres of old rubber trees that are 27 to 30

years old and no longer in maximum production of latex, or natural rubber,

Gaines said.



The new operation is expected to produce an estimated 12.7 million board feet of

wood per year, she said. That's enough to build an estimated 6,350 houses at

2,000 square feet each.



The latex flows from cuts in the tree trunks and is collected and processed to

create natural rubber.



Enough latex is produced from the Firestone operation to fill a cargo ship

monthly, the company says.



The goal is to be more sustainable or environmentally friendly and to produce a

new product for Firestone to market, Gaines said.



In the past, the old rubber trees were cleared and burned. Last year, the

company built a lumber mill.



The $10 million mill created 500 jobs and is expected to add another 500 jobs

when veneered wood and kiln-dried wood are added.



The wood will be cut to size at the mill, pressure-treated and dried to the

desired moisture content.



The lumber, known for its wide grain pattern, is being marketed under the name

Firestone hevea, the genus name for the para rubber tree.



Local lumber companies do not stock the Firestone wood, said Bill Duve of the

Carter-Jones Lumber Co. in Akron.



In 2005, Firestone began an aggressive rubber tree replanting program after a

14-year civil war in Liberia. It takes about seven years for trees to reach

maturity.



The Firestone operation on what was once mangrove swamp and jungle is the

largest natural rubber operation in the world.



In 2005, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. sold its 95 percent stake in the Goodyear

Sumatra Plantation to Bridgestone Corp.



The 47,000-acre Indonesian facility was Goodyear's last natural rubber farm. It

opened in 1917 and employs about 5,000 workers.



Goodyear sold off its interest acquired in 1977 because it didn't fit with the

company's core operations. The company previously had rubber farms in Brazil,

Guatemala, Indonesia, Costa



Rica and the Philippines.



-----------------------------------------------------------------

Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@....



Copyright ©2008 The Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange Street, Akron, Ohio

44308



+++



13) Tatas expand partnership with New Millennium (EXCERPT)



Ishita Ayan Dutt / Kolkata January 24, 2009, 0:41 IST



Steel major Tata Steel plans to become a partner in Canada-based New Millennium

Capital Corp’s $4-billion KeMag property, having iron ore reserves in excess

of two billion tonnes.



New Millennium is Tata Steel’s third overseas iron ore venture. The company

has a joint venture with Sodemi, a government-owned mineral development company

in Africa, and a greenfield steel project in Vietnam, linked to iron ore

deposits. Also, Tata Steel is in the running for a $1.6-billion iron ore project

in Liberia.



Tata Steel, with a 28 million tonnes capacity, has set a target of 40 per cent

raw material security over the next 3-5 years. The group meets all its iron ore

requirements for its domestic operations from its own mines. Currently, the

group, which includes Corus (20 million tonnes capacity) and other foreign

acquisitions, has a raw material security of 22 per cent only.



Business Standard



+++





14)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



###



Complete archives at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nature_Liberia/

1) Liberia celebrates World Wetlands Day, 2) Liberia should explain deal with

China Union, say NGOs (Excerpt), 3) Airborne Toxic Chemicals to Fight Armyworms

in Liberia, A Danger to the Environment, 4) Liberian crop pest mystery solved,

5) Crop-eating pests laying more larvae in Liberia, 6) West Africa: Ecowas

Donates $100,000 to Liberia, 7)Sad News from Government of Liberia (Sapo

National Park in Ruins), 8) Liberia-US/China-Assistance, 9)See also:

http://liberianature.blogspot.com/





1) Liberia celebrates World Wetlands Day - Feb 3, 2009



Liberia celebrates World Wetlands Day



The Liberian Government has disclosed plans for the renovation of the Providence

Island in Monrovia.



Information Minister Dr. Lawrence Bropleh said the renovation of the Island is

estimated at fifty thousand United States Dollars.



Dr. Bropleh made the disclosure during programs marking the celebration of World

Wetlands Day, at the Providence Island.



According to Dr. Bropleh, Liberia�s Wetlands, including the Providence Island,

will attract Tourism.



The Information Minister is also calling on the Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA), the Public Works Ministry, the Monrovia City Corporation and Lands Mine

and Energy Ministry, to collaborate with the Ministry of Tourism in protecting

the Country�s Wetlands.



Liberia Broadcasting System, ©2007



+++



2) Liberia should explain deal with China Union, say NGOs (Excerpt)

Windhoek, Namibia 03 February 2009 08:56



Liberia should disclose the details of the recently signed $2.6 billion iron ore

mining agreement with China Union and allow it to pass through “genuine

legislative scrutiny”, three non-governmental organisations have said. The

west African country’s government should also disclose how it will use a

“signature bonus” paid by China Union when it received approval to

rehabilitate the Bong iron ore mine (MB Jan 26). While the agreement paves the

way for the largest ever...



Copyright © Metal Bulletin Ltd. All rights reserved.





+++



3) Airborne Toxic Chemicals to Fight Armyworms in Liberia, A Danger to the

Environment



Tuesday, February 03, 2009



By Morris T. Koffa

The Africa Environmental Watch (AEW) Inc. wishes to express profound concerns

regarding the destruction caused to crops in several counties in Liberia by the

African Armyworms invasion, and the serious public health dilemma it posses to

the environment. AEW and its affiliate organization, the Liberia Environmental

Watch (LEW), have been closely following the unfolding events with concerns and

deep empathy as it relates to the potential environmental dangers that the

government recommended resolution of spraying toxic chemicals will pose to the

environment.



Of specific concern is the prescribed usage of aerial spraying (airborne) of

pesticides to eradicate the Armyworms. Against this background, the Africa

Environmental Watch (AEW), in conjunction with the Liberia Environmental Watch

would like to offer its expert opinion on the danger of spraying toxic

chemicals, and the high probability of the long term damage it will cause to the

environment.



AEW would like to applaud the swift action taken by the Liberia Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA), the Ministry of Agriculture (MA), the Food and

Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ministry of Health & Social Welfare

(MoH&SW) in addressing the situation.



Few days ago, the African Armyworms, of the genus Spodoptera, invaded Bong, Lofa

and Nimba Counties in Liberia, and destroyed every crop in their path while

polluting drinking water with their feces (EPA of Liberia). Several experts have

shared their opinion and suggested various approaches aimed at attacking the

Armyworms by using toxic chemical sprays. AEW is seriously concern that all the

expert opinions and recommendations of the usage of certain toxic chemicals as a

means to eradicate these undesirable creatures for the protection of crops will

produce an immeasurable environmental problem with long term health consequences

that will affect the local human and animal population. AEW therefore wishes to

draw the attention of these experts to the scientific fact that there are better

alternative methods available that can be employed to fight these undesirable

creatures. These methods and approaches are environmentally friendly than the

chemical toxic

  airborne applications suggested by the experts.



We share the views of many that the danger posed by these creatures must be

eradicated by all means to avoid extended destruction to our agricultural crops

and the environment. Nevertheless, prudent risk assessment and other analysis

should be exhausted at all levels with respect to the effect of airborne toxic

spraying approaches. Thus, the Africa Environmental Watch (AEW), wonders how the

two toxic chemicals (Cypermentrin and Deltramthrin) were authorized by

government institutions for aerial spraying. It is not clear as to what

considerations were used for the selection of these chemicals/pesticides by the

Liberian government for aerial spraying when there are better alternatives and

options, as well as abundantly available environmentally-friendly alternatives.



Let us take a closer look at the formulation of these chemicals that were

suggested by the government for aerial spraying. Cypermentrin and Deltamethrin

are synthetic pyrethroid used to control pests. They are composed of different

chemical and biological properties of various toxicity levels. Though their

toxicity levels slightly differ, both chemicals dangerously affect aquatic

organism such as fish and aquatic invertebrates. They affect reproductive and

developmental stages. Worse still, Cypermentrin and Deltamethrin can lead to

contamination of water quality. These chemicals seriously affect the human

respiratory system and neurologic tissues. For example, when inhaled, these

chemicals cause burning sensation to the human respiratory tract and can lead to

coughing, dizziness, vomiting, headache, and nausea among other neurologic

symptoms. It further causes, numbness, tingling, and itching of the skin as well

as abdominal pain, convulsions and

  unconsciousness.



The environmental fate, as a result of the usage of these chemicals

(Cypermentrin and Deltamethrin) is such that they are less friendly to the

environment even if used in selective ground areas, let alone, when used as an

aerial spray. These chemicals breakdown in soil can seriously contaminate

groundwater, with sequential contamination of drinking well water. Their

toxicological effects are acute as well as accumulative by their highly

concentrated residues which impacts vegetation (fruits) and the entire habitat

of various organisms.



Aerial Spraying (airborne) of these toxic pesticides poses further danger to the

environment, because airborne applications has no boundary and limitation, and

therefore affects water bodies, marine populations, livestock, wildlife and

other domestic animals, including humans. It further exposes inhalation risks to

multitude of people who dwell even in areas that are not targeted for spraying.

Most vulnerable are the elderly, children, pregnant women and those with

pre-existing medical problems such as asthma and other respiratory conditions.



Let us not forget that the people in Liberia, especially those who lived in the

countryside and throughout the civil war were exposed to lots of health problems

that have impaired their immune system; and for the most part rendered their

system defenseless to fight foreign substances. Hence, the spraying of these

chemicals will be an added health catastrophe for said population.



Considering the long-term impact on human health and the environment, the Africa

Environmental Watch (AEW) would like to suggest that the Liberian Government be

opened to all novel approaches, exhaust every available alternative, and adopt a

relatively low cost and environmentally-friendly way to control or kill the army

worms. There are workable and friendly alternatives out there that are worth

considering.



According to the ARMYWEB, a web resource for the Armyworm Biological Control

Consortium, Nucleopolyhedrovirus or NPV is one of the recommended options that

can kills up to 98% of army worms, as compared to Cypermentrin and Deltamethrin

which kill less. A further contrast is that NPV is much effective,

environmentally friendly, and less expensive than chemical insecticides like

Cypermentrin and Deltamethrin that are proposed by the government functionaries.

NPV has been used in several African countries in East Africa, including

Tanzania. Another alternative control method is the use of microbial

biopesiticides. These are biological control agents that are natural pathogens

of the target pest species. The only disadvantage of the NPV approach is that it

naturally occurs only after the worms have consumed portion of the crops which

by any standard reduces the environmental risk factors significantly.

Importantly, NPV is biodegradable.



Based on the logical trend of risk and probability analysis, once the armyworms

have attacked the crops, it is preferable to have them consumed portion of the

crop for that season. Later, the NPV agents can be applied to eradicate the

armyworms for the next crops season than to risk thousands of lives and

communities, risk the next generation and habitats of thousand of organisms that

help balance the environment. The situation is a delicate one that requires a

careful approach which will yield a result beneficial to humanity and the

ecosystem.



AEW agrees with the FAO representatives that the airborne approach as suggested

by the Liberian government should not be an option, because of the environmental

dangers involved. Besides, the use of any toxic chemicals should entail careful

analysis and consideration of all the available alternatives.



Concluding on these thoughts, let’s us be awakened that this environmental

uncertainty that has crept on Liberia, should further remind us all of the ever

daunting challenges and burden that our collective action to protect the

environment has placed on our shoulders. The urgency of educating our people in

preserving and conserving our environment through cultural, traditional and

other relevant approaches is a challenge we just cannot ignore as a nation.



The Africa Environmental Watch therefore calls on the government of Liberia to

adopt safe approaches in full preparedness to meet whatever challenges that may

confront the Liberian nation.



Morris T. Koffa, can be reached at: koffamkoffa@... – 240-417-2545



+++



4) Liberian crop pest mystery solved

By James Morgan

BBC News

last updated at 20:26 GMT, Tuesday, 3 February 2009



The caterpillars have eaten their way through entire farms in days

A mystery pest which has devoured crops and contaminated water in Liberia and

Guinea has finally been identified.



The insects, thought to be armyworms, are in fact the caterpillars of the moth

Achaea catocaloides, says the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.



Cornering the culprit will allow the government to select the best pesticide to

tackle the outbreak - the worst seen in Liberia since 1970.



More than 20,000 people have so far had to evacuate their homes.



As well as devouring coffee, cocoa and plantain crops, the invaders have

polluted drinking water sources with their faeces.



Emergency measures

Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf declared a national state of emergency

after caterpillars were reported to have infested more than 100 villages,

including several over the border in Guinea.



During a field investigation last week, insect scientists from the FAO and the

Liberian Agriculture Ministry took samples of the caterpillars, their larvae and

their pupae.



They established that the insects were not armyworms, as had been reported, but

could not identify the species.



The team sent pictures of both moths and caterpillars to experts at the

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria.



They confirmed that the species is A.catocaloides, a pest endemic to West

Africa.



"The farmers in Liberia know these caterpillars but they have never seen them on

this scale. It is extraordinary what has been seen here," said Dr Winfred

Hammond, an FAO entomologist, based in Accra, Ghana.



The moths' distinctive wing patterns helped experts identify the caterpillars



Farmers were described as "shocked" by the scale of the swarms, in a report by

the investigations team.



"The citizenry were horribly alarmed and frightened as they saw their

environment (crops, water and buildings) covered by swarms of caterpillars and

therefore had to cry for help," said the report.



"The government responded positively... but the country was ill-prepared for

containment since it lacked the capacity for actual diagnosis of the situation

and institutional structures and resources for efficient and effective

containment."



One piece of good news for farmers is that the caterpillars are likely to be

easier to control than armyworms would have been.



They spin their cocoons on the ground under fallen leaves, which leaves them

relatively exposed. Armyworms bore 4-5cm into the ground to pupate and are thus

much tougher to eradicate.



The next stage is to step up a program of pesticide spraying which until now has

failed to reach any more than a dozen of more than 100 affected villages,

according to Dr Hammond.



"We really have some homework to do now - because the caterpillars are still

spreading. They are in Guinea already," he told BBC News.



Learning lessons



"We cannot avoid applying pesticides. Now that we have an accurate

identification, we can choose a pesticide which is specific to this species of

caterpillar.



"But in the long term, we have to take this as an opportunity to develop early

warning strategies for countries in West Africa. Not only for these

caterpillars, but for other migratory pests."



Dr Hammond spoke on his way to an emergency meeting in Liberia, where

representatives from the governments of Liberia and Guinea, the regional

grouping Ecowas, and the FAO will discuss strategies for halting the spread of

the caterpillars.



The spraying programme may need to intensify to contain the outbreak



One challenge will be reaching the sites of the caterpillar eggs - which are

laid on the leaves of very tall Dahoma trees.



These eggs hatch into caterpillars which feed on the leaves of the trees until

they mature and fall to the ground, where they pupate.



Caterpillars which are not yet mature begin migrating in search of food -

leading them to crop fields, into water bodies and residential areas.



The cause of this year's unexpectedly large outbreak is likely to be unusual

weather patterns, according to Dr Kenneth Wilson, an ecologist from Lancaster

University.



"With such widespread outbreaks, something has to be done," said Dr Wilson, an

expert on armyworms.



"Because the larvae pupate above ground, destroying these by trampling or fire

is an option, but if the outbreaks are really extensive then this might have

little impact at national level.



"Vigilance is the key, as control will be much easier if that they stamp down on

the next generation of outbreaks early on, when the caterpillars are small and

vulnerable.



"However, if they are feeding in tall trees, this can be extremely difficult

without aircraft sprayers."



BBC



+++



5) Crop-eating pests laying more larvae in Liberia



The Associated Press

Tuesday, February 3, 2009



MONROVIA, Liberia: Swarms of crop-eating pests are laying more larvae in the

West African country, experts said Tuesday, warning that the caterpillars also

have been identified as a species capable of more damage than previously

believed.



While officials initially believed the caterpillars were army worms, Liberian

Agriculture Minister Chris Toe said they now believe they are actually a pest

capable of destroying even more crops, known as Achaea Catocaloides.



The pest invasion in Liberia, which is still recovering from years of civil war,

has been blamed on last year's unusually long rainy season. The caterpillars

have eaten vital crops including banana, plantain, coffee and cocoa and have

forced villagers from their farms.



Agriculture Ministry official Joseph Subah said Tuesday that 107 towns already

have been hit by the pests and that they are now laying larvae, which will

develop into more crop-eating caterpillars.



"We should expect a second wave or a third wave," Subah said.



The infestation is not expected to end until March, with the start of the rainy

season in Liberia, said Alan Schroeder, an American entomologist with USAID.



The last time Liberia experienced such an invasion of pests was 30 years ago,

but officials then were able to prevent its spread.



The West African nation was ravaged by civil wars for years until 2003. The

drawn-out conflict that began in 1989 left about 200,000 people dead and

displaced half the country's population of 3 million.





Copyright © 2009 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com



+++



6) West Africa: Ecowas Donates $100,000 to Liberia



Leadership (Abuja)

Raliat Ahmed

1 February 2009



Abuja — The ECOWAS Commission has donated 100, 000 US dollars to the

government of Liberia. It is to help citizens who have suffered losses caused by

millions of ravaging caterpillars in the Sanoyea District of Bong County.



The victims lost their homes, farms and sources of livelihood due to the

devastation caused by caterpillars that are now spreading to other districts

such as Zota and Suakoko.



The presentation was made to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf by the commissioner

for agriculture, environment and water resources, Mr. Ousseini Salifou, who led

an ECOWAS assessment mission to Liberia.



The delegation included representatives of the ECOWAS Emergency Response Team

(EERT), the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) and the Departments of

Agriculture, Environment and Humanitarian and Social Affairs of the ECOWAS

commission.



The report of the mission will enable the commission to determine what

additional contribution to be made in the areas of medical supplies, equipment,

spray machines and insecticides.



Similarly, the report will help facilitate ECOWAS' action against the spread of

the devastating attack to neighbouring countries.



The caterpillars, also known as army worms, have emerged with the rains which

started in Liberia this year.



They have destroyed farm crops, contaminated sources of drinking water and

sacked many people from their homes.



Read comments. Write your own.



Copyright © 2009 Leadership.



+++



7)Sad News from Government of Liberia (Sapo National Park in Ruins)



Sapo National Park in Ruins - Feb 1, 2009





SAPO NATIONAL PARK IN RUINS?



The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says the Sapo National Park could lose

its natural resources if nothing is urgently done by the Liberian Government to

protect the park.



EPA Executive Director, Ben Donnie, said the Park is being occupied by

Non-Liberians.

He said those who are currently occupying the park are from neighboring

countries like Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone, and that such occupants are

allegedly carrying-out illegal mining of gold and diamonds, including other

activities that are harmful to the park.



Mr. Donnie made the disclosure Friday, during a one-day National Stakeholders?

Meeting on the Validation of an Analytical Report on the Sapo National Park.



Also speaking, EPA?s Project Manager, Nathaniel Blama said, inhabitants of the

park are living in extreme poverty. Mr. Blama named the lack of safe- drinking

water, roads, and schools, among others, as some of the problems affecting those

who live within the vicinity of the park.



Liberia Broadcasting System, ©2007 All rights reserved.



+++



8) Liberia-US/China-Assistance



US, China respond to Liberia’s appeal to combat army worms



APA-Monrovia (Liberia) The United States and Chinese governments are the latest

to respond to appeals for international support to contain the army worms which

have now invaded 107 towns and villages in the northern Liberian counties of

Gbarpolu, Bong and Lofa.



The Chinese government Saturday donated US$10,000 worth of materials, including

motorized sprayers and chlorine for combating the ’army worms’.



Presenting the items at a ceremony in the capital Monrovia Saturday, the Chinese

ambassador Zhou Yuxiao also presented a cheque for US$1,000 to meet personnel

cost in fighting the army worms.



Presenting the items, Ambassador Zhou observed that the army worms invasion is a

threat to food security in Liberia, and pledged his country’s commitment in

helping Liberia in its renewal process.



On Friday, the United States government presented a cheque for US$50,000 towards

efforts to combat the army worms invasion.



The sub-regional grouping, ECOWAS earlier in the week presented US$100,000 to

combat the spread of the army worms.



The committee set up to combat the army worms says it needs US$1.2 million to

combat the invasion of worms that have devastated farmland, vegetation and

contaminated drinking water sources in the affected areas .



TSS/daj/APA

2009-02-01



+++



9)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



###



Complete archives at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nature_Liberia/

1)Liberia needs international aid to consolidate progress in reducing poverty,

2) Delta Mining Plans Johannesburg Listing to Fund Acquisitions, 3) Liberia:

President Sirleaf Signs Forest Management Contract, 4) ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel

Bid for Liberian Iron Ore Project, 5) Agric Ministry holds MRU meeting on

caterpillar worms, 6) Liberia: Caterpillar Behind Crop Plague Identified, 7)

Sub-regional energy forum in Monrovia, 8) Cocoa Futures Drop in New York as

Ivory Coast Supplies Climb, 9) Liberia Caterpillar Threat Not as Bad as

Originally Thought, 10)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/





1)Liberia needs international aid to consolidate progress in reducing poverty,

says Ban



13 February 2009 -Liberia has made strides in slashing poverty, but significant

challenges still remain in meeting security benchmarks for the West African

nation, still recovering from a brutal 14-year-long civil war, Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon said today.

Since last August, Liberia has continued to make "steady progress" towards

achieving its four-pronged poverty reduction strategy which focuses on security,

economic recovery, rule of law and infrastructure and basic services, Mr. Ban

wrote in his latest report to the Security Council on the United Nations Mission

in Liberia (UNMIL), calling for international partners to continue supporting

Liberia, especially in its efforts to curb poverty.



"Despite the sharp increase in food and fuel prices in 2008, many of the

potential negative effects were mitigated by proactive policy initiatives," the

new publication said, adding that the Government has also tried to guarantee

advances in several key areas, including the fight against corruption and public

financial management reforms.



"However, limited national institutional capacity across all sectors remains a

serious constraint, not least since most public institutions, at national and

local levels, have had to be completely rebuilt after the conflict," including

national security agencies, the Secretary-General said.



Stressing the ties between peace and development, Mr. Ban stressed the

importance of ensuring simultaneous progress in all four pillars of the poverty

reduction strategy, "particularly given the potential link between high youth

unemployment and security."



The report also highlighted the challenges Liberia faces in meeting its main

security and rule of law benchmarks.



The country’s media and public opinion surveys consistently show how law and

order are a primary concern, it said. "This partly reflects a continued lack of

public confidence in national security institutions and the criminal justice

system, leading people to take justice into their own hands, frequently

resulting in serious injury, death or property damage."



The presidential and legislative elections slated for 2011 will be a key test of

progress made in Liberia since it emerged from its civil war that killed almost

150,000 people, mostly civilians.



The Secretary-General called for the development of a comprehensive electoral

plan, including financial and technical requirements, as soon as possible.



Delayed polls in bordering Côte d’Ivoire and the recent military coup in

Guinea have exacerbated the unpredictability in the sub-region, he said. "Any

negative trends in the security situation in these neighbouring countries will

have a major impact on the situation in Liberia and its peacebuilding efforts."



Given the tasks ahead for Liberia, Mr. Ban said he recommends that no further

adjustments to the military and police components of UNMIL be made for the

mandated period.



UNMIL is in the midst of the second phase of its drawdown during which troops

levels are to be reduced by nearly 1,500, and further modifications could be

made during the third and final segment which kicks off this September.



UN News Centre



+++



2) Delta Mining Plans Johannesburg Listing to Fund Acquisitions





By Paul Richardson



Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Delta Mining Consolidated Ltd., which has interests in

coal and iron ore, plans to list on Johannesburg’s stock exchange this year to

help fund acquisitions in Africa, Chief Executive Officer Heine van Niekerk

said.



The Johannesburg-based company may buy assets in countries including Angola,

Congo Republic and Cameroon, where potential acquisitions have been identified,

he said in an interview yesterday at the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town.

Plans for the share sale are "well advanced," he said.



"Part of the reason for the listing is to fund future acquisitions," Van Niekerk

said.



The MSCI World Index plunged 40 percent in the past year amid a global financial

crisis and economic slowdown, sapping demand for new share sales. More than 400

initial public offerings have been delayed or pulled globally since the

beginning of last year and only three other offerings are expected in

Johannesburg this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.



Delta’s DMC Energy unit is prospecting for coal at four sites in South Africa

and last year raised $120 million in a private placement in London, Van Niekerk

said.



"We have been active in the London market for the past two to three years," he

said. Delta has a "very good" relationship with a network of investment banks

and brokerages in the city, Van Niekerk added.



Liberian Project



DMC Iron Ore is exploring for the metal in the country’s Northern Cape

province. Last year, the company submitted a bid to develop Liberia’s $1.6

billion Western Cluster iron ore project. The west African country on Sept. 15

canceled the award of the mining contract to Delta and barred it and Tata Steel

Ltd. from participating in a new tender, claiming the initial offer may have

been compromised by "external influence or impropriety." Both companies disputed

the government’s statements.



Delta said in December it’s taking legal action to challenge the Liberian

government over the cancellation of the original bid, after the government

invited new expressions of interest in the Western Cluster. The project consists

of two mines that closed in 1976 and 1985 because of civil war, and three other

deposits.



"We find it hard to understand how the Ministry of Mines can re-tender when

there is a legal challenge and a stay order over the re-tender," Van Niekerk

said today. A commission of inquiry had recommended that Delta and Tata should

be allowed to re-bid for the assets and invitations should be sent to the

companies to do so.



"We never received any invitation to retender," he said.



New Bids



Liberian Deputy Mines Minister E.C.B. Jones said on Feb. 10 the government is

optimistic the legal action will be resolved soon and that the reoffering of the

project will be completed by about March 23. The winning bid is expected to be

announced by June, he said.



Delta has yet to decide whether it will submit a new bid for the project, Van

Niekerk said yesterday.



"The deposit is definitely worth it, we just need to settle this legal matter

first," he said.



Advantages to the Western Cluster include the "high-grade quality" of its ore

and the project’s access to nearby port facilities, which will enable

shipments to European steel mills, Van Niekerk said.



"We’ve had discussions with amongst others Nippon Steel Corp. and Thyssenkrupp

AG and they’d be very interested in talking about potential off-takes," he

said, without elaborating.



Van Niekerk said Delta’s biggest shareholders are Avalon Trust, based in

Johannesburg, and Bernard Swanepoel, former chief executive officer of Harmony

Gold Mining Co. Directors include Christo Wiese, general manager of bank

supervision at the Reserve Bank, and Ben Alberts, former managing director of

Iscor Ltd., now owned by ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd., he said.



To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Richardson in Cape Town at

pmrichardson@...



Last Updated: February 12, 2009 07:33 EST

Copyright Bloomberg



+++



3) Liberia: President Sirleaf Signs Forest Management Contract

11 February 2009



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has signed a Forest Management Contract between

the Liberian Government and Alpha Logging & Wood Processing Company.



Speaking Tuesday when she signed the document, the Liberian President expressed

satisfaction over the signing of the agreement which she noted, will create more

employment opportunities for Liberians upon implementation and generate income

for the country's Lift Liberia Initiative.



Under the terms of the contract, Alpha Logging & Wood Processing Company will

harvest commercial timber for 119-thousand, 240 hectares covering Gbarpolu and

Lofa Counties.



More than US $17.8-million is expected to be invested on machinery, road network

and community development activities under the contract, while statutory

community benefits will average half-a-million dollars per annum.



An initial direct employment is estimated at 250 persons which is expected to

increase to about 5-hundred persons or more when wood processing factories are

established, while about US $1.49 million is expected to be accrued in taxes and

fees during the initial year of operations. The amount is expected to increase

on an average of US $2.7-million per annum for the next five years.



Tuesday's Forestry Management Contract is the third signed by President Johnson

Sirleaf in recent weeks. The President recently signed two Forestry Management

Agreements covering Rivercess county.



The agreements are subject to ratification by the Liberian Senate.



Copyright © 2009 Liberia Government.





+++



4) ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel Bid for Liberian Iron Ore Project



By Paul Richardson



Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- ArcelorMittal and Tata Steel Ltd. are among companies

that have submitted bids to develop Liberia’s $1.6 billion Western Cluster

iron ore project, deputy Mines Minister E.C.B. Jones said.



The bidding process, which attracted several other unspecified bids, will be

completed by June, Jones said in an interview today in Cape Town at the Mining

Indaba conference. The project is being reoffered for tender after the original

process was canceled.



"We’ve had a number of prospective bidders, including some that bid before,"

Jones said.



The Western Cluster project consists of two mines that closed in 1976 and 1985

because of civil war, and three other deposits. In September, Liberia canceled

Delta Mining Consolidated Ltd.’s contract and barred the company and Tata from

participating in a new tender, saying the initial bid may have been compromised

by "external influence or impropriety." Tata said at the time it wasn’t

involved in any such action.



On Nov. 24, Delta and Tata were cleared to participate in the new tender. A

month later, Delta said it was suing the Liberian government over the original

cancellation and applied to halt the process. Lizane van Rooyen, a legal

representative for Delta, said today she couldn’t immediately comment on the

retendering.



Government Optimism



"We’re quite optimistic that the legal action will be resolved," Jones said.

The retendering process will be completed by about March 23 and the

government’s evaluation of bids should take about two months, he said.



Calls to Giles Read, a spokesman for ArcelorMittal based in London, weren’t

immediately returned. Bob Jones, a spokesman for Tata Steel in London, wasn’t

able to immediately comment on the bidding.



Talks with BHP Billiton Ltd. over the Kitoma and Go Fantro deposits will start

"very shortly," and discussions with Mano River Resources Inc. and Silverstar

over the Kutu mines will start in April, Jones said.



To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Richardson in Cape Town at

pmrichardson@....



Last Updated: February 10, 2009 12:17 EST

Copyright Bloomberg



+++



5) Agric Ministry holds MRU meeting on caterpillar worms - Feb 7, 2009

STAR RADIO



Agriculture Ministers from the Mano River Union Basin will hold an emergency

meeting in Monrovia to discuss how to deal with the caterpillar worm's situation

at regional level.



According to Liberia's Agriculture Minister, Dr. Chris Toe, the meeting will

seek the expertise of International Experts on the life cycle, the

characteristics, the threats and ways to deal with the caterpillar worms.



Speaking to ELBC in Monrovia, Dr. Toe said, following the experts' report, a

technical team will be constituted to design strategies to tackle the

caterpillars' situation in the sub-region.



Liberia Broadcasting System, ©2007 All rights reserved.



+++



6) Liberia: Caterpillar Behind Crop Plague Identified

SciDev.Net (London)

Esther Tola

6 February 2009



Insect specialists have identified the caterpillar species that is ravaging

crops in more than 100 Liberian villages - and have found it is more benign than

was thought.



Millions of caterpillars have been destroying coffee, cocoa, plantain and banana

crops, and contaminating water supplies with their droppings in Bong County,

northern Liberia, for the past three weeks.



They were first thought to be the destructive army worms of the moth Spodoptera

exempta but, after their behaviour was seen to be different, Georg Goergen - an

entomologist at International Institute for Tropical Agriculture in Benin -

identified them as the tree-dwelling caterpillars of another moth, Achae

catocaloides rena, from digital photographs.



Goergen said that the caterpillar's presence on crops in Liberia is something of

a mystery. "Achae catocaloides rena are forest species generally found on trees.

How they got to land on crops still needs to be found out," he told SciDev.Net.



But the identification could make it easier to remedy the situation. Goergen

said that while army worms deposit their eggs underground - making them

difficult to reach with pesticides - these caterpillars lay cocoons on the

ground.



The authorities now need to find a pesticide that will kill the caterpillars

without affecting the crops or contaminating precious water supplies. The news

agency Reuters has reported that spraying teams have already started applying

pesticide.



Goergen said that colder-than-average temperatures at the start of the year

followed by warming could have caused the outbreak, as tree caterpillars react

strongly to temperature fluctuations.



He added that the loss of forest habitat in the area could also have encouraged

the caterpillars to seek food elsewhere.



He called for an observatory system to be established to track the evolution of

the insects, as army worm moths can fly for up to 1,000 kilometres. "Once the

insect number has exploded, it's already too late," he told SciDev.Net.



The caterpillars also appear sporadically in Benin, where they appear to

hibernate seasonally, leading Goergen to predict that the caterpillars will

reduce in number dramatically by March.



The tree caterpillar is also attacking border villages in Guinea, and cocoa

plantations in the Ivory Coast are on the alert.



Read comments. Write your own.



Copyright © 2009 SciDev.Net. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica

Global Media (allAfrica.com).



+++



7) Sub-regional energy forum in Monrovia

Written by Onesimus Leigh

Friday, 06 February 2009

STAR RADIO



Stakeholders in the interconnection project in the sub-region have held a

one-day consultative meeting in Monrovia.



The Interconnection project is intended to link Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra

Leone and Guinea with energy supply.



According to the Secretary General of the West African Power Pool, the meeting

is a follow-up of the Luxemburg meeting three months ago.



Mr. Amadu Diallo said WAPP has received support from the EU-Africa

Infrastructure Trust Fund of the European Investment Bank.



He said with that support, the pre-investment studies on the interconnection

project commenced earlier.



Also, Liberia’s Acting Energy Minister said government needs energy to improve

the condition of its people and strengthens the economy.





+++



8) Cocoa Futures Drop in New York as Ivory Coast Supplies Climb



By Yi Tian



Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Cocoa futures fell for the third time in four sessions in

New York as supplies increased from Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest producer.



Arrivals of beans for shipment from the Ivory Coast ports of Abidjan and San

Pedro jumped 67 percent in the week ended Jan. 25 from a year earlier, an

industry official said. The United Nations said cocoa-eating caterpillars in

Liberia, Ivory Coast’s neighbor, may be easier to control than expected.



Cocoa "has always been driven by what’s going on in Ivory Coast," said James

Calcagnini, the president of East Coast Options Services in New York.



Cocoa futures for May delivery fell $12, or 0.4 percent, to $2,737 a metric ton

on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Prices are down 2.3 percent since Jan. 29.



The moth larvae that devastated crops in Liberia spin cocoons on the ground

under fallen leaves, making it easier to destroy them, the UN Food and

Agriculture Organization said today.



In 2008, cocoa climbed 31 percent, the most among 19 raw materials in the

Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index. Global demand exceeded output for a third straight

year.



Prices may rise to $3,000 in three weeks because of a supply shortfall,

Calcagnini said.



Output in Ivory Coast may total 1.1 million metric tons, or 20 percent less than

last year, Ali Lakiss, a director at cocoa exporter Saf-Cacao, said on Jan. 29.

The start of harvesting in October was delayed because of bad weather and

prolonged rainfall.



To contact the reporter on this story: Yi Tian in New York at

ytian8@....



Last Updated: February 4, 2009 13:58 EST



Bloomberg



+++



9) Liberia Caterpillar Threat Not as Bad as Originally Thought

By Scott Stearns

Dakar

04 February 2009



(PHOTO) Army worms feed on plant leaves in Pelelei[sic]in Bong County, Liberia,

16 Jan 2009



The threat from Liberia's caterpillar infestation is not as bad as originally

thought. Entomologists have identified the caterpillars as a species that is

easier to kill than those first thought to be devouring farmland near the border

with Guinea and Sierra Leone.



With more than half-a-million people affected by the infestation, Liberia was

bracing for worse, fearing that caterpillars would burrow into the ground -

where they would be safe from pesticides - and emerge as adult moths capable of

flying 1,000 kilometers.



Pesticide will be used to prevent spread



But entomologists have now concluded that the invading caterpillars are not the

so-called "army worms" that pupate underground but larvae of another moth

species - Achaea catocaloides - that spin cocoons on the ground under fallen

leaves and are thus easier to kill.



U.N. Food and Agriculture entomologist Winfred Hammond says now that the

caterpillars are properly identified, Liberian and U.N. officials should quickly

determine the extent of their infestation to properly choose the type and amount

of pesticide needed to contain their spread.



While it is not as bad as it might have been, the infestation has closed schools

and driven people from their homes in more than 100 villages.



Hammond says the caterpillars have already polluted most streams and fresh water

wells.



"All along the waterways where the main host plant of this pest occurs, you find

the water polluted," he said. "You have larvae that drops in the water or you

have excreta or droppings from the larvae that goes into the water, polluting

many of the waterways or the water bodies for the villagers."



Pests munch on cash crops



The caterpillars struck one of Liberia's richest agricultural regions near the

border with Guinea and Sierra Leone. Hammond says they have decimated cash crops

but should not have as large an impact on Liberia's food security as few of

those crops are in the ground during the current dry season.



"Food crops at this time of the year are very scarce in the field," he said.

"You do not have rice or cassava or any of the common food crops at the moment

in the field. But you find them on cocoa on coffee on plantain on banana."



The caterpillars have already moved more than 25 kilometers into Guinea, eating

crops and displacing farmers in half-a-dozen villages.



Sierra Leone has pre-positioned pesticides along the border and is asking

civilians to notify authorities at the first sighting of black, hairy

caterpillars.



VOA



+++



10)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



###



Complete archives at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nature_Liberia/

1) Illegal Mining Threatens Liberian Rainforest, 2) LPMC and MercyCorps Sign

US$50,000 MOU, 3) Trees across the tropics are getting bigger and offering help

in the fight against climate change, 4) Gates Foundation commits $48M to African

farmers, 5) ECOWAS member states set to define National Ocean and Sea

Boundaries, 6) Taylor’s Cartel Looted, Pillaged Forest Resources; Witness

tells Liberia’s TRC, 7) Liberian Cocoa, Coffee Data Blurred by Smuggling,

Ministry Says, 8) GTZ to train Transport staff, 9) KDA commends Pres. Sirleaf

for Brown's appointment, 10) Liberia-Caterpillar worms, 11)See also:

http://liberianature.blogspot.com/







1) Illegal Mining Threatens Liberian Rainforest

By Scott Stearns

Dakar

20 February 2009



Stearns report  - Download (MP3)

Stearns report - Listen (MP3)



West Africa's second-largest rainforest is under threat from illicit mining and

hunting according to one of Liberia's top environmental officials. More than

20,000 people are thought to be living illegally in Liberia's Sapo National

Park.



As part of the Upper Guinean rainforest ecosystem, Sapo is home to more than 700

kinds of animals including threatened species such as the African Golden Cat,

the Liberian Mongoose, and the White-necked Rockfowl. The 1,800-square-kilometer

preserve stretches from marshland near the coast of southeast Sinoe County to

the steep ridges of the Putu Mountains in the north.



Years of civil war in Liberia drove many of the park's rangers across the border

into Ivory Coast as rebels looted their buildings and poached forest elephant

and pygmy hippopotamus.



But even with peace restored, Liberia's only national park is still being

plundered by illegal mining and hunting.



"Sapo National Park is seriously threatened," said Jerome Nyenkan, deputy

executive director of Liberia's Environmental Protection Agency. "A whole group

of West African nationals - Malians, Guineans, Nigerians, Sierra Leoneans,

Ghanians are all in the park."



Nyenkan says park rangers lack the training or equipment to properly shield the

park from outside encroachment. He estimates there are as many as 20,000 people

living inside the protected area cutting timber, fishing, grazing cattle, and

clearing ground for planting. Many search for diamonds and pan for gold in the

Sinoe River.



"We've been in the park for a number of years now. We mine gold and diamonds.

And some other minerals," said Liberian Garpu Pajebo, who lives in the national

park with his family.



"We don't have nowhere to go. And the government says they want to come and take

us from the park. We are doing this business to bring up our future. And we need

to live, so that is why we are doing this business."



The former rebel fighter says he moved to the park because he could not find a

job elsewhere.



In a country were the United Nations estimates some 85 percent of people are

unemployed, Liberian officials are working with donors to provide alternative

sources of income for people living in the park, including fish farming and

ecotourism.



"So it's not a matter of moving security men to run after people in the park.

It's about addressing some of the major concerns for which people are now into

the park," Jerome Nyenkan said.



While Nyenkan says the government understands its responsibility to create jobs,

he says it also has the duty to prevent people from spoiling this unique

ecosystem to preserve it for future generations.



"When this desecration of the park continues unchecked, the Sapo National Park

is going to be gradually losing its international significance," he said. "And

so we don't want this natural heritage to be destroyed, and the government of

Liberia is doing her best to rescue the park."



Conservationists say Sapo is part of a biodiverse corridor that is home to the

highest number of mammal species in the world including the Diana monkey,

black-and-white Colobus, and the



western chimpanzee.



voanews.com



+++



2) LPMC and MercyCorps Sign US$50,000 MOU

Women Farmers to Benefit



By C.Y. Kwanue

Published:  20 February, 2009



[photo]

Mr. Mantein (l) with Mr. Dowey affixed their individual signature to the MOU





MONROVIA, The management of Liberia Produce Marketing Corporation (LPMC)

yesterday, February 19, 2009, signed a one-year US$50,000 Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) with MercyCorps-



Liberia for the rehabilitation of 78.2 acres of cocoa farm, including LPMC seed

garden in Compound #2, Grand Bassa County.



Gain access to this and all other stories. Subscribe now to

www.liberianobserver.com



Liberian Observer



+++



3) Trees across the tropics are getting bigger and offering help in the fight

against climate change

David Adam The Guardian, Thursday 19 February 2009





Trees across the tropics are getting bigger and offering help in the fight

against climate change, scientists have discovered.



A laborious study of the girth of 70,000 trees across Africa has shown that

tropical forests are soaking up more carbon dioxide pollution than originally

thought. Almost one-fifth of our fossil fuel emissions are absorbed by forests

across Africa, Amazonia and Asia, the research suggests.



Simon Lewis, climate expert at the University of Leeds, who led the study, said:

"We are receiving a free subsidy from nature. Tropical forests are absorbing 18%

of the CO2 added to the atmosphere each year from burning fossil fuels."



The study, published tomorrow in Nature, measured trees in 79 areas of intact

forest across 10 African countries from Liberia to Tanzania, and compared

records going back 40 years. "On average the trees are getting bigger," Lewis

said.



Compared to the 1960s, each hectare of intact African forest has trapped an

extra 0.6 tonnes of carbon a year. Over the world's tropical forests, this extra

"carbon sink" effect adds up to 4.8bn tonnes of CO2 removed each year - close to

the total carbon dioxide emissions from the US.



Although individual trees are known to soak up carbon as they photosynthesise

and grow, large patches of mature forest were once thought to be carbon neutral,

with the carbon absorbed by new trees balanced by that released as old trees

die.



The discovery suggests that increased CO2 in the atmosphere could fertilise

extra growth in the mature forests.



Lewis said: "It's good news for now but the effect won't last forever. The trees

can't keep on getting bigger and bigger."



Helene Muller-Landau of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama,

said the growing forests could recovering from trauma - droughts, fire and human

activity - going back hundreds or even thousands of years.



The research comes as efforts intensify to include protection for tropical

forests in carbon credit schemes, as part of a new climate deal to replace the

Kyoto protocol.



guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009



+++



4) Gates Foundation commits $48M to African farmers



By DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP



updated 9:04 p.m. PT, Wed., Feb. 18, 2009

SEATTLE - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation says it is investing $48 million

and private corporations are chipping in another $42 million to help small-scale

farmers in Africa work themselves out of poverty and hunger by improving the way

they grow cocoa and cashews.



The foundation's director of agricultural development cited the importance of

the effort because the majority of people who live in extreme poverty depend on

agriculture for both food and income.



"We hope to move more than 1.5 million people out of poverty in a relatively

short time frame," Dr. Rajiv Shah said Wednesday.



Among the companies giving cash and in-kind contributions to help with the cocoa

and cashew project are The Hershey Co., Kraft Foods Inc., Mars Inc., Archer

Daniels Midland Co., Cargill Inc., Armajaro, Olam International Ltd., and

Starbucks Corp.



Cocoa is West Africa's largest agricultural export and accounts for 70 percent

of the world's supply.



The Gates Foundation has committed $23 million to the World Cocoa Foundation to

administer the cocoa project. It will hire local scientists, agriculture

outreach workers and educators to help the farmers.



"We have learned that African farmers will listen to other Africans," Shah said.

"Even corporate sponsors with Western names hire local people to work on the

ground."



The cocoa project hopes to increase farmers' income by improving their knowledge

and productivity, cocoa quality, crop diversification and supply chain

efficiency.



Improving their growing and processing technology, including getting access to

fertilizer and knowing how to use it, could significantly impact cocoa farm

production in West Africa, Shah said.



Most African farmers have little or no contact with people who can help them

grow more efficiently, like agriculture extension workers in the United States.



"We're talking about millions of farm households," Shah said. "Their level of

contact with experts is very minimal. Those types of systems we take for granted

in the United States and (in) the developing world don't exist."



The foundation also will assist the farmers in forming cooperatives to help them

get a better price for their product.



The new grants are aimed at helping about 200,000 cocoa farmers in Cameroon,

Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria in West Africa over the next five years,

Shah said. The foundation hopes to help those farmers double their income by

2013.



A grant of $25 million to the German development organization Deutsche

Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit will support the cashew project,

which aims to help 150,000 small-scale cashew farmers in Benin, Burkina Faso,

Ivory Coast, Ghana and Mozambique increase their incomes by 50 percent by 2012.



Africa produces about a third of the world's cashews, but most of the nuts are

shipped to Vietnam or India for processing, said Richard Rogers, a foundation

program manager in the area of global development.



Although the plan to move processing back to Africa may result in a loss of jobs

in Asia, Rogers said the people in those countries are on the path out of

poverty due to growth in many industries.



"Africa is caught in a cycle of poverty they are unable to break out of," he

said.



African farmers pay the price for this market inefficiency in the form of lower

prices for their crops. Building African processing capacity will help farmers

and create jobs.



Shah said the underlying goal of the projects is to increase the amount of money

farmers are reinvesting in their children, through education and nutrition.



Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, lead the nation's

largest charitable foundation, which focuses most of its donations on global

health, agriculture development



and education. Since 1994, the foundation has committed to $19.9 billion in

grants.



____



On the Net:



Gates Foundation: http://www.gatesfoundation.org



Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.



+++



5) ECOWAS member states set to define National Ocean and Sea Boundaries



Accra, Feb. 18, GNA - A two-day ministerial meeting on "The Outer Limits of the

Continental Self", otherwise known as the National Area of the Sea Bed, ended in

Abuja last weekend with the agreement to define the national ocean and sea

boundaries of ECOWAS member states. A statement issued by the ECOWAS Secretariat

and copied to the GNA in Accra on Wednesday said the meeting, the first to bring

together regional ministers on issues related to the outer limits of coastal

States, was to evaluate the technical needs of member states, and map out

strategies for effective collaboration among neighbouring states. It was also to

decide on the practical measures to be taken to respect the May 13, 2009

deadline fixed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

for the submission of reports by member states who are seeking to define the

outer limits of the continental shelf.



As defined by the Convention, coastal states have sovereign rights in a 200

nautical mile exclusive economic zone with respect to natural resources and

certain economic activities as well as exclusive jurisdiction over marine

science research and environmental protection. Where states claim that their

continental shelf extends beyond 200 nautical miles, submissions have to be made

to the UNCLOS Commission before the deadline expires on May 13, 2009 - except

for Liberia which enjoys a special waiver till 2018.



The statement said the meeting noted that due to certain constraints including

poor technical and financial resources as well as relevant expertise and

capacity, member states were facing a great challenge in meeting the deadline.

It was therefore agreed that member states should prepare their preliminary

reports and that those on the same level of preparation should make joint

submissions. The ministers also recommended that issues relating to the limits

of adjacent or opposite boundaries should continue to be discussed "in a spirit

of cooperation" to arrive at a definite delimitation even after the presentation

of the preliminary submission. In addition, the ministers recommended that all

coastal member states could, under the framework of the preparation of

preliminary information dossier on the extension of the continental shelf,

officially solicit the assistance of the Norwegian Government to present their

preliminary information before the

  deadline.



According to the statement, the ministers also agreed to hold a two-day workshop

in Accra, Ghana, from February 25, 2009 for five member states - Benin, Cote

d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo - to consider technical issues regarding the

preliminary submissions. The workshop, to be organized in collaboration with

Norway, would help address some unresolved cases between Nigeria, Benin, Togo

and Ghana as well as between Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. In attendance at the Abuja

ministerial meeting were Benin, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana,

Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Others present were

the Deputy Minister for International Development of Norway, Mr Hakon Arald

Gulbrandsen and a delegation of Norwegian specialists on the Law of the Sea.



Mr Gulbrandsen reiterated the willingness of Norway to assist ECOWAS member

states in meeting the May deadline. He stated that the planned workshop in Accra

would encourage regional cooperation on the issue as well help coastal states in

presenting their submissions. The minister urged ECOWAS coastal states, which

have unresolved issues of maritime delimitation



between them, to make separate or joint submissions requesting the Commission on

the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) to make its recommendations without

regard to the delimitation of boundaries between those states.



ECOWAS Commission President, Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, expressed gratitude to the

Government of Norway for offering to assist member states in meeting the

deadline. He urged member states to set aside all maritime boundary disputes and

jointly face the onerous task of delineating the outer limits of the continental

shelf beyond the 200 nautical miles, through submissions



to the CLCS.Source:

GNA

1994-2009, © Copyright GhanaHomePage



+++



6) Taylor’s Cartel Looted, Pillaged Forest Resources; Witness tells

Liberia’s TRC

February 17th, 2009 · by Theophilus Seeton ·



A cartel of foreign and local businessman and government officials under the

guidance of former President Charles Taylor looted and pillaged Liberia’s

forest resources, the Director of the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI)

has told the TRC.



Mr. Silas Kpanan’ Ayoung Siakor said not only did they loot Liberia’s forest

resources but many of them aided and abetted the conflict that claimed

approximately a quarter of million lives.



What was most appalling of their activities, Siakor said, was the harassment,

intimidation, molestation, they meted against the people in rural areas where

they operated with impunity.



Mr. Siakor was speaking Monday at Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation

Commission (TRC) Public Hearing on Economic Crimes at the Centennial Memorial

Pavilion in Monrovia.



His presentation focused on the Logging Sector and the Conflict. Siakor

described the actions of former President Taylor and associates as organized

looting of public property in which government officials at various levels

participated and contributed to this large scale theft of public property. He

said bad governance was one of the most important factors that made this

possible.



But Mr. Siakor expressed concern that the present government led by “perhaps

the most high profile opposition and critic of former President Taylor”

appears to be determined to maintain Taylor’s most notorious legacy, the large

scale seizure of over a million acre of community’s forestlands in 2000.



“Perhaps not surprisingly, this was allowed by sons and daughters of those

communities when they enacted the National Forest Law in 2000 which provided

that all forest resources are owned by the republic-totally disregarding the

property rights of communities with deeds for their forestlands.”



The loss to these communities, he said, were in three-folds, as not only did the

government steal the forest, but many of the companies that were given

concessions wantonly violated their rights and yet they did not benefit from the

revenue generated from logging activities.



He said while this government boasts about good governance and trumpets its

respect for the rule of law it appears to be determined to maintain the legacy

of former President Taylor.



“The people of Bokomu and Gou Nwolaila Districts in Gbarpolu County are the

first victims. Today the FDA have seized their forestlands and given them to

different companies against their will in the name of creating job opportunities

and stimulating economic activities in their districts,” he said.



TRC Chairman Counselor Jerome Verdier said issues of economic crimes are central

to understanding the nature of the Liberian conflict.



Cllr. Verdier also recognized the role and bravery of victims who came forward

to testify during the commission public hearings



Under the theme: “Economic Crimes, Corruption and the Conflict in Liberia:

Policy Options for an Emerging Democracy and sustainable peace,” the hearing

is addressing the contribution of economic crimes to the conflict including

corruption and the illicit exploitation of natural resources.



The hearing is also discussing the correlation between the extractive industry

and the fueling of the conflict and appropriate policies aimed at reversing the

unauthorized exploitation of the natural resources by individuals, groups and

the government for purposes external to the national good.



Also to make presentations are former deputy Maritime Commissioner Tarty Teh, on

the Role of the Maritime Industry in the Conflict; former National Bank of

Liberia Governor David Vinton, on the Role of Banking Institution in the Crisis;

and former Postal and Telecommunication Minister Mewaseh Paye-Bayee, on the Role

of Communications in the commission of Economic Crimes.



Pursuant to the TRC Act of 2005, the commission is mandated to investigate gross

human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law as well

as abuses that occurred, including massacres, sexual violations, murder,

extra-judicial killings and economic crimes, such as the exploitation of natural

or public resources to perpetuate armed conflicts during the period January 1979

to October 14, 2003.



The commission is mandated to determine whether these were isolated incidents or

part of a systematic pattern; establishing the antecedents, circumstances,

factors and context of such violations and abuses; and determining those

responsible for the commission of the violations and abuses and their motives as

well as their impact on victims.





+++



7) Liberian Cocoa, Coffee Data Blurred by Smuggling, Ministry Says



By Ansu Konneh



Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Liberia is unsure exactly how much coffee and cocoa it

produced last year because smuggling into neighboring Guinea and Sierra Leone

has become an increasingly significant problem, the Ministry of Commerce said.



“Receipts from coffee and cocoa exports were considerably lower on account of

cross-border trade, a situation which has led to under-reporting of exports,”

it said in an e-mailed report today.



According to official data, cocoa production rose 55 percent to 3,285 metric

tons last year, while coffee output stood at 124 tons, the ministry said. No

data on coffee production was



collected in previous years, although Agriculture Minister Chris Toe estimated

that Liberia produced about 8,000 tons a year before the start of civil war in

1989.



Today’s numbers exclude “hundreds of tons” of the crops which are

illegally transported across the Liberian border, the ministry said.



Liberia, which is rebuilding its economy after a 14-year civil war, relies on

the export of commodities, including rubber, gold and diamonds, for its foreign

income. Official shipments



of cocoa, the nation’s second-largest export, have also been curbed by debts

owed by the Liberia Produce Marketing Authority, vice president Joseph Boakai

said Nov. 28.



While farmers are gradually returning to their overgrown plantations, abandoned

during the fighting, many are now looking to Guinea and Sierra Leone to sell

their crop, said Zayzay



Kolubah, head of the Lofa county cocoa and coffee co-operative.



“We sell cocoa and coffee to agents from the two countries for $50 to $75 per

ton, but our local agents would prefer to bargain well below those prices,” he

said by phone from the



region today.



To contact the reporters on this story: Ansu Konneh in Monrovia via Johannesburg

at pmrichardson@...



Last Updated: February 17, 2009 09:18 EST



+++



8) GTZ to train Transport staff

Written by Moses Wenyou

Monday, 16 February 2009

STAR RADIO



The German Technical Corporation will on Tuesday launch a Capacity Building

Training in customer care and services for management staff at the Transport

Ministry.



According to a release, the exercise is a part of a capacity building package

from the German Government towards Liberia’s transport sector.



The Government of Germany, through the GTZ, has offered to revamp the

country’s transport sector and train personnel involved with the sector.



The release said the training would cover management, administration, computer

and areas related to the transport sector.



The release also said the rebuilding package contains wide range of technical

assistance as well as human resource development activities.



The Transport Ministry maintained that developing the transport sector is

cardinal to the overall development of Liberia.





+++



9) KDA commends Pres. Sirleaf for Brown's appointment

Written by Wellington Geevon Smith

Monday, 16 February 2009

STAR RADIO



The Karluway Development Association based in the United States has commended

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for the appointment of Joe Gble-bo Brown as

Superintendent of Maryland



County.



The association expressed the hope that under the leadership of Mr. Brown

positive initiatives will be designed in restructuring the county’s

development needs.



A KDA release issued said Superintendent Brown takes on the new portfolio as an

outstanding developmental expert.



The association also challenged Mr. Brown to make his administration

participatory by consulting elders, traditional, opinion and religious leaders

of the county.



The U.S.-based Liberian group believes broad participation would help settle all

outstanding disputes arising from land tenure land ownership in the southeastern

county.



The group further appealed to donor government, foreign donor agencies and

companies operating in the southeast to assist in the reconstruction of the

River Gee Bridge.



The bridge serves as a major link to the Port of Harper in Maryland County and

the KDA believes its rehabilitation would enhance economic activities in the

region.



The Karluway Development Association pledged its support to the administration

of Superintendent Brown and the development efforts of Maryland County.





+++



10) Liberia-Caterpillar worms

2009-02-14



More army worms surface in northern Liberia close to capital



APA-Monrovia (Liberia) Reports reaching the Liberian capital Monrovia say a new

breed of caterpillar worms has surfaced in Margibi County located about 45

kilometres north of the



capital in northern Liberia.



According to the reports broadcast by state radio on Saturday, several towns and

villages in Bolola Clan in Margibi County have been invaded by the caterpillar

worms.



The reports quoted the agriculture coordinator of Margibi County, William

Cooper, as saying that the caterpillars are destroying sugarcane farms and other

crops.



Experts involved in combating the caterpillar worms that invaded Bong, Gbarpolu

and Lofa Counties in northern Liberia, last week warned that the caterpillars

could attack other parts of



the country, because, they alarmed, the caterpillar worms in northern Bong

County were transforming into butterflies and flying to unknown destinations.





TSS/daj/APA

2009-02-14



+++



11)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



###



Complete archives at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nature_Liberia/

1) Liberia: 'Ideal Village' Latest Project By UN Peacekeepers to Boost Country's

Food Security, 2) VP Boakai wants Liberians follow ADA's footstep, 3) Leading

Russian company to explore Putu Range, 4) Ellen Praises Rights Groups for

Comments on Bong Mines deal, 5) Liberia's Coffee industry to receive Int'l

experts, 6) Estonians to mine gold and diamonds in Africa, 7) Brazilian Govt.

delegation visits Liberia, 8) VP Boakai on Liberia's self-sufficiency, 9) Youths

launch clean-up campaign in Ganta, 10) Bushmeat, an African delicacy, facing NY

crackdown, 11) Liberia: President Sirleaf Withdraws Nomination of Assistant

Lands, Mines And Energy Minister, 12)See also:

http://liberianature.blogspot.com/







1) Liberia: 'Ideal Village' Latest Project By UN Peacekeepers to Boost Country's

Food Security

26 February 2009





A new 150-acre agricultural village, complete with poultry, a fish pond and

school and community-based farms, is the latest initiative by Bangladeshi

peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to boost

food security, a crucial component to lasting peace in the West African nation.



Inaugurating the "Bangla-Bong Ideal Village," UNMIL's Force Commander noted that

the country has very fertile soil, excellent land-to-people ratio and wonderful

weather, and urged Liberians, especially young people, to use their resources to

develop their country.



"If you harness all the great opportunities your fertile land offers, I'm cIf

you harness all the great opportunities your fertile land offers, I'm certain

that you will one day stand on your feet, and march ahead, and you will be one

of the examples in West Africaertain that you will one day stand on your feet,

and march ahead, and you will be one of the examples in West Africa,"

Lieutenant-General Abu Tayeb Muhammad Zahirul Alam told the community at Maimu

Town, near Totota in Liberia's central province of Bong.



The General encouraged the people of Maimu Town to own the project and manage it

well. "This is your property, it is you who have to really nurture it, secure

it, and develop it further."





Copyright © 2009 UN News Service



+++



2) VP Boakai wants Liberians follow ADA's footstep

Written by Wellington Geevon Smith

Thursday, 26 February 2009

STAR RADIO



Vice President Joseph Boakai has encouraged Liberians to support initiatives by

the Foundation for African Development in rice production.



VP Boakai said Liberians must see the project as one that will boost the

nation’s quest to feed itself.



He said no nation can be free of what he called undue influence outside of self

sufficiency in food production.



The Vice President also dismissed perception that the ADA and Libya Investment

Portfolio venture is a bilateral agreement between government and Libya.



The VP clarified that the venture is purely a private undertaking and not a

bilateral agreement.



He explained that the ADA sought and won a loan of thirty million U.S. dollars

from the Libya Investment Portfolio to produce rice on a large scale in the

country.



According to the Vice President, the ADA would pay back the loan to the Libya

Investment Portfolio.



Vice President Boakai spoke at the Free Port of Monrovia upon the arrival of the

second batch of mechanized farming equipment brought in the country by ADA.



For his part, ADA’s Chief Executive Officer, Wendell McIntosh said with

arrival of the latest batch of the equipment his organization would make its

first harvest in August this year.



+++



3) Leading Russian company to explore Putu Range

Written by Horatio Bobby Willie

Thursday, 26 February 2009

STAR RADIO



A leading Russian Steel company, Severstal has begun exploring for iron ore in

the Putu Range in Grand Gedeh County.



The General Manager for Severstal said the exploring process will last for two

years and would identify the amount of ore and other minerals in the mountain.



Mr. Alexey Mordasov told Star Radio it will cost his company more than thirty

million U.S. dollars to carry on the exploration.



Mr. Mordasov said the company intends to invest nearly a billion dollar once

substantial amount of iron ore is found in the Putu Range.



The Chairman of the National Investment Commission Chairman said the company

would improve the economic lives of the people in the southeast.



Dr. Richard Tolbert, who paid host to the Russian investment delegation, hopes

once a deal is completed the company would create about five thousand jobs.



The NIC Chairman told Star Radio Severstal is partnering with Mano River

Resources to carryon the exploration.



Seversrtal is the fourth largest steel company in the United States and the

second largest in Russia.



+++



4) Ellen Praises Rights Groups for Comments on Bong Mines deal



Published:  26 February, 2009



President Sirleaf

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has welcomed comments and recommendations by two

rights groups, contained in an in-depth analysis of a recently concluded Mineral

Concession Agreement between the Government of Liberia and the China Union

Mining Company.



Daily Observer



Gain access to this and all other stories. Subscribe now to

www.liberianobserver.com! Click the banner at the top of the page to subscribe!



+++



5) Liberia's Coffee industry to receive Int'l experts

Feb 24, 2009





Liberia's Coffee industry to receive Int'l experts



The Research Director of the Inter-African Coffee Organization (IACO), Dr.

Bayetta Bellachew, is expected in the country today as guest of the Liberian

Produce Marketing Corporation (LPMC).



While in the country, Dr. Bellachew will meet with stakeholders in the coffee

sector.



At the 48th General Assembly of IACO held in Libreville, Gabon, last year, it

was decided that a consultant would visit Liberia to develop strategy, aimed at

identifying and collecting coffee germ plasma in Liberia, as well as a source of

funds from international donor institutions for the rehabilitation and

development of small coffee growers.



According to a LPMC release, the visit of the IACO Research Director, follows

similar visit last by Madam Josefa Sacko, Secretary General of the Inter-African

coffee organization during which time, she met with key government officials and

stakeholders in the coffee sector.



Liberia Broadcasting System, ©2007



+++



6) Estonians to mine gold and diamonds in Africa



Marge Tubalkain-Trell

marge.tubalkain-trellatchararipaev.ee 26.02.2009 09:30





Estmor Service Transiit OÜ that is co-owned by Vjat*eslav Santa*ev, starts to

mine gold and diamonds in Africa from March, Äripäev quotes Delovõje

Vedomosti.

UMC inc., Global Mining corp., and Global Mrketing Liberia inc., the

subsidiaries of Estmor Service Transiit OÜ, bought a permit from Liberian

government to start two diamond and gold mines last spring.



The company may get at least 10-11 tons of gold from Bangorma mine. Geologists,

who currently work there, say that there might be about 500,000 carats of

diamonds.



“There is enough work for years. We want to sell the other mine and we’ve

already found a buyer. We’re sorry, but this workload and investment is too

much for us,” Santa*ev said.



They’ve invested about USD 2 mln to Bangorma mine. 12 of 35 employees working

there are from Estonia and Russia.



Considering current gold price, the company aims to earn the investment back in

6 months.



BBN

Baltic Business News



+++



7) Brazilian Govt. delegation visits Liberia

Feb 24, 2009





A high-powered Brazilian Government delegation has paid a courtesy call on

Foreign Minister Olubanke King Akerele, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in

Monrovia.



Welcoming members of the delegation to the Ministry on Friday, Minister King

Akerele explained the four pillars of Liberia's Poverty Reduction Strategy, now

as Lift Liberia. She expressed appreciation for contribution provided by the

Brazilian Government to UNMIL, AND SAID Liberia was steadily on the path of

growth, but unemployment still remains critical to national recovery.



According to a Foreign Ministry release, Minister King Akerele said the

government of Liberia is impressed with Brazil's involvement in Africa, and

strategy employed by that country in reducing poverty among her people.



The Foreign Ministry boss presented a copy of President Sirleaf recent state of

the Nation Address to the National Legislature to the Brazilian delegation,

highlighting government's achievements during the past years.



Responding, the head of the delegation, Cicero Lima, praised the Liberian

Government for the warm reception accorded them, and recounted the strong ties

subsisting between Brazil and Liberia. According to Mr. Lima, the delegation

held technical discussions with key ministries in the areas of Health and

Agriculture.



Liberia Broadcasting System, ©2007



+++



8) VP Boakai on Liberia's self-sufficiency

Written by Wellington Geevon Smith

Tuesday, 24 February 2009

STAR RADIO



Vice President Joseph Boakai says Liberia is still far from reaching the stage

of self-sufficiency.



Ambassador Boakai said the country would welcome any assistance from

well-meaning individuals and organizations.



The Vice President observed relief assistance is an excellent program for a

country emerging from a civil conflict where there are a lot of orphans and

elderly persons.



He made the observation Monday, when a three-man delegation from the US-based

Emergency Food Shelf Network paid a courtesy call on him.



The delegation is on a month-long visit to evaluate the needs of Liberians to

help them determine what assistance to extend to the needy in Liberia.



+++



9) Youths launch clean-up campaign in Ganta

Written by T. Saye Goinleh

Tuesday, 24 February 2009

STAR RADIO



A youth group in Nimba County has launched a cleaning exercise aimed at giving

the commercial district of Ganta a face-lift.



The Liberia United Youth for Community Safety and Development is cleaning the

city with technical support from the Environmental Protection Agency.



The local group is to relocate some of dump sites in Ganta.



The head of the group told Star Radio his group decided to carry out the

exercise in order to support government's national clean-up campaign.



Mr. Fred Johnson said with support from the United Nations Organization for

Youth, the campaign would be extended to other bigger towns in Nimba County.



+++



10) Bushmeat, an African delicacy, facing NY crackdown

Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:34am EST

By Edith Honan



NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Like many West African immigrants in New York's

Park Hill neighborhood, Liberian Jacob Massaquoi has a story about bringing

bushmeat into the United State -- in his case, three dried monkey carcasses.



Massaquoi listed "bushmeat" on his customs declaration form when entering JFK

Airport around 2001. The meat was confiscated and Massaquoi, the head of an

African community organization, was fined $250.



"It's like telling an Englishman, you can't have your baked beans," Massaquoi

said. "Bushmeat is an integral part of our culture and something that we

cherish."



U.S. health officials say a steady flow of bushmeat is brought illegally into

the United States, largely by West and Central African immigrants. Officials say

the imports are a serious public health hazard.



New York's state legislature may increase the penalties for smuggling, although

immigrants say the dangers are overblown and the crackdown smacks of

anti-African prejudice.



Officials say even a small amount of tainted bushmeat -- a staple of some

African diets that includes chimpanzee, gorilla, antelope, birds and rodents --

could lead to an outbreak of Ebola, monkey pox or other infectious diseases.



"It just takes one piece of meat that's infected with Ebola virus for us to have

a major disaster on our hands," said Pascal Imperato, a former New York City

Health Commissioner and the former director of an immunization drive in West

Africa.



"It spreads very rapidly. It is very difficult to contain and control."



Salmonella and food poisoning also are serious concerns.



Common ways of preparing the meat -- drying, smoking or salting -- may not

always kill viruses that cause human disease.



Dale Peterson, scientist and author of "Eating Apes," said Ebola -- an incurable

hemorrhagic fever with a high mortality rate -- can be spread through butchering

chimpanzees and that a person could possibly contract Ebola after the meat is

transported.



Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cite a 2003 case in

which monkey pox was spread from African rats to prairie dogs when the two

species were briefly housed together before being sold into U.S. homes as pets.



There were no human deaths linked to the outbreak.



BUSHMEAT SMUGGLING



"There are definitely people making money out of smuggling bushmeat into the

United States and selling it to their friends and their contacts and colleagues

who want that taste of home," said Crawford Allan, director of the World

Wildlife Fund's traffic program.



In December, U.S. Customs officials at Dulles International Airport outside

Washington, D.C., discovered the charred carcasses of three monkeys in the

luggage of someone arriving from Central Africa, local media reported.



Later this year, federal prosecutors are expected to make their case against

Mamie Manneh, 39, a Liberian immigrant from Park Hill -- in the New York City

borough of Staten Island -- who has been charged with smuggling bits of baboon,

green monkey and warthog into the country.



"I understand why some may say that this is not exactly a pressing issue but if

they were one of the 700 remaining mountain gorillas, they would realize it is a

very important issue," said Assemblyman Greg Ball, sponsor of a bill that would

increase fines for importing bushmeat.



Edward Lama Wonkeryor, a Liberian professor of African American studies at

Temple University in Philadelphia, said he remembers bringing bits of monkey,

reindeer and lion to the United States while a student in the 1970s.



While he said he has personally forgotten the taste after living outside of

Africa for decades, he says immigrants were being demonized while deforestation,

mining and war were much more devastating for the environment.



"The practices of a small African community are being scapegoated for the

exploitation of natural resources," Wonkeryor said.



For now, Massaquoi said he is resigned to eating smoked turkey, the U.S. product

that he said most resembles monkey.



"Right now, I would pay anything for some bushmeat. I miss it so badly," he

said. "It is very tasty, very delicious." (Editing by Daniel Trotta and Eric

Walsh)





© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved



+++



11) Liberia: President Sirleaf Withdraws Nomination of Assistant Lands, Mines

And Energy Minister

21 February 2009



President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has withdrawn the nomination of Mr. James K.

Zawolo for the position of Assistant Minister for Energy at the Ministry of

Lands, Mines & Energy.



An Executive Mansion press release quotes the President as saying she was

withdrawing Mr. Zawolo's nomination in light of documentation she has received

and based upon his own admission that he has violated the Mineral Law and the

PPCC laws of Liberia during the Senate's Committee hearing.



The President's decision withdrawing Mr. Zawolo's nomination as Assistant

Minister for Energy was contained in a recent letter addressed to members of the

Liberian senate.



Copyright © 2009 Liberia Government.



+++



12)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



###



Complete archives at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nature_Liberia/

1) Venga's Affiliate Ships Dredging Equipment for Liberian Gold Mining Operation

(Press Release Excerpt), 2) Auctioning mineral assets is way to go, says adviser

to Liberia, 3) Planning Ministry Takes Development to Locals, Bomi and Grand

Cape Mount, Brainstorm for Poverty Reduction, 4) 'Illegal' Logging in Bassa, 5)

Pres. Sirleaf blasts health, agriculture officials, 6) MINING-LIBERIA: Steel

Town Blues For Yekepa, 7) Liberia: Two ambassadors hold talks with Dr. Toe, 8)

Liberia: European Commission Starts Three-Year Capacity Building Assistance for

Govt, 9) Liberia-Russia-Investment, 10) Liberia: Green Advocates - Global

Witness Analyze GoL - China Union Concession Agreement, 11) MINING-WEST

AFRICA:ECOWAS Stirs Up Trouble With MOU, 12)See also:

http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



1) Venga's Affiliate Ships Dredging Equipment for Liberian Gold Mining Operation

(Press Release Excerpt)



updated 6:55 a.m. PT, Fri., March. 6, 2009

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Venga Aerospace Systems Inc. (TSX VENTURE: VAV)(PINK SHEETS:

VNGAF) (the "Company") announced that its mining affiliate, Global Mineral

Investments, LLC ("GMI"), has now shipped the main mining dredge and related

equipment and supplies that will be used in GMI's gold dredging operation that

will be carried on in those portions of the Upper Tartweh River flowing through

GMI's GoldMatta concession located in the Sanquin Mining Zone, Sinoe County,

Republic of Liberia. One forty foot container together with a twenty foot

container



which contain GMI's initial mining equipment and supplies are scheduled to be

delivered to GMI's GoldMatta mining site later this month with the delivery of

the newly acquired mining dredge expected to occur before the end of the first

week of April, 2009.



This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the

"safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of

1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and

uncertainties that may cause the Company's results to differ materially from

expectations and speak only as of the date hereof.



SHARES ISSUED: 239,171,893



The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or

accuracy of this release.



Contacts:

Venga Aerospace Systems Inc.

Hirsh Kwinter

President

(514) 489-7175

Email: venga@...

Website: www.vengasystems.webs.com

© MarketWire 2009



+++



2) Auctioning mineral assets is way to go, says adviser to Liberia

By: Guy Copans

Published: 6th March 2009



--------------------------------------------



Former Mintek CEO and one-time Department of Minerals and Energy official Dr

Paul Jourdan played a role in making the South African government the custodian

of mineral rights in South Africa.



Until the new regime was enforced, mineral rights were the preserve of the

private sector in South Africa, which was out of kilter with what pertained

elsewhere in the Western world.



Now he is advising the Liberian government on the concessioning of its mineral

assets.



Liberia has decided on the auction route, which Jourdan says is raising billions

of dollars for the county.



In fact, Jourdan is so taken by the auction model that he believes the then

Minerals and Energy Minister, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, should have auctioned

South African assets instead of embarking on the black economic-empowerment

(BEE) route.



Mineral activities in the West African country of Liberia, which has now well

and truly emerged from two civil wars under Africa’s first woman President,

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, have over the past few years been dormant, with few or no

regulations to govern them.



It was from this vantage point that the international community imposed

sanctions on Liberia’s diamond and mining sectors. With the removal of

sanctions, world bodies are concerned about Liberia’s ability to explore

adequate regulations/ policies to monitor and manage these vast resources.



However, there is no doubt that despite contentious issues, there is vast

mineral potential in the country.



Jourdan, who is the Governance and Economic Management Assistance Programme

adviser to the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy in Liberia, has played a key

role in auctioning off



mineral assets to the highest bidder on behalf of the Liberian government, in

which he sold iron-ore rights to the Chinese for $2,7-billion, and other rights

for $15-billion.



He now regrets that South Africa never embarked on the same route.



He calculates that, if South Africa had, it would have created 200 000 to 300

000 mining jobs.



In that way, it would have been far more pervasive than BEE, which is now

experiencing problems as a result of the global economic meltdown.



Jourdan believes that had South Africa auctioned known State mineral assets in

the Bushveld Complex, which is a veritable Aladdin’s cave of platinum and

chrome minerals, as well as Kalahari iron and manganese, the quality of which is

among the world’s highest, the benefits for the country and its people could

have been huge.



He cautions, however, that it is necessary to conduct such auctions against

developmental criteria that embrace investment, value addition, infrastructure,

linkages, competitive pricing of mineral products and government revenue.



Jourdan says that Liberia auctions its known mineral assets under the

country’s Public Procurement and Concessions Act (PPCA).



The auctions take place within a framework of the technical and financial

capacity of the bidders to undertake the development of the resources and the

price of the discovery, which is paid in advance along with a rent tax.



He says that areas with no known mineral deposits go through the standard

two-year and three-year exploration licensing procedure, with 25-year mining

licences being granted under a mineral development agreement (MDA).



The PPCA of 2005 requires that all State assets be concessioned in a transparent

and competitive manner.



Jourdan says that, in essence, mining licences are public-private partnerships,

in which a State-owned mineral asset is leased for development by the private

sector for 25 years.



However, he notes, the asset is not returned to the State at the end of the

lease, but is consumed, which, he says, is why minerals carry a royalty and a

resource rent tax.



Jourdan says that while past civil wars in Liberia have hampered mining

progress, the political scene is relatively stable now.



"The civil disturbances have left a destroyed infrastructure and the minerals

sector will be the main driver of its rehabilitation, in terms of rail, road,

ports, power, and water," he says.



He says that the presence of more than 10 000 United Nations troops in Liberia

renders the possibility of a resumption of hostilities remote.



He adds that most of Liberia’s geology is a Precambrian mobile belt with

remnants of greenstone belts. The main potential, he notes, is in iron-ore,

gold, diamonds, base metals and coastal heavy mineral sands (HMS).



He maintains that the main long-term mining prospects in the country reside in

large-scale iron-ore mines and small to medium-scale gold and diamond

operations.



He points out that coastal HMS are unassessed, while offshore, several oil and

gas blocks have been concessioned for exploration.



ArcelorMittal is carrying out an iron-ore project at Nimba; the Bong prospect

has been concessioned to China-Union; and the Western Cluster iron-ore deposit

is being rebid.



BHP Billiton is looking at Goe Fantro and Kitoma, Mano River Resources is

assessing Putu, and the Liberian government is assessing Wologisi for possible

tender.



Each project, with infrastructure, requires a capital expenditure of

$1,5-billion to $2,5-billion.



CONTENTIOUS ISSUES



Liberia is not without its contention in the area of legislative environment and

South Africa’s Delta Consolidated Mining has decided to take legal action

against the Liberian government for first declaring it the provisional winner of

the $1,6-billion Western Cluster concession in February 2008 and then

disallowing it from taking part in the rebid process.



Delta has applied to the Liberian Civil Law Court for judicial review and

applied for an order preventing the government from reopening a bidding process.



It has been granted an interim stay on the rebid.



CHINA SCORES



A celebrated deal is that of China-Union Company, which has signed a 25-year

mineral development agreement with the Liberian government for the exploration

and mining of iron-ore in the



Bong Range. One of the provisions of the $2,7-billion transaction is a

requirement that the company pays $40-million before a sod is turned.



The international nongovernmental organisation, Global Witness, and Green

Witness say that, despite the positive aspects of the contract, the agreement is

vague in parts, potentially leaving it open to abuse.



They say that greater clarity and rigour are required to prevent serious

problems from arising in the future, arguing that weaker elements of the

contract are the provisions relating to the resettlement of communities, the

fiscal stabilisation clause and the clauses governing the feasibility study.



Ultimately, they say, the contract is only as effective as its implementation.

As such, they state, it is critical that significant international support is

given to develop State



capacity, local civil society and legal avenues to provide the checks and

balances needed to ensure oversight of the contract’s execution.



Global Witness campaigner Natalie Ashworth is encouraging Liberia lawmakers to

use their voice to ensure that the final, ratified Bong Mines contract

represents the best possible deal for Liberia and its people.



The Liberian Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy and the US Agency for

International Development last year sponsored a two-day national mineral

stakeholders’ workshop on the



finalisation of the proposed MDA and mineral policy reviews and the

implementation of a Web-based mineral cadastre information management system.



Some 150 participants, representing various stakeholders, including government

agencies, miners, brokers, mining agents, concessionaires, advocacy groups,

conversationists and civil society, attended the workshops.



An issue of concern is the local value add, participants lamenting that Liberia

has for long made no attempt to process minerals locally.



Inadequate electricity generation is an impediment, as is the lack of human

resource capacity.



Most of the participants wanted shorter periods of exploration and lower-cost

surface rental fees and land purchase prices.



The Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy also recently conducted an open forum

with various stakeholders in the minerals and concessions sector to discuss the

draft mineral exploration regulations.



The forum, which was an undertaking geared at building consensus on the

exploration regulation document that was opened for public comments or inputs,

in August last year, brought together major stakeholders directly or indirectly

connected to exploration regulations and other such documents.



The right to explore does not grant to the licensee the right to engage in bulk

sampling or pilot mining and recovery except in compliance with Section 13.2, or

to conduct exploration outside licence areas, or to conduct exploration in any

licensed portion after it has been surrendered.



A class A miner has no right to mine within a class C region without consent but

a class A miner can carry on sampling and other exploration activities within

adjacent blocks.





Copyright Creamer Media (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tel: +27(0)11 622 3744 | Fax +27(0)11 622 9350 | newsdesk@...

http://www.miningweekly.com



+++



3) Planning Ministry Takes Development to Locals, Bomi and Grand Cape Mount,

Brainstorm for Poverty Reduction

Mar 4, 2009

by MOPEA Press /





Monrovia, March 4, 2009 - The Ministry of Planning and Economics Affairs in

performing its responsibility to monitor and track accurate data on the

scrupulous implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) - a document

seeking to find decent standard of living for Liberians within three years has

begun the process of making the local population involved in the development

process, Tuesday holding separate town hall meetings with the people of Bomi and

Grand Cape Mount Counties.



Tuesday’s discussions centered on the level of progress being made in those

counties so far in the implementation of the four pillars of the PRS (Economic

Revitalization, Governance and Rule of Law, Peace and Security and the

Infrastructure and Basic Services) and the County Development Agenda (CDA).



Planning and Economic Affairs Minister, Amara Konneh, ahead of a delegation from

his ministry including Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Sebastian Muah and

Henrique Wilson, Director for the newly established Monitoring & Evaluation

(M&E) Unit, held over four hours long discussion with employees of various line

ministries and agencies and representatives of Non-



governmental Organizations during the County Development Steering Committee’s

meeting in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, focusing on the progress of the PRS in their

various areas and the implementation of Bomi County Development Agenda (CDA).



Bomi County Superintendent Mohammad Massaley, Assistant Development

Superintendent and other county officials participated in the meeting at the

Tubmanburg Administrative Building.



"We are here to decentralize development, the issue about development in Liberia

must not be Monrovia-based, you are the people on the grounds who are most

affected by poverty and so you must be able to tell us what is happening in here

in the communities in terms of implementation and impact on the lives of our

fellow citizens. This puts us in the position to tell our colleagues in the

government, development partners, and the Liberian people about the challenges

and opportunities for the government to frame its policies to impact your

lives",



Planning Minister Amara Konneh told the over 56 participants at the Bomi County

Meeting.



The Planning Minister told the people of Bomi that they must see themselves as

important people in the implementation of the PRS and not wait for

Monrovia-based government officials to



perform magic to know what is obtaining in the various counties. "This PRS

process is like a football game and every player has to play to the best to win

the game. We in Monrovia do not know all of your problems; therefore you must

play along with us to win this game. The opportunity is now for us to develop

our country; so let’s take advantage of that opportunity



we have under the leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf that can provide

the conduit for getting resources in relieving our people from poverty," the

Planning Minister in a caution to Bomi citizens expressed.



Mohammed Massalay, Superintendent of Bomi County, who spearheaded the meeting

called on his citizens to see the effort of the Minister of Planning and his

officials by traveling to the



county as a sign of their intention to see improved standards of living for the

people. "This is really strange for us to sit on the same table with the

Minister of Planning and discuss the development of our county and my people,

take advantage of this opportunity and let us help ourselves come from poverty",

Superintendent Massalay told his citizenry.



At the Tubmanburg meeting, several employees of line miniseries and agencies

including representatives of nongovernmental organizations made reports of the

progress made in the deliverables of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS),

outlining their challenges and constraints to the Planning Minister and his

team.



The level of excitements and enthusiasms on the part of the citizens to have a

roundtable discussion with the Planning Minister was high as nearly every member

of the audience prolonged the meeting by insisting on making points one after

another.



In Robersports, Grand Cape Mount County, Superintendent Catherine Khasu and a

group of county officials who waited all day long before receiving the Planning

Minister and team at 3:59 pm described the visit as the first of a government

official to the city. "When people do not hear that President Sirleaf is coming

here to visit, we do not see any officials of



government. This really makes us feel like isolated in this development process,

especially the Poverty reduction Strategy, so Mr. Minister, we hope this will

not be the last", Superintendent Khasu welcomed the Planning Minister.



At the Robertsports Administrative Building, during an emergency County

Development Steering Committee meeting, Minister Konneh assured the local

officials and citizens that there will



be constant visits to the county by the himself, his deputy and M&E Director to

closely monitor and follow the implementation of the PRS along with the recently

deployed Ministry of Planning‘s County Development Officers, M&E Assistants,

and County Statistics and Information Officers. "Monrovia is not Liberia and

development is not just for people in Monrovia. In



fact if you look at this PRS paper, Grand Cape Mount is one of the most

impoverished counties with 76.3% poverty rate, meaning 76 of every 100 persons

living in the county are living on below a day. How can we change this? We need

to work with you to change this trend and we need your support and involvement

in the entire process of making this happen", Planning



Minister Amara Konneh requested of Grand Cape Mount Citizens.



Robert Lormie of the Liberia Institute for Geo Information Services (LISGIS)

conceded that the visit of the Planning Minister will strengthen those working

on the ground in Grand Cape Mount County to take their job seriously.



The Planning Minister toured several places in Robertsports including Fanti

Town, a local fishing community, where he expressed that such effort could be

turned into a fishing industry



to provide more jobs for Liberians. "You see, government is looking for

resources to do everything and we have these kinds of opportunities here. Look

at the fishes on the driers this could make a whole big industry and employ our

people and generate revenue for government to fight poverty", Minister Konneh

said in conversion with citizens of Grand Cape Mount County.



The Planning Minister told people of the two counties that the visit is one of

series of visits that will be paid in all the counties of Liberia to see the

needs of the people and



design the necessary strategy to tackle poverty.



The Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs is responsible to monitor and

track the implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), a three year

plan designed by the Government of Liberia to reduce poverty by 2011 and provide

basic services to the population.



Minister Amara Konneh and team leave Thursday for Grand Gedeh County in the

Southeastern Region, one of the impoverished regions of Liberia in continuation

of the conduct of meetings with the local population, seeking their input in the

implementation of the PRS.





All rights, including copyright, in the content of these TheLiberianTimes.com

web pages are owned or controlled for these purposes by LoneStar Liberia. In

accessing



TheLiberianTimes.com's web pages, you agree that you may only download the

content for your own personal non-commercial use.



+++





4) 'Illegal' Logging in Bassa



Rights Groups Disclose



Published:  03 March, 2009



Picture of Tarpeh's activities taken by officials of the advocacy groups



GRAND BASSA CO.,Two authoritative human rights and pro-democracy groups,

Sustainable Development Institute and the Environmental Lawyers of Liberia

(Green Advocates) have disclosed that



Tarpeh Timber has begun illegal logging in Grand Bassa County.

     Sustainable Development Institute and the Association of Environmental

Lawyers of Liberia (Green Advocates) recently visited Grand Bassa and found

overwhelming evidence that Tarpeh



Timber has begun felling trees in violation of the forestry law, the FDA's

regulations and the environmental law of Liberia.





Gain access to this and all other stories. Subscribe now to

www.liberianobserver.com! Click the banner at the top of the page to subscribe!



© 2009 The Daily Observer



+++



5) Pres. Sirleaf blasts health, agriculture officials

Written by Vivian Gartyn

Monday, 02 March 2009

STAR RADIO



President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has frowned on the Ministries of Health and

Agriculture for doing little in areas affected by the caterpillar invasion.



The President said besides spraying, social services including the provision of

safe drinking water should have been prioritized.



According to our correspondent, the President wondered why the people were yet

to benefit from repair of hand pumps and wells when funds were allocated.



According to our correspondent the people are still drinking from creeks

contaminated by the caterpillars.



The President apologized to the people of Zota, the area hardest hit by the

invasion and assured she would intervene to remedy the situation.



It is not yet clear what actions the president would take against officials of

the ministries who failed to provide social services even though funds were

allocated.





+++



6) MINING-LIBERIA: Steel Town Blues For Yekepa

Written by Rebecca Murray

YEKEPA, Liberia, Feb 28  (IPS)  - Three exhausted railroad workers sip beer and

talk on the back porch of a makeshift bar in Liberia's rural Nimba County,

concealed by nightfall and the



deafening din of motorcycles and a generator nearby.



”We raised the alarm two, three times, but they have not come to our aid,”

says one of the men softly, requesting anonymity for fear of losing his job.

”They promised us once in November that they were going to come, and they

would raise the salary up, but still nothing has been done.”



It is the end of another gruelling ten-hour day for Liberian workers renovating

the rails over 250 kilometres of railroad, from the coastal port of Buchanan to

the mining town of Yekepa, on the border where Liberia, Guinea and the Ivory

Coast intersect.



They work for a Brazilian-owned company Odebrecht which has been contracted by

international steel giant ArcelorMittal.



The teams hammer down tracks six to seven days a week in the tropical heat, and

sleep in tents on a plywood floor. They are allotted one cup of rice and soup

daily, drink well water and have their pay docked for hospital visits.



The Odebrecht company website says, ”For every day worked, each of them

receives a kilo of rice and the equivalent of one U.S. dollar to pay for their

meals, in addition to monthly wages.”



However, the workers claim they earn an average monthly salary of around $80

after taxes, which in Liberia's inflated economy leaves them struggling to cover

basic necessities like rent, food, transportation and school fees for their

families back home.



Yekepa, the seat of ArcelorMittal's large iron ore concession, is surrounded by

mineral-rich hills and lush, dense jungle. In Yekepa's heyday, the Liberian

American Swedish Chemicals Company (LAMCO) ran the high-grade ore mine from the

1950s until Charles Taylor's rebels invaded in 1989.



”On the town's outskirts, jungle encroaches on remnants of that time - a vast

art deco swimming pool, rusty trains, and the whitewashed skeletal remains of

buildings picked clean by looters.”



ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel manufacturer, moved into town three

years ago as part of its global mission to increase the company's iron ore

production to two-thirds of the total product they purchase.



”Liberia is one of the stepping stones to get there,” Joseph Mathews, the

company's head in Liberia, told IPS.



Pushed by the incoming government of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in December 2006 to

revise their original contract signed just months before her election in August

2005, ArcelorMittal



pledged a US $1.5 billion, 25-year investment for the old LAMCO property.  The

government owns 30 percent of the net profit, and receives a 4.5 percent royalty

fee and three million dollars annually for development projects in Grand Bassa,

Bong, and Nimba Counties.



”The renegotiation was for the rail and the port, and it became not a company

asset but a government asset,” Mathews explains. ”We get the rights to run

it, control it and fix it up, then they get it back at the end of the 25

years.”



Global Witness, the UK-based corporate watchdog and critic of the company's

original contract, ”Mittal Steel has shown that it is possible for a

multinational company to act responsibly and negotiate a deal that remains

profitable and safeguards the interests of the host country and its people.”



”However, the real benefits of this contract to Liberia can only be truly

assessed as the company starts its operations.”



For the past three years, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has aggressively

courted companies to invest in Liberia's most valuable resources - iron ore,

rubber and timber - but the



global economic meltdown in September 2008 has hit the country's concessions

hard.



ArcelorMittal just posted a net loss of US $2.63 billion worldwide for their

last quarter, and their operations in Liberia are feeling the impact. No iron

ore has yet been exported from Yekepa.



CEO Matthews says, ”We will keep our operations going along with the rail, and

at one point, earlier on, we thought we would start shipping ore at the end of

2009, but that has been delayed until 2010.”



”It will all depend on how quickly the recovery will come in...  We have

already put in a hiring freeze about two months ago, and our plans and hopes are

to keep as much of our Liberian staff intact.”



Eugene Shannon, the Minister for Lands, Mines and Energy is well aware of the

local impact of the global slowdown. ”To tell you a fact, we are going to be

as compromising as possible.



In a downturn you cannot be as hard on people as you can be when things are

normal... We can't kick you out, we've got to work it out because its in our

interest to keep them in, and get as much out of them.”



Yekepa's sleepy market centre is filled with youth trying to scrape by as

motorbike drivers, food and electronics vendors and selling gasoline in large

jars.



33-year-old Victoria Johnson lives close by. A plumber by trade, she moved with

ten family members from Monrovia into a friend's house, and fixes pipes at

ArcelorMittal's residential quarters.



”I find small work and make about U.S. $70 month,” she says.  Johnson is one

of the family's few breadwinners.  ”When the children get sick, we don't take

them to the hospital, we don't have the money.  We go to the drugstore.”



ArcelorMittal say they have almost 500 staff members and about 2,000 contractors

on the ground.  They hope to eventually increase their staff to 3,500.



Labour Minister Kofi Woods says that rules for safeguarding the company's

subcontracted workers were not established in the concession contract, and they

are looking at standards



compliance. ”Serious issues include wages, working conditions, health and

safety,” he says.



A haggard 36-year-old guard for the security company Segal - contracted by

ArcelorMittal - returns home from a night guarding the nearby Tokadeh iron ore

mine. Wishing to remain



anonymous, he says he works seven days a week for nearly US $80 a month. He

receives no housing or health benefits, and has also been asked to vacate his

home.



”I don't know the arrangement between Segal and Mittal steel. Certainly the

pay does not come regularly,” he sighs. ”And anytime they want to fire you,

they can fire you from your job.”



ArcelorMittal CEO Mathews explains: ”We pay Segal U.S. $150 to U.S. $200 a

man, and it's the company's decision what to pay their workers... But in the

next stage, we will put these



safeguards in there that you cannot take 50 percent of what you pay and call

that profits for yourself as the owners of the company.”



Darius Dahn is a union organizer in Yekepa with the Forestry Logging Industrial

Workers Union (FLIWU). He recently sent over worker's signatures to the Labour

Ministry but concedes that



organizing the ArcelorMittal workforce - mostly drivers and workers at

Buchanan's port - and the subcontractors is an uphill battle.



”They are just six month contractors and are afraid with the union issue, that

management will terminate their contract after its over.”



But ArcelorMittal begs for time. ”There is a perception out there that a

company comes in and turns things overnight,” says Mathews.



”And looking back, our memories always give us this great picture of what the

past was. It takes time to get there. I think what we end up with will be a

whole lot better than LAMCO



back in the sixties - it's just a whole new world and it will be a better

environment.”



Email news@... | Businesses.com.au Media Group ABN 59 596 763 611

Archive Edition



+++



7) Liberia: Two ambassadors hold talks with Dr. Toe

Source: Government of Liberia



Date: 27 Mar 2009





Two Ambassadors accredited near Monrovia today paid courtesy calls on

Agriculture Minister Dr. J. Chris Toe at his Sinkor office where they discussed

areas of bilateral cooperation.



In separate meetings, the Australian High Commissioner William Williams and the

Indian Ambassador, Her Excellency Shamma Jain, met Dr. Toe and his senior staff

and discussed possible areas of support to the agricultural sector.



Ambassador Williams told Dr. Toe that the Australian Government was keen on

re-engaging Africa in critical areas particularly agriculture and mining.



The Australian Envoy wanted to know the status of the agricultural sector and

how the strategic objectives of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) are being

realized.



He then appealed to the Australian Government to provide foreign scholarships to

Liberians as well as technical assistance whereby improved technology will be

transferred to our farmers to increase food production.



For her part, Ambassador Jain of India assured Minister Toe that her country is

willing to assist Liberia in various agricultural disciplines using

internationally best practices.



She said scientists at the Indian Center of Agricultural Research (ICAR) will be

requested to visit Liberia to work with their Liberian counterparts on how to

improve agriculture. This would include assessing the feasibility for a model

agricultural project.



She also requested the Minister to provide a detailed report on Government's

response to the caterpillar infestation in the country.



Dr. Toe spoke about the huge capacity problems faced by his Ministry especially

in the recruitment of senior managers and technicians, though Government is

doing all it could to attract potential people under the Senior Executive

Service (SES) scheme.



The Agriculture Minister cited impediments faced by Liberian farmers including

low inputs and technology which are major contributing factors to low

productivity and income for the farmers.



Minister Toe thanked the two Ambassadors for the visit and assured them of

Government's continued cooperation and collaboration in the long term.



With the exception of public UN sources, reproduction or redistribution of the

above text, in whole, part or in any form, requires the prior consent of the

original source. The opinions expressed in the documents carried by this site

are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by UN OCHA or ReliefWeb.



© 2009 ReliefWeb



+++



8) Liberia: European Commission Starts Three-Year Capacity Building Assistance

for Govt

27 February 2009



--------------



press release



Monrovia — Experts will train a Unit of the Ministry of Planning and Economic

Affairs on management of European Commission funded programmes and projects



The European Commission (EC) has approved a new 3-years „Long Term Technical

Assistance for capacity development of the office of the National Authorizing

Officer (LTTA/NAO) of Liberia”. The support aims to improve the efficacy,

efficiency and impact of Liberia-EC cooperation by enabling the NAO to perform

and fulfill its responsibilities as set in the Cotonou Agreement (article 35 of

Annex IV) that governs the partnership between the EC and developing countries

in Africa, the Carribean and the Pacific.



LTTA/NAO envisages to enhance the capacity in development planning, programming

and implementation of the office of the NAO, and more specifically to build up

its ability to manage the European funded programmes and projects from their

identification to their execution, monitoring and evaluation.



The project starts with a 3-months inception phase, followed by the

implementation phase.



The technical experts are already in Monrovia and took their offices at the

Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs (MPEA), comprising 3 experts: on

institutional and human capacity development, on a programme management,

monitoring and evaluation and on administration and contractual and financial

management.



The results to be achieved by the Consultants during the period are:



-A sustainable institutional set-up for the administrative and financial

management of EC funded projects, which guarantees that the foreseen procedures

and time frames are complied according the Cotonou Agreement and EDF rules.



-A system including a methodology, instruments and capacities for programming,

management, financing, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and projects is

set up and applied with the participation of sectoral direct beneficiaries (line

Ministries, implementing partners, and other relevant government partners)



-Reinforced capacity of the technical Ministries and other main

stakeholders/beneficiaries of the EDF, for conception, programming, execution

and monitoring of projects under their responsibilities.



-The global coordination of cooperation (intersectoral and inter

programmes/projects) is substantially improved.



The additional EC assistance to the Government of Liberia comes through the

Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs (MPEA). The MPEA is designated to

assume the role of National Authorising Officer (NAO) in the management of the

European Development Fund (EDF), once sufficient internal capacity has been

built.



During the war, the NAO function was taken away from Liberia. Currently the Head

of the EC Delegation to Ivory Coast and Liberia based in Abidjan acts as NAO on

behalf of the Government



of Liberia. In June 2006, the Council of Ministers of the European Union (EU)

took a decision to normalize relations with Liberia. The EC support to the

Ministry of Planning and setting



up an EC Unit within the Ministry is a further step in the process of

reassigning the role of the NAO to the government.



The present Long Term Technical Assistance is possible under the 9th EDF

“Institutional Support and Capacity Building Programme” (ISCBP). The EUR 7,4

million capacity building programme



was designed in 2007 to support the functioning of key public Ministries,

institutions and commissions involved in the peace and reconstruction process.



The Delegation of the EC in Liberia, together with the GoL, also conducted a

programming exercise for the 10th EDF and a new CSP/NIP for the period 2008-2013

was signed in December



2007. An amount of EUR 166 million has been allocated to Liberia to cover

operations under the EC’s cooperation strategy which among other components

includes further institutional support.



Copyright © 2009 European Commission.





+++



9) Liberia-Russia-Investment



Russian steel giant explores for iron ore in Liberia



APA-Monrovia (Liberia) The multi-billion dollar Russian steel giant SeverStal is

exploring for iron ore in the Putu Mountain in Grand Gedeh County in

south-eastern Liberia, located about 360 kilometres from the capital Monrovia.



The area is said to have an estimated 500 million tons deposits of iron ore.



Official sources indicate that the exploration exercise will cost SeverStal

between US$7 million and US$10 million and is expected to last for the next two

to three years.



Alexey Mordashov, a Russian billionaire who owns 87 percent shares in SeverStal

on Thursday paid a one-day visit to Liberia to demonstrate his company’s

interest in investing in Liberia’s iron ore sector.



He told reporters following discussions with Liberian government officials that

mineral exploration began in Grand Gedeh a few months ago, and that SeverStal

hopes to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the Liberian economy.



Liberia’s National Investment Commission Chairman (NIC) Dr. Richard Tolbert

described the visit of the Russian billionaire to Liberia as ’one of the

greatest recognitions of the Liberian government’s good relationship with the

international community’.



For his part, Liberia’s Finance Minister Augustine Ngafuan said the coming of

Mr. Mordashov demonstrates investor confidence in the government, “especially

during this period of global



economic downturn”.





TSS/daj/APA

2009-02-27



+++



10) Liberia: Green Advocates - Global Witness Analyze GoL - China Union

Concession Agreement

25 February 2009





Monrovia — President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has welcomed comments and

recommendations by two rights groups, contained in an in-depth analysis of a

recently concluded Mineral Concession Agreement between the Government of

Liberia and the China Union Mining Company.



The President described as refreshing the observations and recommendations by

the two groups, noting that terms of the agreement are a manifestation of

Government's determination to ensure that Liberia reaps the maximum benefits

from its natural resources.



President Johnson Sirleaf described as constructive the acknowledgment by Global

Witness and Green Advocates standards being set by the Government of Liberia to

highlight in concession agreements, measures which will safeguard the interest

of the country and benefit the people of Liberia.



In a recent analysis of the Liberian Government-China Union concession contract,

International rights group, Global Witness, and local environmental advocacy

institution, Green Advocacy, observed that the contract includes positive

commitments to transparency through the contractual obligation to join the

Liberia Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative.



The groups also welcomed terms of the agreement which call for the disclosure of

information on payments to the Government and publishing of the contract. The

agreement, the groups noted, also contains robust transfer pricing provisions

and the Concessionaire and the Operating Company are made jointly and severally

liable. These provisions, Global Witness and Green Advocates observed were

notably lacking in previous concession agreements.



A campaigner for Global Witness, Natalie Ashworth said, the Liberian government

should be congratulated on negotiating an Agreement which has the potential to

play a very positive role in Liberia's development and which is a significant

improvement on other recent natural resource concession contracts between the

state and international companies. "We encourage



Liberia's lawmakers now to use their voice to ensure that the final, ratified,

Bong Mines contract represents the best possible deal for Liberia and its

people," the Global Witness official emphasized.



The Groups also lauded measures taken by Government toward transparency in the

Agreement, a principle they described as important safeguard against corruption

and should be applauded.



The Government, Green Advocates Executive Director Alfred Brownell noted, must

now apply this kind of transparency to the way it spends and accounts for the

US$40 million signature bonus."



The Executive Mansion quotes President Johnson Sirleaf as saying the signature

bonus will be used for the rehabilitation and construction of roads and bridges

throughout the country, in line with budgetary appropriations.



Under the agreement, China Union will pay the Government of Liberia a US$40

million up-front signature bonus.



The fact the Liberian Government has publicly announced this payment, the groups

noted, is positive. The Groups pointed out that this development is contrary to

what is practiced in



other resource-rich countries, where signature bonuses are often kept secret,

thereby raising the risks of corruption.



Despite the positive aspects of the contract, Green Advocates and Global Witness

observed, the Agreement is vague in parts, potentially leaving it open to abuse.

Greater clarity and



rigor, the groups said, is required to prevent serious problems from arising in

the future. "Weaker elements of the contract which the Legislature should

consider amending are the



provisions relating to the resettlement of communities, the fiscal stabilization

clause and the clauses governing the feasibility study," the Advocacy Groups

recommended.



"Ultimately, the contract is only as effective as its implementation. As such,

it is critical that significant international support is given to develop state

capacity, local civil



society and legal avenues to provide the checks and balances needed to ensure

oversight of the contract's execution," Green Advocates and Global Witness

recommended.



Copyright © 2009 Liberia Government.





+++



11) MINING-WEST AFRICA:

ECOWAS Stirs Up Trouble With MOU

Francis Kokutse



Credit: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN



Defining the code that will guide resource extraction in West Africa is vital.



ACCRA, Oct 24 (IPS) - The Economic Community of West African States has taken

the unprecedented step of inviting Oxfam America to coordinate the drawing up of

a mining code for the region. The decision has infuriated some civil society

organisations.



Speaking after the April signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with

ECOWAS to develop the code, Mamadou Bitèye, regional director for Oxfam America

in West Africa said, "In its current form, mining activity has not made the

lives of West Africans significantly better.



"Even though gold mining has surpassed cotton and cocoa farming, Mali and Ghana

still rank 173 and 135 respectively out of 177 countries, according to the UNDP

Human Development Index."



Resource extraction in West Africa has been linked to civil war in Liberia and

Sierra Leone, and environmental degradation and displacement of local people in

Ghana and Nigeria, to choose just a few examples. Inhabitants of oil- or

gold-rich areas are often paradoxically among the poorest in each of these

countries.



Bitèye told IPS that collaboration with ECOWAS began in March 2007 when the

president of the ECOWAS invited the group to engage in a process to develop

mining standards that benefit the poor, respect the environment and human

rights, and keep governments and mining companies accountable through improved

governance practice.



"Oxfam America agreed to facilitate the participation of and contribution from

West African civil society and members of communities affected by mining in this

process. In turn, ECOWAS's role is to consult governments, international

financial institutions, mining companies and other stakeholders."



According to Oxfam America, the code will ensure social stability, protect the

environment, improve job security, income and food security, and respect good

mining conduct norms.



The creation of the ECOWAS mining code is part of Oxfam America's programme to

promote citizen participation in West Africa in decisions related to oil, gas,

and mining projects, transparency of payments by international corporations to

governments operating in this industry, and uniform laws and policies across the

region that will forestall a "race to the bottom" as companies compete for

foreign investment by compromising their social and environmental standards.



Process challenged

But protests have been flying around the subregion since the ECOWAS decision to

sign the MOU.



Yao Graham, Third World Network Africa's regional director told IPS that "our

concern so far is that the mode of Oxfam America's selection has not followed

any procedure. They were simply hand-picked and aside from that, the

organisation is providing $123,000 dollars to pay consultants that it was going

to engage."



Dissatisfaction with the procedure for selection led TWN Africa - a research and

advocacy NGO with a strong interest in development, the environment and trade

justice - to boycott the meetings that Oxfam had called.



Bitèye says Oxfam America is committed to civil society participation. "Oxfam

is not dictating or overseeing civil society in this process. We are playing the

role of facilitator so civil society organizations can make their voices heard.



"With years of experience supporting civil society organizations working on

mining issues, Oxfam's goal is to support the contribution of these groups to

the mining convention development process both at national and regional levels.



"Oxfam's extensive experience working on extractive industries around the world

also allows us to provide technical assistance and access to a network of

international experts on this issue," Biteye added.



But the process has been controversial. The MOU was signed in Nigeria on 14

April, but a "validation workshop" was held in Dakar just three days later, at

which a draft of the mining code was presented to around eighty regional civil

society organisations.



Dakar-based lawyer Hélène Cissé, a co-author of the code, interviewed in the

African finance journal Les Afriques at the end of May said following: "I

believe the notion of having citizens participate played an important role in

this workshop. What was most important about it, however, is that it was

constructive.



"The purpose of the mining code we’re currently drafting is not to go against

mining companies. That’s not at all our intention. Instead, we are trying to

make them understand that local communities are assets and that economic

production must be incorporated into the global effort to secure the well being

of local populations."



Cissé said that modifications suggested by participants in the April workshop

were integrated and the text was submitted to ECOWAS. "ECOWAS appeared to be

very inclined to take this into account to formalise the final project,"



The impression of being asked to comment on an already well-developed draft did

not sit well with TWN's Graham. He said ECOWAS director of industry and mines,

Mensan Lawson-Hichelli was invited to Accra where the TWN expressed misgivings

about the involvement of Oxfam in the drawing up of the code but nothing has

come out of this protest.



When IPS called Lawson-Hichelli, he said he was not in a position to answer

questions on the MOU between ECOWAS and Oxfam America. "You must direct your

queries to the appropriate quarters."



Asked who that was, he replied, "I don't know."



Efforts to secure a copy of the draft code also came to nothing.



IPS eventually reached ECOWAS trade commissioner D.A. Daramy, who said, "Oxfam

USA is an NGO that ECOWAS invited to correct the situation in the mining sector

in the region. They did not approach us, we talked them because we knew they had

the expertise.



"Currently, Oxfam USA is developing the convention that we need to set up the

basis for producing the regulation required to improve the sector. The

accusation that there was something wrong with our involving Oxfam USA is simply

not right."



Out of step with civil society principles?



Abdulai Dramani, the environmental programme officer for Third World Network

Ghana, told IPS the whole idea of the MOU is "not transparent and advances the

very forms of donor capture of policy and citizens space that African peoples as

well as many from the global North have been campaigning against."



He describes Oxfam America's role in nominating non-governmental organisations

to participate in the process as colonial.



Dramani underlines that civil groups in the West Africa region are not against

the preparation of the mining code. "What we are against is the arrangement."



And he is not alone. A letter from the Ogoni Solidarity Forum of Nigeria [ID] to

the ECOWAS President charged that the MOU "violates the Southern Campaigning and

Advocacy Principles that the Oxfam family adopted some years ago."



OSF pointed out that ECOWAS' foray into mining policy was relatively new and

noted that the design and timetable of the project places ECOWAS at risk of

missing out on a historic opportunity and benefit from the continental review of

the experience of mining codes across Africa which has been initiated by the

Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and Africa Union (AU)."



OSF also views the role assigned to Oxfam America as undermining "relations

between ECOWAS and its citizens and their organisations in the region."



TWN's Dramani states that since the countries in the region do not have adequate

guidelines, it is the wrong approach to start with drawing up policies. "There

is the need to negotiate certain principles and these would define the

conventions and the laws that would be used," he said.



All parties are agreed, it seems, on the need for improved regulation of mining

in the region. Across West Africa, resource extraction has been connected to

systematic violation of human rights across West Africa, often with slow and

limited response from the governments who rather than protect citizens collude

with multinational companies to maximise profits.



The outcome of the battle for control over a code that could define future

conduct in West Africa is a vital one.



*with additional reporting from Terna Gyuse in Cape Town



(END/2008)





Send your comments to the editor



IPSNEWS.NET



Copyright © 2009 IPS-Inter Press Service. All rights reserved.





+++



12)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



###



Complete archives at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nature_Liberia/

1) Fires in West Africa, 2) West Africa: Ecowas Meets Over Food Crisis, 3)

Sierra Leone: Diamond Miners Choose Cassava Over Carats, 4) ArcelorMittal sees

uncertainties in Liberian projects, 5) Liberia: ArcelorMittal Slow to Yield

Benefits for Liberians, 6) Liberia invaded by crop-eating caterpillars again:

ministry, 7) LIBERIA: IN THE HONEY BUSINESS (EXCERPT), 8) Sinoe citizens call

President's attention to land dispute, 9) Canadian Gold Star to buy west African

oil concession (Press Release), 10)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/







1) Fires in West Africa

Agricultural and other land-management or trash-burning fires are widespread

across West Africa in the dry season. This image from the Moderate Resolution

Imaging Spectroradiometer



(MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on March 17, 2009, shows scores of fires

(locations marked in red) burning in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Although

agricultural burning such as this is not necessarily immediately hazardous, it

can have a major impact on air quality and human health, climate, and natural

resources.



Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team

Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory



link to image:

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/319734main_WestAfrica_AMO_2009076_lrg_full.jp\

g



+++



2) West Africa: Ecowas Meets Over Food Crisis

Leadership (Abuja)

Nwakpa O. Nwakpa

17 March 2009



---------------------------------------------



Abuja — The Economic Community of West Africa has begun a meeting to discuss

the way forward on the present food crisis in the Sahel and West African

sub-regions. The conference, which started yesterday at the ECOWAS Commission in

Abuja, is bent on creating agriculture, food and trade opportunities in the

region.



In a keynote address, the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Water Resources, Dr.

Abba Sayyadi Ruma, stated that the objective of the conference was in total

conformity with President Yar'Adua's Seven-Point Agenda which had to position

Nigerians as one of the greatest in food production by the year 2020.



Ruma told the conference that the Federal Government has made tremendous effort

at implementing various agricultural programmes and projects.



He noted that the government was determined to reduce hunger and ensure food

security and opportunities for trade, not only in Nigeria but at the regional

level.



He said that Yar'Adua, on assumption of office, undertook a close review of

strategies adopted by previous governments. This, according to him, "resulted to

the evolution of new strategies, which has led to the development of National

Food Security Programme". This is to ensure "sustainable access, availability

and affordability of qualitative food for all Nigerians as well as become a

significant net provider of food to the global community".



Ruma said the government has a vision of making land available to small holder

farmers, deregulation of inputs, provision of input subsidies and to increase

the government's storage capacity for strategic reserve from 300,000mt to

3,000,000mt by 2011..



Copyright © 2009 Leadership. All rights reserved.





+++



3) Diamond Miners Choose Cassava Over Carats [Sierra Leone]

16 March 2009



-------------------------------------------------------------



Koidu — In Sierra Leone plummeting diamond prices, dwindling reserves,

consistently poor working conditions and a lack of regulation are driving

diamond workers to start farming, youths told IRIN.



"The future of Kono is not diamonds," said Tamba Kakarnbanja, councillor for

youths in Kono District. "It's agriculture."



Diamonds helped fuel the 11-year civil war that killed at least 75,000 people,

injured some 10,000 and displaced almost half of Sierra Leone's 4.5 million

population according to the UN. Tens of thousands of Kono residents were forced

out of their villages by rebels who wanted access to the diamond-rich land.



The global recession has slammed diamond prices in Africa, with the price of

rough diamonds falling by as much as 20 percent, according to local dealers.

Some industry observers say prices could fall by a further 60 percent.



Profits are plummeting for artisanal miners and large-scale corporate diamond

mining firms, which have drastically cut staff across the district.



"People here say the more you shed blood, the more diamonds you get. Now we are

shedding less blood, so we have fewer diamonds," said a diamond dealer, known

only as 'Little', in Kono's capital Koidu.



"Living on luck"



Mohammed Diallo, 45, from Kumdoma village in Sandoh chiefdom in northern Kono,

has been digging for diamonds for most of his life. "I am tired of this

business," he said. "It is not constant. We have been digging this pit for three

months and so far we have found nothing. Next year I am doing farming. It is

more constant. You can reap what you sow. Here you are just living on luck."



Little told IRIN: "There is very little mining now. People are still finding

diamonds along the rivers, but they are smaller than before. We are finding it

harder and harder to support ourselves. All of us are broke now. Most groups

find a diamond every six months...if they're lucky."



Last year Diallo received just US$60 over the six-month season. Some steal

diamonds and sell them illicitly or smuggle them across the nearby borders of

Guinea or Liberia, said Abdu Diallo, Kumdoma's supervisor.



At the Kumdoma pit men receive a bowl of rice and sauce for hours of arduous

work. If they find diamonds they are paid at the end of the season. Up to 70

percent of profits go to the financier, the rest to the license-holder -- often

a local chief to be split among his workers. Conditions are similar throughout

the district.



Most people continue artisanal mining, "because they are living on a dream,"

says Patrick Tongu, director of Kono-based non-profit Network Movement for

Justice and Development.



Mining in Kono incorporates deep-pit large-scale mining, corporate shallow-pit

or alluvial mining, and artisanal mining, which traditionally has employed the

vast majority of locals, and is non-mechanised, low-output mining done by

individuals or small groups.



Koidu Holdings, the largest firm in the area, employed 600 people in May 2008

and now retains just 60. The massive scale-back is due both to the government's

review of mining contracts and to the state of the diamond industry, according

to Koidu's spokesperson Ibrahim Kamara.



"We hope to go back to 600 one day, but madness is unfolding internationally and

everyone is affected. Everyone is being sensible - people don't want to buy

luxury goods now," Kamara told IRIN.



Farming pays



Farming can provide a higher and steadier wage than artisanal mining, says Marco

Serena, country director for international NGO COOPI, which runs a programme in

32 Kono communities to help youths begin farming.



In a 2008 study of 70 youths involved in COOPI's programme, 60 percent of them

were living below the national poverty line of $1.25 per day at the beginning of

the project, but 90 percent earned $2 to $3.50 per day once it was up and

running.



"We are noticing with the decline in mining and with huge unemployment rates

across the district, that there is much more interest in our agriculture

programmes," Serena said.



COOPI works with groups of youths - mainly aged 15 to 25 - to grow vegetables,

fruits and rice. They pound cassava they produce into 'gari' which is mixed with

water and eaten with sauce, and Serena said soon the youths will be able to

process the mangoes and bananas into juice.



"These products are available for many more months [than the raw materials], and

they are more valuable sale-items," said Serena, adding that farmers can make up

to a 30-percent return on their investment.



The government has also been strongly encouraging youths to return to

agriculture, Serena said.



Youth councillor Kakarnbanja told IRIN: "These boys are used to hard labour and

if they have the right incentives, some fertilisers, the right equipment, a bit

of training to manage finance, then I think 80 percent of the youths here would

choose [farming]."



Youth unemployment is at 75 percent in eastern Kono district, according to

government figures. Article link



Diallo of Kumdoma village does not know how to go about raising funds to start

up a farm, nor is he part of a cooperative, which is required for participating

in COOPI's grant scheme.



"I don't know how to get there yet, but I am determined to try," he said.



[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]



Copyright © 2009 UN Integrated Regional Information Networks.



+++



4) ArcelorMittal sees uncertainties in Liberian projects

News Monday, SteelGuru 16 Mar 2009



Inter Press Service reported that, in the face of the global economic downturn,

ArcelorMittal and its Liberian employees and subcontractors are unlikely to reap

the benefits of the steel company investment in iron ore production in Liberia

any time soon.



As per report, ArcelorMittal met with the approval of watchdog Global Witness

for negotiating a deal that remains profitable and safeguards the interests of

the host country and its people. In the current climate, however, Liberia is

reluctant to impose conditions on investors, while contractors are willing to

compromise on working conditions, fearful that

unionizing would put their jobs in jeopardy.



Mr Joseph Mathews ArcelorMittal head in Liberia said that "Liberia is one of the

stepping stones to get there. The renegotiation was for the rail and the port

and it became not a company asset but a government asset. We get the rights to

run it, control it and fix it up, then they get it back at the end of the 25

years."



Mr Matthews said that "We will keep our operations going along with the rail,

and at one point, earlier on, we thought we would start shipping ore at the end

of 2009, but that has been delayed until 2010. It will all depend on how quickly

the recovery will come in. We have already put in a hiring freeze about two

months ago, and our plans and hopes are to keep as much of our Liberian staff

intact."



Pushed by the incoming government of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in December 2006 to

revise their original contract signed just months before her election in August

2005, ArcelorMittal



pledged a USD 1.5 billion, 25 year investment for the old LAMCO property. The

government owns 30% of the net profit and receives a 4.5% royalty fee and three

million dollars annually for development projects in Grand Bassa, Bong and Nimba

Counties.



Copyright © 2004 - SteelGuru and respective copyright holders.

(Sourced from www.ipsnews.net)



+++



5) Liberia: ArcelorMittal Slow to Yield Benefits for Liberians

Rebecca Murray

13 March 2009



--------------------------------------------------------



In the face of the global economic downturn, ArcelorMittal and its Liberian

employees and subcontractors are unlikely to reap the benefits of the steel

company investment in iron ore production in Liberia any time soon, writes

Rebecca Murray of IPS (Inter Press Service).



ArcelorMittal met with the approval of watchdog Global Witness for negotiating

'a deal that remains profitable and safeguards the interests of the host country

and its people'. In the



current climate, however, Liberia is reluctant to impose conditions on

investors, while contractors are willing to compromise on working conditions,

fearful that unionising would put their jobs in jeopardy. The company posted

losses of over US$2.6 billion globally in their last quarter.



Three exhausted railroad workers sip beer and talk on the back porch of a

makeshift bar in Liberia's rural Nimba County, concealed by nightfall and the

deafening din of motorcycles and a generator nearby.



'We raised the alarm two, three times, but they have not come to our aid', says

one of the men softly, requesting anonymity for fear of losing his job. 'They

promised us once in November that they were going to come, and they would raise

the salary up, but still nothing has been done.'



It is the end of another gruelling ten-hour day [mp3 file] for Liberian workers

renovating the rails over 250 kilometres of railroad, from the coastal port of

Buchanan to the mining town of Yekepa, on the border where Liberia, Guinea and

the Ivory Coast intersect.



They work for a Brazilian-owned company Odebrecht, which has been contracted by

international steel giant ArcelorMittal.



The teams hammer down tracks six to seven days a week in the tropical heat, and

sleep in tents on a plywood floor. They are allotted one cup of rice and soup

daily, drink well water and have their pay docked for hospital visits.



The Odebrecht company website says, 'For every day worked, each of them receives

a kilo of rice and the equivalent of one U.S. dollar to pay for their meals, in

addition to monthly wages.'



However, the workers claim they earn an average monthly salary of around US$80

after taxes, which in Liberia's inflated economy leaves them struggling to cover

basic necessities like rent, food, transportation and school fees for their

families back home.



Yekepa, the seat of ArcelorMittal's large iron ore concession, is surrounded by

mineral-rich hills and lush, dense jungle. In Yekepa's heyday, the Liberian

American Swedish Chemicals Company (LAMCO) ran the high-grade ore mine from the

1950s until Charles Taylor's rebels invaded in 1989.



On the town's outskirts, jungle encroaches on remnants of that time - a vast art

deco swimming pool, rusty trains, and the whitewashed skeletal remains of

buildings picked clean by looters.



ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel manufacturer, moved into town three

years ago as part of its global mission to increase the company's iron ore

production to two-thirds of the total product they purchase.



'Liberia is one of the stepping stones to get there', Joseph Mathews, the

company's head in Liberia, told IPS.



Pushed by the incoming government of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in December 2006 to

revise their original contract signed just months before her election in August

2005, ArcelorMittal



pledged a US$1.5 billion, 25-year investment for the old LAMCO property. The

government owns 30 per cent of the net profit, and receives a 4.5 per cent

royalty fee and three million dollars annually for development projects in Grand

Bassa, Bong, and Nimba Counties.



'The renegotiation was for the rail and the port, and it became not a company

asset but a government asset', Mathews explains. 'We get the rights to run it,

control it and fix it up, then they get it back at the end of the 25 years.'



Global Witness, the UK-based corporate watchdog and critic of the company's

original contract said, 'Mittal Steel has shown that it is possible for a

multinational company to act responsibly and negotiate a deal that remains

profitable and safeguards the interests of the host country and its people.

However, the real benefits of this contract to Liberia can only be truly

assessed as the company starts its operations.'



For the past three years, President Johnson-Sirleaf has aggressively courted

companies to invest in Liberia's most valuable resources - iron ore, rubber and

timber - but the global economic meltdown in September 2008 has hit the

country's concessions hard.



ArcelorMittal just posted a net loss of US$2.63 billion worldwide for their last

quarter, and their operations in Liberia are feeling the impact. No iron ore has

yet been exported from Yekepa.



ArcelorMittal CEO Joseph Matthews says, 'We will keep our operations going along

with the rail, and at one point, earlier on, we thought we would start shipping

ore at the end of 2009, but that has been delayed until 2010.'



'It will all depend on how quickly the recovery will come in... We have already

put in a hiring freeze about two months ago, and our plans and hopes are to keep

as much of our Liberian staff intact.'



Eugene Shannon, the minister for lands, mines and energy, is well aware of the

local impact of the global slowdown. 'To tell you a fact, we are going to be as

compromising as possible.



In a downturn you cannot be as hard on people as you can be when things are

normal... We can't kick you out, we've got to work it out because its in our

interest to keep them in, and get as much out of them.'



Yekepa's sleepy market centre is filled with youth trying to scrape by as

motorbike drivers, food and electronics vendors and selling gasoline in large

jars.



Thirty-three-year-old Victoria Johnson lives close by. A plumber by trade, she

moved with 10 family members from Monrovia into a friend's house, and fixes

pipes at ArcelorMittal's residential quarters.



'I find small work and make about US$70 month', she says. Johnson is one of the

family's few breadwinners. 'When the children get sick, we don't take them to

the hospital, we don't have the money. We go to the drugstore.'



ArcelorMittal say they have almost 500 staff members and about 2,000 contractors

on the ground. They hope to eventually increase their staff to 3,500.



Labour Minister Kofi Woods says that rules for safeguarding the company's

subcontracted workers were not established in the concession contract, and they

are looking at standards compliance. 'Serious issues include wages, working

conditions, health and safety', he says.



A haggard 36-year-old guard for the security company Segal - contracted by

ArcelorMittal - returns home from a night guarding the nearby Tokadeh iron ore

mine. Wishing to remain anonymous, he says he works seven days a week for nearly

US$80 a month. He receives no housing or health benefits, and has also been

asked to vacate his home.



'I don't know the arrangement between Segal and Mittal steel. Certainly the pay

does not come regularly', he sighs. 'And anytime they want to fire you, they can

fire you from your job.'



ArcelorMittal CEO Mathews explains: 'We pay Segal US$150 to US$200 a man, and

it's the company's decision what to pay their workers... But in the next stage,

we will put these safeguards in there that you cannot take 50 per cent of what

you pay and call that profits for yourself as the owners of the company.'



Darius Dahn is a union organiser in Yekepa with the Forestry Logging Industrial

Workers Union (FLIWU). He recently sent over workers' signatures to the labour

ministry but concedes that organising the ArcelorMittal workforce - mostly

drivers and workers at Buchanan's port - and the subcontractors is an uphill

battle.



'They are just six-month contractors and are afraid with the union issue that

management will terminate their contract after it's over.'



But ArcelorMittal begs for time. 'There is a perception out there that a company

comes in and turns things overnight', says Mathews.



'And looking back, our memories always give us this great picture of what the

past was. It takes time to get there. I think what we end up with will be a

whole lot better than LAMCO



back in the sixties - it's just a whole new world and it will be a better

environment.'



* Rebecca Murray, a correspondent with IPS (Inter Press Service) is a writer

based in South Tyre, Lebanon. This article was originally published by IPS.



* Please send comments to editor@... or comment online at

http://www.pambazuka.org/.



Copyright © 2009 Fahamu. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global

Media (allAfrica.com).



+++



6) Liberia invaded by crop-eating caterpillars again: ministry

Mar 12, 2009



MONROVIA (AFP) - Liberia has been hit by a second invasion of crop-destroying

caterpillars which have wreaked havoc in the west African nation, agriculture

ministry officials said Thursday.



"We have two weeks maximum to react. We have our teams out on the field

preparing to contain the situation," Moses Subah, head of the agriculture

ministry's technical team, said.



"We have mobilised experts from the sub-region; experts came from Brazil, from

the United States, who provided technical assistance," Agriculture Minister

Chris Toe told AFP.



"Following the spraying of the caterpillars, the 11 teams have been involved in

mopping up activities ...as well as the search for adult moths. This exercise

has proven very successful in containing further spread."



The first wave of crop destroying caterpillars was identified as Achaea

Catocaloides, a very destructive pest that attacks a wide range of crops

including coffee and cocoa, key cash earners.



Over a hundred Liberian villages have so far been affected by the plague and

authorities warn that hundreds of thousands of people could face hunger because

the caterpillars have devoured all the crops.



Liberia has declared a state of emergency and called on the international

community to help it deal with the plague, which has also spread to parts of

Guinea and threatens Sierra Leone's border region with Liberia.



Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved



+++



7) LIBERIA: IN THE HONEY BUSINESS (EXCERPT)

UMCOR Hotline for March 10, 2009 10 Mar 2009 18:52:00 GMT

Source: United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) - USA

UMCOR

Website: http://www.umcor.org



Farmers are succeeding in the honey business thanks to UMCOR's beekeeping

training in the Ganta region of Liberia.



UMCOR-trained farmers in Liberia sold 200 gallons of honey between September

2008 and January 2009. The Ganta United Methodist Mission Agricultural program

supported farmers by purchasing honey by the gallon and reselling it in

half-liter jars. The honey venture was recently formalized as a business with

the Ministry of Commerce of the Republic of Liberia and UMCOR is working with

farmers to determine its pricing, cost analysis and profitability structure.



Three of UMCOR's most successful women farmers were selected to exhibit best

practices of honey harvesting and other UMCOR-sustainable activities during the

International Colloquium on Women's Empowerment and Leadership Development

taking place this week in Monrovia, Liberia. You can support key hunger programs

like this one by giving to World Hunger and Poverty,



UMCOR Advance #982920 and learn about Beekeeping in Liberia here.



United Methodist Committee on Relief General Board of Global Ministries, The

United Methodist Church

Room 330, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115

Voice Phone: 1-212-870-3816; FAX: 1-212-870-3624

Email: umcor@...

Web: http://www.umcor.org



+++



8) Sinoe citizens call President's attention to land dispute

Written by Sayounue Bilah

Tuesday, 10 March 2009

STAR RADIO



A group of Sinoe citizens have petitioned President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to

intervene in a land dispute between their county and Rivercess County.



The petition was contained in a letter presented to President Sirleaf through

Information Minister Dr. Lawrence Bropleh.



Minister Bropleh received the petition when he deputized or President Sirleaf

during the dedicatory program of the Greenville administration building.



The citizens requested Madam Sirleaf to intervene quickly and find an amicable

solution to the land dispute.



They said early intervention would avoid degeneration of the situation into a

full-scale land dispute.



+++



9) Canadian Gold Star to buy west African oil concession (Press Release)

Tue. March 10, 2009; Posted: 09:59 AM



Mar 10, 2009 (M2 EQUITYBITES via COMTEX) - Canadian resource exploration company

Gold Star Resources Corp (TSXV: GXX) said on 9 March 2009 it signed a letter of

intent to buy the hydrocarbon rights of the Tiampoum mining concession from

Bengal Bight Ghana Ltd.



The Tiampoum mining concession, issued by the Ministry of Mines and Energy in

Cote d'Ivoire, covers an area of approximately 1,000 square kilometres in the

African country's southeast.



Bengal holds the concession as part of an underlying option agreement from

Enchi-Proci CI, a legal corporation doing business under the laws of Cote

d'Ivoire.



According to the terms of the deal, Gold Star is paying a non-refundable

USD30,000 (EUR24,000) to Bengal, another USD150,000 to Enchi-Proci for the

licence outright and USD70,000, upon the licence buyout, to Bengal. Apart from

the cash payments, Gold Star will issue two million common shares and two

million warrants exercisable at a price of USD0.20 for a two-year period from

the date of issue to Begal.



Based on key production milestones, Bengal stands to receive further

compensation.



Focused on strategic acquisition and advancement of highly prospective oil and

gas projects internationally, Gold Star is targeting high impact, on-shore

opportunities in the petroleum

systems through Liberia, Cote D'Ivoire and Ghana.



Sector: Petroleum/Natural Gas

Type: Licence

Financing: Cash and stock

Target: Bengal Bight Ghana Ltd

Buyer: Gold Star

Status: Letter of intent

Comments on this story may be sent to admin@...



+++



10)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



###



Complete archives at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nature_Liberia/

1) President Sirleaf lifts ban on rubber, 2) Liberia: Inter-Ministerial

Committee visits Guthrie amidst stalemate at the Plantation; submits reports

Friday, 3) China Mining Report Q1 2009 [EXCERPT], 4) Liberia: Chiefs From Grand

Gedeh County Praise President Sirleaf for Progress in Putu District, 5) Liberia

needs more investors, 6) Labor Minister unhappy with development at Guthrie, 7)

Liberia: "Blood Timber" for sale! - Stop the practice says Greenpeace, 8)

Liberia-Economy-Investors - Mittal Steel scales down operations in Liberia, 9)

Big security threat! Liberians transit guns to Gola forest in Salone,  10) Mano

River updates on Putu Project, 11) Liberia: Safe Drinking Water for All, 12)

Liberia steel production at 50% reduction, 13)See also:

http://liberianature.blogspot.com/







1) President Sirleaf lifts ban on rubber

Written by Wellington Geevon Smith

Friday, 27 March 2009

STAR RADIO



President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has announced the lifting of the ban on the sale

of rubber in the country.



The President Johnson Sirleaf said the document to lift the ban was signed

Wednesday evening in Monrovia.



According to the Liberian leader, the moratorium was lifted to enable rubber

dealers get the best price for their rubber.



She added the deplorable roads in the county were also a motivating factor for

lifting of the ban.



The President also stated the ban was intended to make the Cavalla Rubber

Corporation build a factory for rubber processing.



President Sirleaf spoke in Maryland County during a one-day visit to the

southeastern county.



Meanwhile, groundbreaking for the construction of a rubber processing plant for

the Cavalla Rubber Corporation has taken place.



The ceremony took place Gedetarbo, Pleebo District, Maryland County.



Performing the ceremony, President Sirleaf called on workers of the plantation

to corporate with management for mutual benefit of all parties.



+++



2) Liberia: Inter-Ministerial Committee visits Guthrie amidst stalemate at the

Plantation; submits reports Friday

Mar 26, 2009

by Michael Kpayili / Staff Writer





In a bid to institute calm and safety at the Guthrie Rubber Plantation amidst

growing industrial unrest at the entity, the inter-Ministerial Committee

established by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to investigate crisis at the

Plantation has engaged all parties into the conflict.



At a high power Ministerial delegation at the Rubber Plantation during mid-week,

county administrators, workers, traditional heads and the management went into

over five hours of dialogue and visitation at damaged properties and injured

workers to ascertain the validity of the actuality surrounding the crisis.



Making statement on behalf of the plantation workers at a well attended meeting

in Bomi County, the head of the aggrieved workers and spokesman, Stanley Brandy

outlined numerous irregularities and mismanagement of the plantation operation.

He blamed the Senior Senator of Bomi County Lahai Lassana of provoking their

actions which he referred as " bad Labor practices and lack of interest in the

plight of workers". According to the spokesman of the aggrieved workers, Senator

Lassana and Agriculture Minister Chris Toe have contributed immensely to the

downfall of the plantation by highlighting policies that would seek their

personal interest.



He said the intent of their so-called peaceful protest was meant to attract the

attentions of the government but turned violent after three of their colleagues

were shot allegedly upon the direct instruction of Senator Lassana who himself

was allegedly seen with a pistol shooting at protesting workers.



Meanwhile, employees of the Guthrie Rubber Plantation have passed a vote no

confidence in the management of the entity. The employees through their

spokesman maintained that management has failed to settle three months of their

salaries and allowances thus making their livelihood unbearable.



Presenting the eleven counts resolution to the head of the inter-Ministerial

committee, Labor Minister Samuel Kofi Woods, the President of the workers Union

Boima Jallah revealed that the Guthrie Management has denied them of attractive

salary structure, health, safe drinking water, quality education for their

children and so on.



Making brief but timely remarks at the meeting, the head of the presidential

committee, Labor Minister Samuel Kofi Woods urged all parties to the conflict to

deist from solving problems through violence. He said his committee is going to

engage everyone involved in the Guthrie Rubber saga for prompt report to the

President by Friday, March 27, 2007. He warned workers and management to remain

calm as the committee further their work.



The violent protest actions at the Guthrie Rubber Plantation left the newly

renovated police station burned and the properties of the school system damaged.





About the Author:

Michael Kpayili is a staff writer for TheLiberianTimes.com. Kpayili has written

articles which have appeared on TheLiberianTimes.com since late 2005, and his

hard hitting investigative journalism has earned the respect of the Liberian

press community.



Michael Kpayili may be contacted at mkpayili@....





Contact Us

By Phone

1.646.225.9684 (USA) By Email

editor@...

TheLiberianTimes.com is a developingPress Company



www.developingpres.com



Copyright Notice



All rights, including copyright, in the content of these TheLiberianTimes.com

web pages are owned or controlled for these purposes by LoneStar Liberia.



+++



3) China Mining Report Q1 2009 [EXCERPT]

companiesandmarkets.com

2009-03-26 14:39:01 - China Mining Report Q1 2009 - a new market research report

on companiesandmarkets.com



www.companiesandmarkets.com/Summary-Market-Report/China-Mining-R ..



Meanwhile, predictions that Chinese steel companies will be able to force a

30-40% drop in iron ore prices in 2009 look optimistic. Falling prices are

forcing many Chinese ore miners out of business, while smaller international

miners are having to reduce production. Therefore, just when China thought it

was in a strong position to bargain with the major mining companies, it has

found itself more reliant on them than ever. At most industry watchers expect a

cut of 20% in iron ore prices, after negotiation.



Elsewhere, in January 2009, Chinese conglomerate China Union signed a US$2.6bn

deal with Liberia to develop its main iron ore mine. The deal represents China's

largest ever investment in the West African nation. China Union has pledged to

have built a one-million-tonnes-a-year refinery at Liberia's Bong Mines. It is

expected that 3,000 jobs will be created at the project, with 15,000 possible

jobs following.



Before Liberia's disastrous civil war the mines were operated by a German

company, the Bong Mining Company.





Author:

Mike King

e-mail

Web: www.companiesandmarkets.com

Phone: 07813 784393



PR-inside.com



+++



4) Liberia: Chiefs From Grand Gedeh County Praise President Sirleaf for Progress

in Putu District

25 March 2009



Chiefs representing the Putu administrative district in Grand Gedeh County have

held a meeting in Monrovia with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.



Wednesday's meeting, according to an Executive Mansion release, was intended to

convey appreciation to the Liberian leader for the level of development taking

place in Konobo Statutory District. The Chiefs pointed to the completion of

three new schools in the district and ongoing construction of three additional

schools, as a clear testimony of the President's support for the educational

advancement of the people of Putu.



The construction of a building to house the offices of the district commissioner

was also cited by the chiefs as one of the many development initiatives

undertaken by the Government of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for the people

of the district.



The chiefs from Grand Gedeh also welcomed Government's decision to attract

investors to Grand Gedeh to explore the Putu Range. They expressed hope that the

process would be put on a fast track to provide employment for the people of the

area.



Responding, President Johnson Sirleaf, thanked the chiefs for the visit and

assured them that Government will continue to provide opportunities to improve

the living condition of its people. The President renewed Government's

commitment to the development of all the political sub-divisions of the country

and urged citizens to exercise patience as Government allocates its meager

resources to benefit all sectors of the country.



The chiefs, who were accompanied by Grand Gedeh County Superintendent Chris

Bailey, Representative Kai Farley and Senator William Sandy, chairman of the

Grand Gedeh Legislative Caucus, have meanwhile, appealed to the Liberian leader

to press for the lifting of the UN travel ban on Representative Farley.



The President was later presented a white sheep, as a symbol of goodwill by the

people of Putu.



Copyright © 2009 Liberia Government. All rights reserved. Distributed by

AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).



+++



5) Liberia needs more investors

Mar 25, 2009



Liberia needs more investors



Vice President Boakai says Liberia has several investment opportunities and only

needs the right investors



The vice president said the necessary modalities have been worked out by

government to protect the economy.



He said government is fighting corruption and implementing its poverty reduction

strategy to rebuild the country.



Vice President Boakai spoke of the numerous challenges including growth and

un-employment.



He was speaking at his capital building office Monday, when a group of investors

from Detroit, Michigan, the United States of America paid a courtesy call on

him.



Responding, the head of delegation Rev. Jim Holley said they were in the country

protecting. Rev. Holley said they want to invest in education, water and

technology.



Liberia Broadcasting System, ©2007



+++



6) Labor Minister unhappy with development at Guthrie

Written by Onesimus Leigh

Tuesday, 24 March 2009

STAR RADIO



Labor Minister Samuel Woods says the development at the Guthrie Rubber

Plantation in Bomi County is not positive for international consumption.



Minister Woods as head of the Inter-ministerial Committee set-up by President

Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson to investigate the Guthrie Rubber Plantation visited the

area on Tuesday.



Minister Woods said the committee just conducted an assessment that will lead to

a detail investigation but described the situation as grave.



He told Star Radio all parties concerned will be talked to before submitting

recommendations to the President for her timely action.



For his part, the Superintendent of Bomi County has described the situation as

unfortunate.



Superintendent Mohamed Massalley said the development in the county does not

represent a country that is recuperating from a decade of war.



+++



7) Liberia: "Blood Timber" for sale! - Stop the practice says Greenpeace

Mar 24, 2009

by Fiona Musana /





Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and her government should stop the flow of azobe

timber from a country recovering from decades-long conflict. Marred by a bloody

history, many Liberians not only lost their lives but also resources like

diamonds, and timber that was

illegally logged during the conflict, and shipped to Italy in February 2009.

This timber is planned for use in maintenance of Rome's Metro system.



A detailed history of how the timber, abandoned after the war, got to Italy can

be found in a March 2009 Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) briefing paper

"The Hunter's Whistle." The paper finds that the Liberian Forest Development

Agency (FDA) authorised the shipment of timber, despite several illegal

activities that occurred during the auction and sale of the logs. (1)



While the FDA is the manager and regulator of the forests, reports including by

the UN Panel of Experts in Liberia, in its December 2008 noted that the "high

level of discretion being used by senior FDA management in implementation of

some aspects of the National Forestry Reform Law and FDA regulations is of

concern" (2)



With diamonds banned on the international market, the then president Taylor

turned to timber, doling out large chunks of forests in exchange for money and

arms. Most of the cargo was bought by Italian company Interwood Srl, which

recently won a 720,000 Euro contract with Me.Tro Roma Spa, the company

responsible for upgrading Rome's metro

system.



"This blood timber they plan to use in our train tracks has fuelled destruction,

war and climate change" said Chiara Campione, Greenpeace Italy forest

campaigner. "As one of the biggest gateways in Europe for illegally logged

timber, Italy is a disgrace. It is way past time the Italian government stopped

funding the illegal timber trade, and instead started doing something to save

the climate by committing to fund forest protection."



Tropical deforestation is responsible for 20 % of global greenhouse gas

emissions. Ending forest destruction is one of the fastest and easiest ways to

avert catastrophic climate change.



Although President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf scrapped all timber concessions issued

under previous regimes as her first executive act upon election in 2005, three

forest management contracts were recently presented to parliament for

ratification.



Greenpeace warns that a decision by the Liberian Legislature to ratify these and

subsequent contracts will have disastrous consequences for the country's

development and the long-term sustainability of forest resources. An overhaul of

the system and personnel in FDA is critical and public dialogue on alternative

use of the remaining forests essential.



This potential disaster must be stopped now, before the country and other

African nations like the Democratic Republic of Congo commit themselves to long,

large scale logging agreements on false and illegal premises.





Contacts:



Fiona Musana, Greenpeace Africa communications manager (currently in Kampala)

+256 772 504 510, fmusana@... Chiara Campione, Greenpeace Italy

forests campaigner +39 34 70 10 03 10



Images and footage available



Greenpeace International picture desk +44 20 7 865 8230 Greenpeace International

video desk +31 6 46 16 20 15



Notes to the Editors:



1. Despite a six year forest reform process, there are still fundamental flaws

in Liberian forest management. For more information about the azobe shipment see

the March 2009, Sustainable Development Institute's briefing "The Hunter's

Whistle"

http://www.illegal-logging.info/uploads/TheHuntersWhistle.pdf



2. UN Panel of Experts on Liberia Report, June 2008 (Page 51)





1.646.225.9684 (USA) By Email

editor@...

TheLiberianTimes.com is a developingPress Company



www.developingpres.com



Copyright Notice



All rights, including copyright, in the content of these TheLiberianTimes.com

web pages are owned or controlled for these purposes by LoneStar Liberia.





+++



8) Liberia-Economy-Investors - Mittal Steel scales down operations in Liberia



APA-Monrovia (Liberia) The effects of the global economic meltdown have begun to

be felt in Liberia, with the world’s steel giant Mittal Steel which in 2007

announced a US$1.7 billion investment in Liberia’s iron ore industry,

announcing a 50 percent scale down of its operations in the country even before

full operations have commenced.



The head of Mittal Steel - Liberia branch, Mr. Joseph Mathews confirmed to APA

Tuesday that the global economic crisis has negatively impacted the demand for

steel worldwide, and that the company, which was has not begun full-scale

operations in Liberia, has been constrained to cut down its steel production.



He said as a result of the global financial crisis, most western and European

consumers’ demand for steel products such as cars and household appliances has

drastically dropped, thereby reducing Mittal Steel’s profit margin.



"As a result of the adverse effect on the company’s profit margin, Arcelor

Mittal Liberia is also reducing its expatriate workforce by at least 80 percent.

This will accelerate the transfer of certain essential positions to Liberians,"

he further announced.



He said the cutbacks and slow down operations is intended to protect the

long-term needs and interests of the company and its employees as well as enable

Arcelor Mittal to remain a major contributor to Liberia’s development.



Mr. Matthews further disclosed that the company will retain about 1,200 jobs for

Liberians during this slowdown period, and that the company will in 2009 focus

only on critical maintenance, ensuring security of its assets and personnel as

well as meeting its social commitments.



He however assured that the company will not withdraw its investments in

Liberia.





TSS/daj/APA

2009-03-24



African Press Agency - Copyright upon prior authorization



+++



9) Big security threat! Liberians transit guns to Gola forest in Salone



Awoko - ?Mar 23, 2009?



There is an simmering security threat along the borders of Sierra Leone and

Liberia where reports from the office of the Gola Forest Area Manager in Kenema

confirmed to Awoko that there is a huge quantity of short guns available with

hunters and other inhabitants residing around Gola Forest.



The shot guns are said to be bartered or exchanged for wild animals in that

forest.



In a presentation on some of the threat to the species and projects underway to

preserve the forest, the Gola Forest project Area Manager John Moriba has

categorically pointed out that hunting, logging and mining constitute some of

the major threats to the forest.



He disclosed that cross border hunting by Liberians in the Gola Forest with

short guns had posed a serious security threat to the lives and property of

Sierra Leoneans.



He went on to explain that, these Liberians come into Sierra Leone with huge

quantity of shot guns through our common borders to the Gola Forest communities

where they kill our species, dry them up and take them across to Liberia.



He added that the guns which are bartered for our bush meat in the Gola Forest

are always left with inhabitants of that community with the provision of

constant cartridge supply to them for a continuous hunting spree in the forest.



He explained that there has been incidents of confrontation between the forest

guards and the hunters who most times injure the guards.



However he maintained that, police have been very much supportive to them as

they always help with investigations into the matter and even try to clamp down

on the unscrupulous hunters.

The proposed mining of iron ore in the Gola Forest he said, has also created a

big split among residents of that community as some are in favor, while others

are against especially in the Golahun Tongi Chiefdom where chiefs and their

subjects look at each other with suspicion.



He stated that during the 1920’s, half of the Sierra Leonean landscape was

covered by forest but with human occupation for settlement and cultivation over

the years most of it has been cleared, with less than 5% of the forest reserves

left.



He added that in the same 20’s the gola forest was reserved for cocoa and

coffee production but over the years logging and other counter productive

activities have taken place there inspite of tireless efforts by them to

forestall it.



He concluded that, the Gola Forest which is rich in biodiversity has an

estimated expanse of some 75,000 hectares stretching across 7 chiefdoms in the

South Eastern part of the country with an average population of 120,000

inhabitants





© Copyright 2008 - Awoko Newspaper

This site is powered by Alemobet Innovations





+++



10) Mano River updates on Putu Project

Mano River Resources Inc provide an update on the drilling program at the

Company's 38.5% owned Putu Range iron ore project in Liberia.

Monday, 23 Mar 2009



Highlights are as follows:



1. Severstal Liberia Iron Ore advancing towards resource estimate and delivery

of a pre-feasibility study in second half of 2010



2. 3,960 meter drilling program for geological characterisation completed

December 2008



3. Assays from 9 out of 11 holes completed.



4. Best intersection in haematite mineralization of 63 meter at average 63.5% Fe



5. Best intersection in fresh magnetite mineralization of 367 meter at average

39% Fe



6. Results confirm Putu project has significant iron ore tonnage potential



7. Multi rig 27,000 meter diamond drilling program planned during 2009



Mr Luis da Silva CEO of Mano River Resources commented that "We are very pleased

with these initial drilling results from the Putu iron ore project in Liberia

and our excellent working relationship with our 61.5% partner SeverStal

Resources. The drill results display excellent grade characteristics and

indicate that the Putu project has significant iron ore tonnage potential. The

current drilling program is designed to test the grade and depth continuity of

the iron ore mineralization in order to define an initial NI 43-101 and SAMREC

compliant resource estimate.”



It added that SeverStal and Mano are committed long term investors in Liberia

and this fact was further cemented by a successful meeting held on February 26th

2009 of a delegation comprising of Mr Alexey Mordashov CEO of SeverStal, Mr

Deniskin CEP of SeverStal Resources and members of Mano's Board with the

President of Liberia, Mrs Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Despite the current depressed

commodity prices the outlook for steel and thus iron ore demand is gradually

improving. We look forward to a very different market environment by late 2012,

by which time the Putu project should be looking for funding in order to develop

in advance of production in 2015."





Copyright © 2004 - SteelGuru and respective copyright holders. All rights

reserved.



+++



11) Liberia: Safe Drinking Water for All

Mar 22, 2009

by Musa V. Sheriff /





My support for the UN Millennium Development Goals in Canada



Reflecting back on my life in Africa, growing up as a young boy I knew little or

nothing about environmental degradation. In Canada it was a different story. On

TV I would see Al- Gore – “The Inconvenient Truth’ or David

Suzuki speaking about Global Warming. I realise that environmental degradation

was a serious problem. I was really influenced by the Canadian Media to develop

a sense of environmental concern. I started to wonder about the environmental

problems in Africa. Among the many that flashed through my mind, the issue of

safe drinking water loaded my heart with sorrow. Since 2007 have been inspired

to think about what can I do to help Africa in solving one of its fundamental

social problems – safe water for all.



In most Canadian household, when you wake up in the morning your tap is ready

with fresh water. Do you really imagine and think about what is happening in the

Sub-Sahara Africa? It is true and real that millions of people worldwide do not

have access to safe drinking water. Hospitals are filled with thousands; many

die as a result of this crisis - water borne diseases.



The problem of safe drinking water is turning into a global conflict. It needs

attention. As the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, stated “A

shortage of water resources could trigger into conflicts in the future,”

and furthermore, “Population growth will make the problem worse.



Many conflicts around the globe are raging due to the disputes over water

resources. For example, the conflict in Darfur is partly due to the huge water

reservoir that was discovered in the Darfur region - in Sudan. What is really

behind this issue – it is the lack of commitment and courage from the

Canadians, in helping to resolve the water crisis in Sub Sahara Africa.



It is shocking to learn that our planet is about 75% water, and yet some are

faced with safe drinking water crisis. Therefore, I would strongly argue that it

is not the lack of clean water; it is the lack of basic sanitation facilities in

most countries. For instance, Guinea is a West African nation that enjoys an

abundance of river and water resources, and moreover, considered “Chateau

d’eau” en Afrique, but over 80% of its population lack access to

clean and safe drinking water. And the list goes on from west to east and from

north to south in Africa.



Despite the scale and magnitude of the problem, together as a global community a

solution can be found, but what is really missing? Is it the resources or the

technical skills? No, I am sure the commitment and courage from Canada in

addressing this issue is what is really lacking. Thanks to the United Nations,

2008 was declared as International year of Sanitation, which has gained

increasing global attention. Is that enough? No, we need more commitments and

courage in resolving the water crisis, which will help people in Sub Sahara

Africa to have access to clean water.



Recent reports indicate that progress has been made in some region of the world.

But Sub Sahara Africa is far behind in term of progress. And this raises a

controversial question: How will the region be like in the next decade, as it

population grows without access to safe drinking water? Think about this. The

region will be faced with an acute and devastating humanitarian crisis. Yes it

will. Sub Sahara Africa is the poorest region of the world, and most of its

population live on less than a per day.



We have to “walk the talk” in Canada. It is about time policy makers

strengthen their commitment and increased support for the UN Millennium

Development Goals. UN Millennium Development Goals are pledges and commitments

from rich and powerful nations to reduce global poverty by 2015. One of its

goals is to provide access to safe drinking water in poor countries. I am sure

that will help save million of dollars spent in other areas of humanitarian

concern in the region.



Every individual can make an impact in achieving these global goals. It is

enough to just send a letter to your MLA or a politician expressing your concern

about this issue. Moreover, it would be enough to wake and show your concern in

other ways – on college and university campuses across Canada Yes, your

support will make a big different because together we will save lives and make

our planet a healthy place for all.



Finally, we need not overlook or neglect the scale of water crisis and water

stress, which has engulfed us all. It might put our planet at serious risk, and

we need an urgent action from our leaders. Canada, as a wealthy and powerful

nation needs to act now, it requires an increase in Foreign Aid to developing

countries most especially Sub Sahara Africa.





Musa V. Sheriff

Vancouver, Canada



1.646.225.9684 (USA) By Email

editor@...

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Copyright Notice



All rights, including copyright, in the content of these TheLiberianTimes.com

web pages are owned or controlled for these purposes by LoneStar Liberia.





+++



12) Liberia steel production at 50% reduction

Mar 21, 2009



Liberia steel production at 50% reduction



Arcelor Mittal Steel, has disclosed the reduction of steel production to nearly

50-percent in Liberia .



According to the General Managing of Arcelor Mittal, Joseph Matthews, the

company was constrained to cut down production because of the Global Financial

downturn .



Mr. Matthews said, despite the action, the company will retain about one

thousand two hundred Liberians on jobs and will reduce the number of expatriates

to eighty percent with accelerating the transition of certain essential

positions to Liberians.



Speaking Friday at a press conference in Monrovia, in Maryland, he said due to

the Global financial downturn the company is transferring its major operations

from Monrovia .



He further said, during the past few years of Arcelor Mittal operations has made

significant progress on the development of the Nimba mining project, rail road

rehabilitation, infrastructure improvements among other .



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13)See also: http://liberianature.blogspot.com/



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