Liberian Daily Observer 01/23/2014

VOL. 16. NO. 62 THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2014 PRICE: LD 40

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www.liberianobserver.comINSIDE THIS

EDITION

EDITORIALAt Last, a Robust

Development Proposal for Rural

Liberia, But . . .

LOCAL NEWSSeptic Tank

Pollution Sparks Grave

Concern at Bushrod

Island

COMMENTARYThe Global

Economy in 2014

BUSINESSLiberia’s Business

Climate Thrills MG Official

SPORTSSamukai May Lead Liberia Basketball

Association

See Pg. 4

See Pg. 9

See Pg. 11

See Pg. 4

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20GB 50GB

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See story on Pg. 14See story on Pg. 14

1WATCH OUT FOR GRAND DRAW JANUARY 23, 2014!ECOBANK GRAND DRAW, POSTPONED TO JANUARY 23, 2014.

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Senate Chair on Banking & Currency Isaac Nyenabo

By J. Burgess Carter

The Chairman of the Senate C o m m i t t e e on Banking and Currency, Senator Isaac

W. Nyenabo, has informed the Senate plenary that his com-mittee’s mandate to delve into causes of the continuing rise in the exchange rate between the

Liberian and US dollars have been completed and the report will be made today, Thursday, January 22.

During their second day sit-ting on Thursday, January 16, the Senators voted 19 for, with two against to mandate the Committee on Banking and Currency to make a compre-hensive report to the plenary

Anglican Communion Shocked by West Africa Primate’s Sudden Death

By Jan Butter with additional reporting

by Bellah Zulu, ACNS (Anglicannews.org)

The Anglican Communion is reeling at the sud-den death of the Primate of The

Church of the Province of West Africa yesterday (Tues-day).

Archbishop Dr. Solomon Tilewa Johnson, 59, was also Metropolitan Archbishop of the Internal province of West Africa, and Bishop of Gambia. A popular figure both home and abroad, he died in Fajara

Archbishop Johnson was an Anglican bishop for over two decades, but was only elected Primate & Archbishop

of West Africa in September 2012

while playing tennis--one of his favorite pastimes.

The Provincial Secretary Canon Anthony Eiwuley said he had received confirmation of the Archbishop’s death from the family. He added that, in time, he planned to

Cont’d on pg. 10

Senate Decides TodayOn Continuing Hike in Exchange Rate:

Cont’d on pg. 10

-Amid Budget Shortfall

Konneh Leads Crusade to Collect

GOL Revenues

Finance Minister Amara Moham-med Konneh will today, Thursday, January 22, lead

a major crusade against de-linquent taxpayers to collect government revenues. The aggressive domestic revenue

Cont’d on pg. 10

THURSDAY, JAN. 23, 2014, vol. 16, No.62indd 2 1/23/14 12:34 AM

Daily Observer Thursday, January 23, 2014

Foreign BriefsWorld NewsPage 2

Two Protesters Killed in Kiev Clashes

(BBC) Two protesters have been killed in clashes with police in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

Prosecutors confirmed they had died from bullet wounds. They are the first fatalities since anti-government protests began in November.

Wednesday’s clashes began after police moved in to dismantle a protest camp.

After talks with President Viktor Yanukovych, one opposition leader, Vitali Klitschko, threatened to lead protesters “on the attack”.

“Today they [the police] are preparing to clear us out of the Maidan (Independence Square),” Mr Klitschko declared.

“We must do all we can to stop them clearing us out.”

He said the president could end the stand-off by calling early elections but that “tomorrow, if the president does not respond... then we will go on the attack”, to roars of approval from the crowd.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Ukraine said it had revoked the visas of “several Ukrainians who were linked to the violence”. It did not give names, but said it was “considering further action against those responsible for the current violence”.

The clashes took place on the day that new anti-protest laws come into force. Parliament approved the laws last week, triggering renewed protests which spilled into violence on

Sunday night.Hundreds of people have

been injured, though some of the violence has been blamed on a little-known far-right group, Right Sector.

The anti-government movement started in protest at Mr Yanukovych’s decision in late November to pull out of a landmark treaty with the EU, but has expanded to demand his resignation.

Wednesday’s violence began in a small area around Hrushevskyy Street, a road leading to government buildings and also close to the main protest encampment at Maidan (or Independence Square).

Shortly after 08:00 (06:00 GMT) - following a relatively peaceful night - police stormed

the protesters’ barricades on Hrushevskyy Street.

The police later fell back to their positions after fierce clashes with protesters, but by the afternoon had pushed on through the barricades.

Protesters again hurled petrol bombs and stones while riot police responded with stun grenades and rubber bullets, the BBC’s Duncan Crawford reports.

Meanwhile, thousands of protesters have gathered in Independence Square.

There was a crush at one of the narrow entrances into the square when protesters trying to get in met protesters who were trying to get out to fight the police, our correspondent says.

At least two ambulances

were seen carrying away the wounded.

Black smoke caused by the burning of tyres was billowing over Kiev, and video footage showed armoured vehicles moving into the area.

Officials confirmed the deaths of two people who were found with gunshot wounds earlier on Wednesday.

The general prosecutor said their bodies were found close to the scene of the clashes.

One of them is thought to be Sergei Nigoyan, a 20-year-old ethnic Armenian who reportedly joined the protests in Kiev in early December.

Medics for the activists say at least one person had multiple wounds and claimed he had been killed by a police sniper.

Demonstrators were setting tyres on fire and throwing them at security forces

Ethiopia Joins Somalia’s African Union Force

(BBC)--More than 4,000 Ethiopian troops have been formally absorbed into the African Union force in Somalia.

They will be responsible for security in the south-western regions of Gedo, Bay and Bakool, the AU said.

Ethiopia’s contribution takes the AU force to the 22,000-strong level mandated by the UN Security Council.

Ethiopian forces have been operating in neighbouring Somalia for several years, helping the UN-backed government fight the al-Qaeda-aligned al-Shabab group.

Last year, the UN chief Ban Ki-moon asked for a “surge” of extra troops for the AU force in Somalia, known as Amisom, fearing reversals in advances made over the last few years. Together with government forces, Amisom, has driven al-Shabab from some key cities, including the capital, Mogadishu, in August 2011.

The BBC’s international development correspondent Mark Doyle says the troops from the Ethiopian army - one of most battle-hardened in Africa - will be based in Baidoa, some 300km (185 miles) north-west of

Mogadishu.There was a flag ceremony

on Wednesday morning in the town to welcome them and hand over the security of the region.

“The Ethiopian deployment will permit Burundian and Ugandan forces to move into parts of Lower and Middle Shabelle,” the AFP news agency quotes an Amisom statement as saying.

Ethiopia first entered Somalia in 2006 to remove the now-defunct Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which had ruled most of southern Somalia for six months that year.

Al-Shabab emerged as the

radical youth wing of the UIC as it battled Ethiopian troops.

Our correspondent says that in the 1970s, Somalia and Ethiopia fought a bitter war over their border area and as a consequence many Somalis, who are fiercely nationalist when faced by any foreign forces, have a particular hatred of Ethiopians.

Nonetheless, Amisom will welcome the new troops on its side, he says.

Its soldiers are hit almost daily by al-Shabab roadside bombs, ambushes and rocket attacks, he adds.

The first contingent of Amisom troops arrived in Somalia in March 2007, with Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Uganda now providing the force’s soldiers.

Despite Amisom gains, Islamist fighters still hold sway over many small towns and much of rural Somalia where they have imposed a strict version of Islamic law.

They also control a number of small coastal ports which they use for the lucrative export of charcoal, which fetches high prices in Arab Gulf states.

Ethiopian troops have been in and out of Somalia for many years, protecting its border

Syria Geneva II Peace Talks Witness Bitter

Exchanges

(BBC) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: “Syrians must come together to save their country, protect their children and find a peaceful path to a better future”

Syria’s government and main political opposition have traded bitter accusations on the first day of a major peace conference in Switzerland.

The opposition and US said President Bashar al-Assad had no legitimacy and must step down from power.

Syria’s foreign minister had a terse exchange with the UN’s Ban Ki-moon over the length of his speech and said only Syrians could decide Mr Assad’s fate.

The conflict has left more than 100,000 dead and millions displaced.

The summit is discussing the Geneva communique which lays out a political transition plan for Syria.

Wednesday’s initial meeting, involving speeches from 40 or so foreign ministers - has now ended. The direct talks are scheduled to begin in Geneva on Friday.

At a fractious evening news conference, during which there were repeated calls for calm, Mr Ban spoke of the suffering in Syria, saying: “Enough is enough. The time has come to negotiate.”

He said that “the really hard work begins on Friday”, adding: “We have a difficult road ahead, but it can be done and it must be done.”

Mr Ban dwelt on the Geneva communique, which calls for a transitional government in Syria, saying he was disappointed with the attitudes of both the Syrian government and its ally, Iran.

UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said he would speak to the Syrian government and opposition delegations separately on Thursday and that he hoped both teams would meet in the same room on Friday.

 Anti-government protest-ers staged a mock funeral, calling for an immediate

ceasefire

South Africa(BBC) A rare blue diamond

has been discovered in a mine in South Africa.

The 29.6-carat stone was recovered by Petra Diamonds at its Cullinan mine, about 40km (25 miles) north-east of Pretoria.

“This stone is one of the most exceptional stones recovered at Cullinan during Petra’s operation of the mine,” the company said.

Petra unearthed a 25.5 carat blue diamond which sold for $16.9m (£10.3m) in 2013.

The latest discovery is also expected to sell for a high price.

The Cullinan mine is famed for the production of blue diamonds

“The stone is an outstanding vivid blue with extraordinary saturation, tone and clarity, and has the potential to yield a polished stone of great value and importance,” Petra said in a statement on Tuesday.

Cullinan mine has produced hundreds of large stones and is famed for its production of blue diamonds - among the rarest and most highly coveted of all diamonds.

Pakistan(BBC) Gunmen have shot

dead at least six guards who were escorting a Spanish cyclist through Pakistan’s volatile Balochistan province.

They were about 50km (31 miles) west of the provincial capital Quetta, in the district of Mastung, when they were ambushed.

Cyclist Javier Colorado was slightly hurt after falling off his bike.

A message on Facebook said he intended to continue his trip from Europe on into Asia and the rest of the world.

The attack happened close to the scene of a bus bombing on Tuesday that killed 28 Shia pilgrims.

This remote part of western Pakistan is plagued by kidnappings and drug traffickers as Balochistan ethnic nationalists wage an insurgency for more autonomy.

Lebanon(BBC) - An attack by

a suspected suicide car bomber has reportedly killed four people in a Hezbollah stronghold in a Shia-dominated suburb of Beirut.

Flames were seen pouring from the facade of a multi-storey building, along with large plumes of smoke.

The blast, in Arid Street in the southern Haret Hreik district, left at least 20 injured, reports say.

There has been a spike in sectarian tension in Lebanon blamed on the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

Daily Observer Page 3Thursday, January 23, 2014 3

ePa, MOH, stakeholders Urged to Take swift action

Septic Tank Pollution Sparks Grave Concern at Bushrod Island

by edwin M. Fayia iii

A large ruptured septic tank being used by a group of Lebanese business

people in the Vai Town Com-munity on the Bushrod Island continues to generate grave concern amongst residents, environmentalists and health personnel.

Affected residents and health workers in the area are urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Min-istry of Health’s Occupational Health Department (OHD)

to institute steps and action on the end-users to repair the

damaged septic tank.According to the affected

residents and health workers, the odors from the waste in the septic tank pose serious health and environmental hazards to the detriment of the Vai Town Community.

Some of the residents inter-viewed by the Daily Observer claimed the septic tank burst open about two weeks ago and those connected to it continue to the treat the unsanitary situ-ation with blind eyes.

Besides children and other vulnerable groups coming in direct contact with the wastes and toxic air from the septic tank, there are other challeng-

es for health facilities in the community.

Owing to the congested na-ture of houses where the sep-tic tank is situated, if urgent steps are not taken to repair the damage an outbreak of multiple diseases could soon occur in the densely populated community.

The affected residents also underscored the need for the EPA, Ministry of Health and other stakeholders not to sit by idly and wait for a disease out-break before putting pressure on the end-users to take action to remedy the sanitation threat being posed by the cracked septic tank.

burst septic tank and old sewer pipe-line posing health & environmental hazards in vai Town, bushrod island

MOT and Others Launch ‘Early Warning System’by Gloria T.Tamba

The Ministry of Trans-port, the United Na-tions Development Program (UNDP)

and others Wednesday, January 22, launched the Early Warn-ing System (EWS) Project that stands to strengthen Liberia’s capability to provide climate information.

The EWS project was orga-nized by the Ministry of Trans-port and approved on October 7, 2013, by the Government of Li-beria. In the meeting, where the project document was signed, representatives of the Minis-try of Planning and the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) there, while the UNDP’s Resident Coordinator signed the project document.

The EWS project, launched Wednesday, January 22, under the theme: “Strengthening Libe-ria’s Capability to Provide Cli-mate Information and Services to Enhance Climate Resilient

Development and Adaptation to Climate Change,” is expected to last until 2017.

Welcoming the guests to the launch of the project, Minister S. Tonorlah Varpilah said the day marks the beginning of the implementation of the four-year Early Warning System project funded by the Global Environ-ment Facility (GEF) under the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF).

Minister Varpilah said the project is one of three priority climate change adaptation proj-ects prepared by the Govern-ment of Liberia in 2007 through its National Adaptation Pro-gram of Action (NAPA) under the United Nations Frame work Convention on Climate Change (U FCCC), which was submit-ted to GEF for possible funding.

“The NAPA process was spearheaded by the Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA),” he said.

The Min. of Transport dis-closed that his Ministry con-

siders the EWS project very important to sustainable socio-economic development of the country because the project is aimed at building the infrastruc-ture of the National Meteoro-logical and Hydrological Ser-vices (NMHSS).

“It will enable us provide weather and climate informa-tion and services to sectors such as health, agriculture, energy, transport (air, land and sea) en-vironment, water resources, and the general public,” he averred.

Minister Varpilah called on all Ministries and organizations to work in promoting the project, which he referred to as the first project ever in Liberia under his leadership as Transport Minister.

At the same time, the UNDP Deputy Country Director (Pro-grammer), Mr. Cleophas To-rori, described the launch of the EWS as another milestone in the relationship existing be-tween the UNDP and the Gov-ernment of Liberia.

He said the objective of the project is to strengthen Libe-ria’s climate related monitoring capabilities and early warning systems to ensure the availabili-ty of information for responding to climate shocks and planning adaptation strategies for climate change.

He said, “The EWS has three key outcomes they are: Increased capacity of meteo-rological and hydrological ser-vices and associated networks to monitor and predict extreme weather, climate related hazards and climate trends.

Efficient and effective use of tailored climate appropriate in-formation can be communicat-ed to enable informed decision making and to increase aware-ness in the government, private sector and local communities of the major risks associated with climate change. The available information could then be used when formulating development policies and strategies.

Mr. Torori disclosed the to-tal grant amount awarded to the project as $US6.7 million in LDCF funding with co-fi-nancing in kind from the Gov-ernment of Liberia through its line ministries and agencies and US$200,000 cash from UNDP.

He said the project’s formula-

tion, dissemination and valida-tion were marked by a struc-tured, strategic and inclusive approach with extensive con-sultations and discussions with stakeholders.

Mr. Torori also emphasized that the project is in line with Liberia’s United Nations Devel-opment Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and UNDP Country Program Document (CPD) for 2013-2017, the UNDP,CPD 2013-2017, the NAPA and the Agenda for Transformation (Vi-sion 2030).

He assured his organization’s commitment to the EWS project and promised to work with oth-er ministries and organizations in moving the project forward for better development and to achieve the long term goals and objectives of the project.

Other Responsible partners of the EWS project are the Minis-try of Lands Mines and Energy (LME), Hydrological Services, Internal Affairs (MIA),National Disaster Relief Commission (NDRC),Agriculture Ministry (MOA)Liberia Maritime Au-thority (LMA), National Ports Authority (NPA) Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs (PEA).

Transport Minister varpilah and the UNDP Deputy Country Director programme Mr.Torori addressing the audience

Dr. Kromah on Margibi’s Health 2013 Achievements

Margibi County Health Offi-cer, Dr. Hawa Moore-Kromah

says despite numerous chal-lenges facing the health sec-tor, the Margibi County Health Team (MGCHT) was able to make considerable achieve-ments in the past year.

According to her, during the year 2013, some of the major achievements made by the team included the extension of the inpatient facilities, the operation theater as well as the emergency room.

The Liberia News Agency, quoting a copy of a summary and achievements of health ac-tivities in Margibi County for 2013, indicated that there were, however, delays in the delivery of medical supplies from the central supply chain unit of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOH/SW).

She said the MCHT, like any other county facility involved with the implementation of es-sential health services at prima-ry and secondary levels, placed emphasis on all maternal and child health services. These in-

cluded the provision of access to skilled facility based deliv-ery services, administering of appropriate malaria prophy-laxis and treatment of pregnant women and maternal and infant nutrition and family planning services, among others.

Additionally, she disclosed that during the past year, other developments, including infra-structure and the drug depot at the C. H. Rennie Hospital in Kakata, were completed with funding from the MGCHT and Save the Children-Liberia.

Other project implemented included the construction of seven hand pumps, the Velley Town Maternal Waiting Home, the construction of four com-munity latrines, and the con-struction of four bucket wells undertaking by Oxfam.

Dr. Kromah indicated that major renovation work was carried out at the Peter Town Clinic in Kakata Dolo Town, Cotton Tree, the Mother to Child Health (MCH) Unit at the Worhn Clinic was ex-tended, and the new Tucker-ta Clinic was constructed with aid from Save the Children Libe-

Mr. Sylvester B. Fahnbulleh of Vai Town expressed serious concern over the unsanitary conditions being caused by the waste leaking from the burst septic tank. He appealed to the EPA and Ministry of Health to take swift action to revert the health hazard in the area.

“I’m deeply frustrated over this unsanitary situation re-sulting from this damaged septic tank. Our children are being exposed to multiple air and water borne diseases as a result,” Fahnbulleh lamented.

Another resident, Madam Fematta M. Konneh called on the EPA and its partners to im-mediately come to the aid of the affected residents of Vai Town in the interest of health and good sanitation.

“Our people must be rescued from such dehumanizing con-ditions,” Madam Konneh cau-tioned.

ria.Even with all the develop-

ment undertaken in 2013, Dr. Kromah still called for an in-crease in budgetary allotment and the provision of logistics including vehicles, drugs and

medical supplies.She said, in the absence of

the timely provision of the necessary logistics and drugs to the county health team, the efficiency of Margibi’s health delivery system would be set-

back and the provision of much needed health services to resi-

dents of the county would be stifled.

by ishmael F. Menkor

The newly assigned District Education Officer of Ganta, Mr. Lynol Mantor has

disclosed that many of the prob-lems in our school system today were due to laissez-faire(lax) attitudes of school administra-tions and their teachers

Making the disclosure to re-porters recently, Mr. Mantor said based on his observation on school campuses he had visited in his district; school administra-tions and teachers are not com-mitted to their duties by being punctual.

He added that he is going to be very tough on teacher’s at-tendance records and make sure that they are fully intact in all

public schools under his control.“I am going to start with the

teachers first. If they are sup-posed to be in class at certain time and don’t show up, what do you expect the students to do?” he asked rhetorically.

“I am going to go from school to school to see the attendance roster of teachers; their time in and time out,” he added.

Mr. Mantor said, “If the stu-dent is in uniform doing dif-ferent things in the street dur-ing school hours, the principal should be able to answer the question, why?”

In the Ganta School System, parents prefer sending their chil-dren to private schools rather than public ones because on many occasions, students attend-ing public school are seen roam-

ing the campuses during school hours when they are supposed to be in classes learning.

One of the reasons for students roaming their campuses dur-ing school hours is government paid teachers who are teaching in more than two schools daily. This situation makes it hard for them to be to their various class-es on time.

“I will make sure schools that are lacking teachers are being staffed adequately; and schools that are overstaffed be staffed evenly,” he asserted.

“If any school doesn’t meet up with the criteria for a high school by bringing qualified staff, I am going to cut the school down to Jr. High level,” he added.

“I have observed that some schools have only one BSc De-

Problem in School System Begins with Teachers: Ganta City DEO

gree holder and they are running a high school. Can one BSc De-gree holder alone teach a high school?” he queried.

Mr. Mantor also called on money lenders in Ganta to co-operate with his office to ensure effective teaching; because some teachers are in the habit of tak-ing loans. Upon receiving such money, they abandon their du-ties and do something else.

“Many teachers who get cash from these money lenders some-times take 10 months’ salary advance and go to their villages and abandon classes”, he ex-plained.

“Before they give loans any of my teachers, my office should be notified,” he asserted.

In Ganta, there are two money lenders, Pheree Dekpah and Sam Brown. Their businesses are patronized equally to banks in Ganta.

Daily Observer Wednesday, January 22, 2014 Page 4Tuesday, November 5, 2013

OBSERVER CARTOON WITH A. Leslie Lumeh E-mail: [email protected] www.leslielumeh.com

Published by Liberian Observer CorporationP.O. Box 1858, Monrovia

Liberia’s First Independent Daily

0886812888, 0886472772www.liberianobserver.com

Thursday, January 23, 2014

At Last, a Robust Development Proposal for Rural Liberia, But . . .

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alex Tyler, has proposed the allocation US$73M in the 2014/2015 Na-tional Budget for direct district impact projects across the country. Our Legislative Reporter Keith Morris was listening keenly as the Speaker, whose mother and father hail from rural Bomi County and Arthington, Montserrado County, respec-tively, explained his proposal.

“The intent,” he told the joint opening session of the 3rd sit-ting of the 53rd Legislature, “is to fund roads, schools, clinics and other meaningful projects at local government levels in order to foster developmental activities in rural areas.” Speak-er Tyler urged his fellow Representatives and the Senate to see the need to allot such critical resources to the 73 electoral districts. Contrasting his proposal with the County Develop-ment Funds (CDF), he said this was “one of the ways we believe that much needed development resources can be de-centralized.” According to him, appropriating the necessary funding would tackle several challenges facing the country’s interior, including, “deplorable roads and bridges, poor health facilities and schools lacking the most basic facilities, which can be found in most schools around the world.”

This is in contrast to what the Speaker referred to as the Ex-ecutive Branch’s US$5 million allocated in the 2013/2014 national budget for direct district impact projects.

His current proposal, he said, will directly benefit the people, “some of whom, I dare say, have never before in their entire lives, felt the influence of their government, going as far back as 1847, and the founding of the Republic.”

Few would argue with Speaker Tyler, most especially on his last point, that so many of our people in rural Liberia have never felt the impact of their government. Believe it or not, this is one of the tangible reasons why many Liberians lack the urge to be patriotic. You love one who loves you; but how can you love in return when you never feel the impact of the other’s love?

So Speaker Tyler has made a very strong point: there is need to pay particular attention to rural Liberia, district by district. But will it take more, or less than US$73 million? Where did the Speaker get his figure from? That is the first question.

The second is, where will this new money come from, given the current economic downturn facing the country, as reflected in the rapidly disappearing Liberian dollar? The Legislature will seriously have to engage the key financial players in the Executive Branch, including the Finance Minister and the Central Bank Governor, to determine how new money can be raised to rescue rural Liberia.

Third question: whatever amount is eventually allocated for rural Liberia, who will control it? The Legislature, or the Executive? We have seen what happened to the County Development Funds (CDF)—how the Legislators scrambled over it, many demanding that the lion share be given to them individually. As in the famous case of Montserrado County lawmaker Edward Forh and former Montserrado County Su-perintendent Grace Kpan. Supt. Kpan secretly recorded Rep. Forh as he told her how they could divide US$400,000 among themselves. Rep. Forh is heard saying on tape, which has now become a famous saying around Monrovia: “I eat some, you eat some and the Minister eats some.”

Fourth question: who is to determine how whatever money is allocated will be spent, district by district? Who conceives the development plans? Who determines the priorities—aid to farmers, clinics, schools, roads, water, electricity, housing, health and sanitation?

And finally, when the money is allocated and the projects de-fined, who gets the contracts to do the implementation—for-eigners, who will no doubt take the lion’s share of the money back to their countries, further diminishing the Liberian dol-lar? Or locals. If locals, how sure are we that they can DO THE JOB SATISFACTORILY AND ON TIME? Or will the projects end up another Jallah Town, Monrovia road that frus-trated President Sirleaf in the incipience of her administration?

These are serious questions to ponder as the Legislature commences its debate on Speaker Tyler’s robust proposal.

We need 73 million dollars for each of the

districts in Liberia

The Speaker is right...

My district needs hospital...

You love one who loves you…

Who are the real beneficiaries of

this money?

I coming buy more cars and get more jues…

The Global Economy in 2014by Klaus schwab

GENEVA – At the dawn of a new year, the world is in the midst of several epic transitions. Economic growth patterns, the geopolitical landscape, the social contract that binds people together, and our plan-et’s ecosystem are all undergoing radical, simultaneous transformations, generating anxiety and, in many places, turmoil.

From an economic standpoint, we are entering an era of diminished expecta-tions and increased uncertainty. In terms of growth, the world will have to live with less. To understand the implications of this, consider the following: If the global economy grew at its pre-crisis pace (more than 5% per year) for the foreseeable fu-ture, its size would double in less than 15 years; at 3%, doubling world GDP would take about 25 years.

This makes a significant difference to the speed at which wealth creation occurs, with profound effects on expectations. We ignore the power of compound growth to our detriment.

As for uncertainty, the world’s four larg-est economies are currently undergoing major transitions. The US is striving to boost growth in a fractured political envi-ronment. China is moving from a growth model based on investment and exports to one led by internal demand. Europe is struggling to preserve the integrity of its common currency while resolving a mul-titude of complex institutional issues. And Japan is trying to combat two decades of deflation with aggressive and unconven-tional monetary policies.

For each, the formulation and outcome of complex and sensitive policy decisions implies many “unknowns,” with global interdependence heightening the risk of large unintended consequences. For ex-ample, the US Federal Reserve’s policy of quantitative easing (QE) has had a major effect on other countries’ currencies, and on capital flows to and from emerging markets.

When QE was launched, it was the least flawed of the available policies, and it averted a catastrophic global depression. But its downsides are now apparent, and its abatement in 2014 could fuel further uncertainty.

The Fed’s QE policy, and variants of it elsewhere, have caused the major central banks’ balance sheets to expand dramati-cally (from $5-6 trillion prior to the crisis to almost $20 trillion now), causing finan-cial markets to become addicted to easy money. This has led, in turn, to a global search for yield, artificial asset-price infla-

tion, and misallocation of capital.As a result, the longer QE lasts, the

greater the collateral damage to the real economy. The concern now is that when the Fed begins to taper QE and dollar li-quidity drains from global markets, struc-tural problems and imbalances will resur-face. After all, competitiveness-enhancing reforms in many advanced economies re-main far from complete, while the ratio of these countries’ total public and private debt to GDP is now 30% higher than be-fore the crisis.

This source of uncertainty coincides with weakening performance in many emerging countries. Back in 2007, emerg-ing-market growth was expected to out-pace that of advanced economies by a wide margin, before converging. Today, the advanced economies contribute more to global GDP growth than emerging countries, where growth is forecast to av-erage 4% in the coming years.

Economic conditions are slowly im-proving in high-income countries, but a range of downward pressures may persist for years. The US economy, for example, remains stuck in a subpar recovery: infla-tion is too low and unemployment is too high. Official data have often been better than expected, reflecting how resilient, adaptive, and innovative the US economy is, but pre-crisis consumer-spending and growth patterns are unlikely to recur.

Improvements in the eurozone are real but tenuous. The good news is that the disaster predicted by many pundits has been avoided, and the recession is com-ing to an end. But improvement does not mean resurgence: achieving the robust growth needed to reduce high unemploy-ment, lower the debt/GDP ratio, and im-prove the fiscal outlook remains elusive. The greatest risk for the eurozone in the foreseeable future is not a disorderly exit by some countries, but rather a prolonged period of stagnant growth and high unem-ployment.

Meanwhile, the emerging-market slow-down may well persist, particularly in the largest economies. Over the past 15 years, the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and Chi-na) have achieved remarkable progress, but their reforms – including new banking regulations and currency regimes – have been among the least difficult to imple-ment.

So-called second-generation reforms, which are more structural in nature, are vital to long-term growth but much more difficult to realize. Elimination of subsi-dies, labor market and judicial reforms, and effective anti-corruption measures are

politically charged and often are blocked by powerful vested interests.

The global growth slowdown is tak-ing place against a backdrop of rising economic inequality, owing to labor’s declining share of national income – a worldwide phenomenon, resulting from globalization and technological progress, that poses a serious challenge to policy-makers. Systems that propagate inequal-ity, or that seem unable to stem its rise, contain the seeds of their own destruction. But in an interdependent world, there is no obvious solution, because the high mobil-ity of capital fuels global tax competition.

Even in stronger-performing countries, such as the US or the United Kingdom, faster GDP growth has yet to boost real incomes. In the US, for example, median household income has fallen by more than 5% since the recovery began. More gen-erally, lower growth is fueling popular protest and social unrest, particularly in countries that were growing rapidly (for example, Brazil, Turkey, and South Af-rica), owing to the impact of rising living standards on expectations.

In such a charged social and political context, reviving high-quality economic growth is crucial. But where will it come from? Technological progress is a distinct, but highly uncertain, possibility. Many disruptive technologies (for example, ad-vanced robotics, next-generation genom-ics, energy storage, renewable energy, and 3D printing) could drive future growth, but their full potential can be realized only in the distant future.

With most governments facing fiscal constraints, officials are reluctant to con-sider projects that might increase pub-lic debt. But there is some low-hanging fruit – productive investments that would boost long-term growth and therefore pay for themselves. A focus on four areas, in particular – infrastructure, education, green energy, and sustainable agriculture – could yield high economic and social returns.

Ultimately, however, the path to sus-tained growth requires not just new poli-cies, but also a new mindset. Our societies must become more entrepreneurial, more focused on establishing gender parity, and more rooted in social inclusion. There simply is no other way to return the global economy to a path of strong and sustained growth.

about the authorKlaus schwab is Founder and execu-

tive Chairman, World economic Forum.

Daily Observer Wednesday, January 22, 2014 Page 4Tuesday, November 5, 2013 Page 5Thursday, January 23, 2014

Place Of Honestyby Matenneh-rose l. Dunbar

We are yet to determine that placeA spot where we will state the truthWith open hearts to accept our faultsSeeing all of us as one people by GodWith human equality right and dignityJust because we are of the same stuff

Place Of Honesty….... We SeekWe simple as a group of easy goers

Vent our hates for the season propel usHungry souls are bent low in plain lack

Gather the lot of the inner clique to shareIn nasty water lodged corners families hidesThat they have nowhere to protect their kids

Place Of Honesty……. We StriveWe deserve a land rich like our mountains

Rivers filled with stones that the world craveForest God grown with massive costly treesPlain lands that yield yellow golden rocks

Valleys planted with ore needed everywhereRains so much we will feed every child a liter

Place Of Honesty……. We Survive

Ellen Joyce and Catherine … Mighty

Womenby Matenneh-rose l. Dunbar

We watched as the world clapped for themWe breathed a relief over their loud victoriesWe hoped high as we felt meekness was fixedWe echoed the freedom of mighty all womenWe hold our breaths with excited jubilation We mother the broken villages to stability

Ellen Joyce and Catherine ….. Mighty WomenWe lobbied endless in West Africa for a deliv-

ererWe ran and slept in the open streets for years

We destroyed our own kith and kin like a plague

We killed men of same tribe who lived near usWe burnt churches with living people in them

We fought ethnic civil war that made no reasonEllen Joyce and Catherine ….. Mighty Women

We stand on the precipice of a women ruled world

We lay the stage for concrete peace non vio-lence

We oversee from the bleakest to the glamorousWe take in our strides those rejected and frailWe settle discontent in the jaws of massive

gunsWe entrench democracy for tiny feet yet

unbornEllen Joyce and Catherine ….. Mighty Women

Tender Soulby Matenneh-rose l. Dunbar

Made of all but little bones for a frame all soft like a roll of neat white tissue

Tucked and packed like a postcardMailed to a distant land for a dear oneBeneath all of this is the cracked shellAll broken and covered in flow of tears

Tender SoulNear to my inner core the tear felt most

It is natural to be feeble when it all rocksBreathe out the rivers of sac emotions

Make room to dry patch for new growthForget the pretense that clouds the skiesLook forward through changed seasons

Tender SoulEntreat the shames to valleys but rise upBang the shots of naked hatred about you

Cover the menacing tug of riots with wordsPlacid as streams in nature attract grandeurHumbly the persistence for better enlargesPulse at every leaf sway enjoy the intricacy

Tender Soul

I CANNOT BE YOURS, NO!Written by leadeh Gboko-Gbowe, and

dedicated to liberians

I cannot be your money when your money is

not your moneyI cannot be your Oil when your Oil is not your

OilI cannot be your Iron Ore when your Iron Ore

is not your Iron oreI cannot be your Diamond when your Diamond

is not your DiamondI cannot be your Gold when your Gold is not

your GoldI cannot be your Timber when your Timber is

not your TimberI cannot be your Forest when your Forest is not

your ForestI cannot be your Rubber when your Rubber is

not RubberI cannot be your Seaport when your Seaport is

not your SeaportI cannot be your Airport when your Airport is

not your AirportI cannot be your Food when your Food is not

your FoodI cannot be your Cloth when your Cloth is not

your ClothI cannot be your Shoes when your Shoes are

not your ShoesI cannot be your Skin when your Skin is not

your SkinI cannot be your Hair when your Hair is not

your HairI cannot be your Nail when your Nail is not

NailI cannot be your Eyebrow when your Eyebrow

is not your EyebrowI cannot be your Eyelashes when your Eye-

lashes are not your EyelashesI cannot be your Eye when your Eye is not

your EyeI cannot be your Lips when your Lips are not

your LipsI cannot be your everything when your every-

thing is not your EverythingI cannot be your anything when your anything

is not your AnythingNo! I cannot just be yours when yours is not

your

LET IT BEWritten by leadeh Gboko-Gbowe

If Eye was made to seeLet it be

If Nose was made to smileLet it be

If Tongue was made to tasteLet it be

If Skin was made to feelLet it be

If Ear was made to hearLet it be

Let everything be as it was to be

If I was born to leadLet it be

If you were born to leadLet it be

If He was born to leadLet it be

If she was born to leadLet it be

If it was born to lead let it beIf we were born to lead

Let it beIf they were born to lead

Let it beLet everybody be as he was to be

If I was born to serve Let it be

If you were born to serve Let it be

If He was born to serve Let it be

If she was born to serveLet it be

If it was born to serveLet it be

If we were born to ServeLet it be

If they were born to serveLet it be

Let everyone be as he was to beAnd let all be as they were to be

With Leroy M. Sonpon III

MESSENGER OF PEACEOur Commitment to sustainable Peace

As our nation’s lead-ers continue to as-pire for sustainable peace in Liberia,

Messengers of Peace (MOP)-Liberia, from its embryonic stage in 2008 has remained committed to peace in Liberia.

There is no bigger sign of this commitment than our foundation values of advocacy for Peace Education and non-violence through the concept of volunteerism. We remain the bearer of peace messages and take the lead role for Peace Advocacy involving youth in Liberia.

One of the hallmarks of MOP-Liberia is the meaning-ful involvement and active participation as well as en-gagement of young people in advocacy programs for peace. At MOP-Liberia, what we have discovered in our nascent years of existence is that at the heart of most Liberian youth is the quest for peace to prevail.

Our values, as presented last week, are centered on prepar-ing young people in schools and communities for peace and non-violence through the transfer of knowledge and skills.

In keeping with those goals, young people are actively in-volved in peace building ini-tiatives such as the “21 Days of Peace Activism in Liberia” Community Sensitization Campaigns and formation of peace clubs in schools. They are also challenged to find a practical application of ac-quire information during the mentoring programmes.

We are always willing to do the little things that contribute to the attainment of sustain-able peace in Liberia. MOP-Liberia’s vision is to become

one of the great Non-Govern-mental Organization (NGO), youth driven, voluntary move-ment in Liberia and the

Sub-region which stands for key peace values and is not afraid or reluctant to stand up for peace and non-violence.

MOP-Liberia is a consci-entious objector to any form of violence anywhere in the world. It remains committed to the key peace values of hard work, building trust, honesty, tolerance and respect for hu-man dignity and diversity.

As MOP enters its sixth year of operation, it has earned a reputation for not just being passionate but is recognized as an organization with a com-passion for peace and is an ad-vocate for non-violence. These are traits valued by several in-stitutions (The Carter Center-Liberia, Liberia Peacebuilding Office, United Nations Mis-sion in Liberia, United Na-tions Volunteer Programme, International Alert, Shirley

Ann Sullivan Educational Foundation) and more inter-national and local partners that MOP collaborates with as we execute our programmes on Peace buildings in the country.

MOP takes very seriously its responsibility to provide a peace loving and child friend-ly environment for young people from different cultural backgrounds in all learning environment in Liberia.

Our mission is to inculcate our shared values to young people in the various peace clubs (in schools and com-munities) spread across the country.

It is our expectations that young people who benefit from our programmes and in-culcated with our core values would be great examples of the dedication and commit-ment that MOP-Liberia stands for.

Peace, above all. Peace First. Let Peace Prevail.

Gwendolyn Myers, executive Director, Messengers of Peace-liberia (MOP)

The County Meetby: lekpele Nyamalon

Under one hutCome all tribes

Blinded by a ball- just a ballOne round little objectChased by 22 little men

In a circusLooking for a goal

The oldma listens to a radio somewhere in kpatawee

And hears a goal on the radio!She jumps like a leopard!

Spreads her lappa, smiling like a full new moon

And folds her hands, praying that the game ends there!

What a County Meet!When the Counties meet

Men act like boysJumping over fences

Like helicopter troopersNimba meets LofaBong meets Bassa

GrandGedeh meets SinoeLiberia Wins the medalHurry up County Meet!

When are you coming back?

Tanzania baseBy: Lekpele Nyamalon

Your name sends a chillYour face sends a silent cold, traveling through

spines, like needlesHidden under the enclaves of CARI,

Deep in the bosom of Bong!When men, like chicks, ran to your arms for

shelterYou opened a door, hid them under your feath-

ersFrom the gnashing sounds of gunshots and

stray bulletsBringing a relief, life was about to breathe

again!In the darkest of dark,

You pushed them out to the wolvesShut your huts

Took off your doorsDemolished your windows

Unmasked your faceAnd, like a coward, you fled

Oh Tanzania base! Why?You could have left us alone!Let the lions devour us then!

Or, we would have buried ourselves alive!But you gave us hope, masked by terror!

And left us out to dryWish your name could vanish like a dream

Oh Tanzania base, you are a beast!

Daily Observer Page 6 Thursday, January 23, 2014

Senior SMPP Planner: Technical qualification with 10 years’ site experience, minimum 5 years’ planning experience, Primavera P6, commercial experience, must have experience in setting up an initial programme and ability to keep it up to date.SMPP Construction Site Manager: Professional qualification with at least 10 years’ SMPP experience.Assistant SMPP Construction Site Manager: Minimum 5 years’ experience in managing SMPP construction sites and relevant formal qualification.SMPP Quality Inspectors: Welding 2 qualification, Data book compilation, and 10 years’ SMPP construction experience are essential. Must have the ability to monitor the site installation and ensure compliance with requirements by performing inspections and verification of documentation to ensure the implementation of the Project Quality Plan.Senior SMPP Quantity Surveyor: Relevant degree and minimum 5-8 years’ experience in a SMPP construction environment, with knowledge of NEC and FIDIC suite of contracts and excellent commercial acumen.SMPP Field Engineer: Engineering degree with 3-5 years’ construction experience and the ability to ensure quick resolution of engineering problems/queries arising on site through effective liaising, monitoring, recording, execution and management thereof.HR and Administration Manager: Senior Secondary WAEC Certificate or equivalent plus minimum 3-year business qualification (preferably financially-related) and 5 years’ work experience with at least 3 years at administrative supervisory level in Finance and HR. Construction background is preferable.SMPP Health, Safety and Environmental Officers: Senior Secondary WAEC Certificate and relevant formal Health and Safety qualification, SAMTRAC, first aid certificate and 5 years’ construction site experience with the ability to organise and implement the project HSE system on site.Security and Logistics Manager: Protect the construction site from theft and ensure security is optimised to meet requirements, as well as manage and coordinate all logistics. Security qualification and at least 5 years’ relevant experience in security and logistics are essential.Mechanical Supervisor: Senior Secondary WAEC Certificate or equivalent with at least 5 years’ experience in construction in a mechanical supervisory role to oversee, manage and report on site construction, procedures, and comply with Group Five clients’ and SHEQ standards.Structural Platework Supervisors: Senior Secondary WAEC Certificate or equivalent with at least 5 years’ experience in construction in a structural platework supervisory role to oversee, manage and report on site construction, procedures and staff as well as Group Five clients’ and SHEQ standards.Piping Supervisor: High School Certificate or equivalent with at least 5 years’ experience in construction in a piping supervisory role to oversee, manage and report on site construction, procedures and comply with Group Five clients’ and SHEQ standards.SMPP Material Controller: Construction qualification, SMPP site experience and construction material control experience in receiving, tracking, recording, reporting, storing and issuing all materials for construction.SMPP Stores Managers: Receive, store, monitor and dispatch all items under stores control. High School Certificate or equivalent with 3 years’ SMPP construction site experience, plus Stores Control and Management qualifications are required. Professional Pipe Fitter: Be responsible for fitting and installation of pipes as per drawing specifications. High School Certificate or equivalent with relevant recognised qualification and at least 5 years’ experience in pipe fitting (6G).Professional Welder (Coded): Appropriate experience in coding for industrial construction and minimum 3 years’ welding experience.

Professional Structural Welder: Ability to operate CO2 machinery, SMAW welding technique and minimum 5 years’ experience with relevant recognised certification.

Professional Plate/Tank Welder: Ability to weld 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G. Relevant recognised certified with 5 years’ experience.

Mechanical Fitter: Be responsible for installment and alignment of mechanical equipment. High School Certificate or equivalent with relevant recognised qualification and at least 5-7 years’ experience in mechanical fitting are required.

Tank Builder: Be responsible for fitting, installation and erecting of steel structures as per drawing specifications. High School Certificate or equivalent with relevant recognised qualification and at least 5-7 years’ experience in boilermaking are essential.

Master Rigger: High School Certificate with relevant recognised qualification and minimum 10 years’ experience in rigging, of which 5 years must have been in managing a team of riggers. Must be able to complete rigging study and supervise the team to load, offload and install mechanical and structural equipment.

Rigger: Be responsible for loading, offloading and installation of mechanical and structural equipment. High School Certificate or equivalent with relevant recognised qualification and minimum 5-7 years’ experience in rigging are required.

Driver (Light Duty Vehicle): Be responsible for providing effective collection and delivery services to the site within the required timeframe. High School Certificate or equivalent qualification and a driver’s licence are essential.

Driver (Heavy Duty Vehicle): Professional driving qualification with the ability to assess loads against given permissible load requirements and plan road transport service delivery that meets specified requirements.

Crane Operators: High School Certificate, relevant operator’s licence with accredited training for mobile cranes, plus a Code EC (11) licence and 2 years’ operating and driving experience.

Fork Lift Operators: Be responsible for loading and offloading materials and containers on trucks with a forklift on site. High School Certificate or equivalent qualification with a valid Lifter driver’s licence are essential.

Scaffold Inspector: Be responsible for erecting and certifying scaffolding. Relevant recognised Inspection and Scaffold Erection certification required, plus 5 years’ working experience.

Scaffold Erector:  Be responsible for erecting scaffolding. Relevant recognised Scaffold Erection certification required, plus 5 years’ working experience.

Surveyor: Ability to calibrate and operate total station, theodolite and dumpy level. Relevant degree, AutoCad Draughting and minimum 8 years’ construction site experience.

Plant Mechanic: Highly qualified Diesel Mechanic with auto electrical experience to optimally maintain all construction site cranes, vehicles and generators. Formal qualification with 10 years’, construction site experience.

Security Guards: Minimum 5 years’ working experience with a recognised security company, the police force or the military. A clear criminal record is a prerequisite.

Steel Erector: Ability to read structural drawings and to erect structural steel buildings under the guidance of supervision, minimum 2 years’ relevant work experience.

Group Five is a diversified Construction, Infrastructure Concessions and Related Services group engaged in

resources, energy, real estate and infrastructure delivery with a growing client base in SA, the rest of Africa and

Eastern Europe.

As a result of the company being awarded the New Liberty Gold Contract in the Grand Cape Mount County,

the following vacancies have become available at the Structural, Mechanical, Piping and Platework (SMPP)

division of Group Five:

Building the world one piece

at a time.

Group Five is a Leader in Safety,

and Environmental Management within

the construction sector.

www.groupfive.co.za

Suitable candidates should e-mail their CVs to [email protected] or fax to +27 86 557 1931Applications should be received by no later than 28 February 2014.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted and successful candidates will be mobilised per site requirements.

Human Communications 105612 www.humanjobs.co.za

Daily Observer Page 8 Thursday, January 23, 2014

1 December 2013

Peace Corps/Liberia Education Programming and Training Specialist (ED PTS)

REPORTS TO: Programming and Training Manager (PTM) POSITION BRIEF: The ED PTS serves as a member of the Programming and Training (P&T) team and supports 80-100 Volunteers in training, program, administration, and other Volunteer support issues. The ED PTS has responsibility for supporting the planning, development, implementation and administration of Peace Corps Liberia’s programming and training activities. The ED PTS will support all P&T related activities for the Education Project with support and direction from the Education Program Manager (ED PM) and PTM. During the Pre-Service Training (PST) and In-Service Training (IST) cycles, the PTS will be the full-time technical trainer for the Education Project and will receive support and direction from the TM and ED PM. The ED PTS also represents Peace Corps Liberia with governmental officials and representatives of non-governmental and host country organizations. MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES A. Project and Program Support Site Development Site Visits Administrative Program Support Volunteer Program Support B. Development and Implementation Of Training Activities C. Administrative and other Volunteer Support D. Grants Coordination and Management E. Information Resource Center Management F. Safety and Security QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE Education: Bachelor’s degree in education, project management, community development or relevant field. Experience: Three years progressively responsible experience in Education field and/or community development. Trainer of trainers and adult training experience. Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes: Knowledge of and experience with adult education, education in Liberia, and participatory community analysis for development. Strong experience with group facilitation, session plan design, and cultural adaptation & sensitivity training. Computer skills with Microsoft Office required. Ability to work with minimal supervision Ability to manage and administer small grant programs. Position requires a valid Liberia driver’s license and ability to drive a manual vehicle (stick shift). ED PTS must be available and willing to travel throughout Liberia approximately 50-60% of time either accompanied by PM or alone. For a complete Statement of Work please send a request to pcjobs@[email protected]. Submit a letter of interest, resume and three reference contacts as attachments via email to: [email protected]. No phone calls please. The deadline for applications is January 13, 2014. Applications received after this date may be considered at the discretion of the Contracting Officer. A detailed Statement of Work can be obtained at the guard stations of the Peace Corps Office in Congo Town.

…and many more!How does it work?1. Mercy Corps is offering 3-month apprenticeships to match YOUR skillsAn apprenticeship can give you on-the-job experience, build your skills, and give you the chance to secure a job. Find the apprenticeship which matches your experience, education and interests from Mercy Corps’ Apprenticeship Catalogue.2. Mercy Corps provides a stipend of $3 per day for the duration of the apprenticeshipWe provide a stipend to help facilitate your transport. You can focus on work!3. Build your skills through training and mentorshipDuring apprenticeships, Mercy Corps will provide you with business skills training. Your host business will also designate a mentor to give you feedback on your work and provide you with training and advice.4. Apply today to the apprenticeship which matches your interest and experienceFind the opportunity which suits you from the Apprenticeship Catalogue posted at one of the following locations. Fill in an application form and submit to us! If successful, you will be invited to interview.

• MercyCorpsoffice,Sinkor• Gardnerville Town Hall• New Kru Town Administrative Building

Call 0886 106 172 for more information, or email [email protected]

Applications: Tuesday 21 – Saturday 26 Jan 2014

Apprenticeships available in many trade areas with Liberian and international companies, including:

• Bookkeeping• Hotel Management• Carpentry & Masonry• Electronics• Beauty• Nursing

• Interior Design• Sales• Auto Mechanics• IT and Computers• Administration• Catering

 Looking  to  jump  start  your  career?  Need  experience?    

APPLY  FOR  ON-­‐THE-­‐JOB  TRAINING  

JOB VACANCY

Post: Co-Director Location: Monrovia (with periodic visit outside Monrovia) Contract Duration: Until 30th September 2014 Closing Date: February, 10th 2014 Background: On August 25, 2013, coinciding with the country’s 10 years of peace celebration, the success and excitement from 2011 was repeated and extended. Under the motto “Liberia, Rising. Together” more than 1,200 athletes, about 1,000 tireless volunteers and thousands, and thousands spectators lining up on the course to cheer for and applaud the runners turned the Liberia Marathon 2013 in an incredible civic event. This year Liberia will host her third Liberia Marathon. This official, 26.2 miles, street running race hosted in major cities all over the world, will provide constructive role models, foster community cohesion and offer Liberians the chance to compete internationally and transform the country’s image. Our aim is to stage an open, inclusive and uplifting public event in Monrovia, which strengthens Liberia’s developing success story, helps transform how Liberians and others see the country, and provides a catalyst for charitable and commercial activity in Liberia. Our long-term vision is a mass public event, where runners participate for charity and the public good in an internationally respected annual race that also develops elite distance runners to represent Liberia on the world stage. More information on www.liberiamarathon.com and facebook /LiberiaMarathon Main tasks & responsibilities: In the context of the goals laid out above, the following section lists the various objectives, duties and expectations of the Co-Director of the Liberia Marathon:

• The right vision for the marathon, and annual project plan • Effective financial stewardship of the Liberia Marathon • Raising money and delivering sponsorship value • Assembling and leading the Organizing Committee • Building and maintaining effective strategic stakeholder relationships • Delivering a secure Marathon • Delivering a safe marathon • Delivering a successful and well-attended marathon • Representing the Marathon externally • Protecting the marathon and ensuring compliance • Contributing to the Marathon sustainability and legacy • Protecting the long-term vision and values of the Liberia Marathon

Requirements & assets:

• Graduate degree from a recognized University • Excellent skills in accounting, administration and event/project management • Capacity to speak/read/write English on a professional level • Proven leadership, communication and interpersonal skills • Character of willingness to work and ability to fit into a team environment, team

management experience • Advanced networking and stakeholder management skills • Can demonstrate trustworthiness and commitment to complex projects • Can demonstrate they are a team player, task-oriented, with organizational and time

management skills, independent and entrepreneurial • Excellent computer skills in MS Office (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint & Internet).

Liberia Marathon Trust offers:

• Part-time contract leading to full time • Competitive remuneration depending on experience and education • Outstanding and unique event management experience • Outstanding, national level leadership experience • Networking opportunities

How to Apply: If you are interested, please email your Well Written letter of motivation and CV to [email protected] before 10 February 2014. Only short listed candidates will be contacted. For more information please visit www.liberiamarathon.com

6a

Daily Observer Wednesday, January 22, 2014 Page 4Tuesday, November 5, 2013Thursday, January 23, 2014 Page 6b

Rubber Planters in Liberian Business

a slight revisionIn our selection of Cen-tral Bank Governor Dr. J. Mills Jones as PER-SON OF THE YEAR,

we stressed the fact that the vast majority of Liberians live in abject poverty in their own country, while only a few Li-berians and most foreigners, including Lebanese, Indians and Fulas, are very rich. We also mentioned a handful of Liberians in business, but not in the mainstream or leaders in their particular lines of busi-ness. Every aspect of busi-ness, with the probable excep-tion of rubber, is dominated by foreigners.

That brings us to this big one—RUBBER—which has over the years put a lot of money into the pockets of a few Liberians, making some very rich. The exceptions, of course, are the big rubber con-cessions, Firestone, Liberia Agriculture Company (LAC), Salala Rubber Corporation (SRC), Cavala Rubber Com-pany (CRC) and the Guthrie Plantations.

We fortunately have quite a few Liberians who are rub-ber planters and have over the decades done well for them-selves and their families.

The first Liberian to make serious money from rubber was James (Jimmy) Francis Cooper, the first Liberian to start planting the highly lucra-tive crop. He was Secretary of the Interior under President C.D.B. King in 1926 when Harvey S. Firestone started his rubber plantation along the Farmington River in what is now Margibi County.

Jimmy Cooper was the grandfather of many, many Coopers, including former Deputy Agriculture Secretary Sam Payne Cooper, geologist Bismark Cooper, Journalist Chauncey Cooper and former Chief Justice of Liberia Henry Reed Cooper. Mrs. Mildred Cooper Reeves, former Gen-eral Manager of the Liberian Bank for Development and In-vestment, now a CBL Gover-nor, is Jimmy Cooper’s great granddaughter. Young Car-rine Richards Barnes, a lead-ing Liberian architect, who currently supervises the reno-vation of the Executive Man-sion, is also a granddaughter of Jimmy Cooper.

As Secretary of the Interior, Jimmy Cooper was the man to whom Harvey Firestone turned to recruit workers to run his highly labor-intensive rubber plantation. Most of these workers initially hailed from Montserrado, Bong, Lofa and later Nimba coun-ties.

In appreciation for the In-terior Secretary’s invaluable help, Mr. Firestone encour-aged Jimmy Cooper to plant rubber, too. And Mr. Cooper was not selfish. He got other Liberians involved in the rubber industry. The Daily Observer once found in the United States Archives a let-ter from Louis Arthur Grimes, Attorney General under Presi-

dent King, Secretary of State and later Chief Justice under President Edwin Barclay and President W.V.S. Tubman. In that letter, Mr. Grimes thanked Jimmy Cooper for encour-aging him (Grimes) to plant rubber. President King, too, planted rubber in Lower Car-eysburg (King Farm) and so did his successor, President Edwin Barclay, whose rubber farm was near the Firestone Hydro in the same Farmington community.

An American researcher and author came to see the Daily Observer publisher little over two years ago and told him what he thought of Mr. Fire-stone leading Liberian of-ficials into planting rubber. “This,” said the author, who has probably now completed his book on the American rubber industrialist, “was the genius of Harvey Firestone.” By encouraging most Libe-rian officials, past, present and future, to plant rubber and make money, Mr. Fires-tone got all of these officials on his side, convincing them that they, too, and not Fires-tone only, could become rich from rubber. That immedi-ately brought all of these Li-berian decision makers to his side. Tubman, who succeeded E.J. Barclay as President in 1944, also became a big rub-ber planter—with farms both in Totota, Bong County, and in his

native Maryland County (Bonike near Pleebo).

We understand that Tub-man’s farm was developed by his relative, Willie Tubman, a prominent Maryland busi-ness tycoon, commonly called “Bor Willie.” According to his son, former presidential candidate Counselor Winston Tubman, Bor Willie was the one who planted Tubman’s rubber, since the President was too busy running the af-fairs of state in Monrovia. But Tubman paid regular visits to his native Cape Palmas, espe-cially at Easter, when he wor-shipped at Mount Scott United Methodist Church, the church into which he was born.

Bor Willie also became a major rubber planter in Mary-land. He was also the father of Cllr. Robert Tubman, their older brother John and their eldest brother Conway Tub-man. All of the boys at one time attended the Booker Washington Institute. They have three sisters, Laurentine, Grace and Antoinette (Aunty).

Other Marylanders who planted rubber included A. Dash Wilson, who became Chief Justice.

The Speaker of the House in the 1930s, Benjamin Greene Freeman, became the lead-ing rubber planter in Careys-burg, followed by his brother, father of “Ben III,” former Liberian Ambassador to La Cote d’Ivoire, and also by J.D. Jackson, the Ureys and others.

Ben Freeman, like Henry B. Duncan and R.S.S. Bright, jumped out of the box and in-

vested in real estate on Benson Street, Monrovia (old Defense Ministry) and Payne Avenue, Sinkor. Freeman’s succes-sor as Speaker was Richard A. Henries, who also planted rubber in Bong and Bomi Counties. All of these law-yers (Freeman, Henries, etc.), became, of course, Firestone lawyers, too, further entrench-ing Firestone in Liberian po-litical culture.

R.S.S. Bright, a former Secretary to President Edwin Barclay, was joined in the rub-ber business by the President’s Driver, a man name Mr. Walk-er of McDonald Street, father of Dwalu Dougbavan Walker, a popular Monrovia boy in the 1950s and 60s. He had young-er brother and both of them are now deceased. But the rubber farm, which Mr. Rich-ard Bright helped run follow-ing Mr. Walker senior’s death, made Dwalu a fairly well to do youngster among his col-leagues in Monrovia, most of whom were of poor parentage. Dwalu’s younger brother has a surviving daughter.

Many members of Presi-dent Tubman’s first Cabinet also planted rubber. These included Tubman’s first and second Vice Presidents, Clar-ence Lorenzo Simpson and William Richard Tolbert, Jr.; and first Treasury Secretary, William E. Dennis, Sr., who made money from rubber in Borlorla, near Kakata.

Following his resignation from government in 1954, Mr. Dennis was four years later succeeded by the highly educated Charles D. Sher-man. Mr. Sherman, too, be-came a major rubber planter. He joined many other leading families to plant rubber on the Bong Mines road, in the heart of the Liberian rubber belt. These included his eldest brother Arthur, former Direc-tor of the Bureau of Mines and Geology, John Lewis Cooper, many other Coopers, Mrs. Thelma Reeves, ex-wife of former Secretary of State Gabriel Lafayette Dennis, and Mrs. Sara Frances

Maximore Beysolow, wife of Circuit Court Judge J. Dan-iel Beysolow. The Beysolows were parents of former Commerce Minister Miata Beysolow, her brother Kona and other siblings.

Colonel Isaac Whisnant, a senior official in the Liberian Frontier Force (now Armed Forces of Liberia), was also a rubber planter; so was Tub-man’s first Public Works Secretary Henry B. Dun-can, and Interior Secretary J. Samuel Melton. All three men—Whisnant, Duncan and Melton—built their farms on the road leading to Salala.

Speaking of Firestone and the future, something else happened. In 1959 the Uni-versity of Liberia graduated its first specialists from the College of Agriculture and Forestry. In the class were two young men who emerged as rubber planters, Elfrick

K. Porte, first son of Albert, and Charles Edward Cooper, grandson of Jimmy Cooper and son of Jimmy’s first son Jesse.

Firestone wasted no time in approaching Charles Edward to offer him a job as one of the first Liberian Superinten-dents on the Firestone Planta-tion. But the young man told the Firestone management he was not interested, because he already had plans to take over his grandfather Jimmy and Ed-ward ‘s father Jesse’s farms. But Firestone was undeterred. They immediately approached President Tubman, seeking his intervention. The President sent for Charles Edward and gave him an offer he could not refuse. So Charles Edward joined Firestone and

remained there until 1990 when the civil war broke out.

Of course, Charles Edward worked his father and grand-father’s farms part time and even started his own. Then the war. Today, Jimmy Cooper’s farm is no more. Its unattend-ed trees have been lost to the rapacious charcoal producers.

It was this very serious love affair between Firestone and Liberian officialdom that over many decades consistently kept Firestone workers’ wages low. Many feared that if Fire-stone increased its wages, lo-cal rubber planters would lose their workers to Harbel, the Firestone capital named for Harvey and his wife Annabel.

That kept Firestone work-ers partially impoverished for generations. And many of them are still poor, though un-like workers on many leading Liberian rubber plantations, Firestone workers do have reasonably good housing, ed-ucational and health facilities.

“Rubber King of the World”

In the early 1930s a Liberian teenager named Harry Lyons Morris returned home as the eldest of his siblings to be with their mother, Mrs. Maude Morris, at the funeral of his father, John Louis Morris. Mr. Morris, who served in many Cabinet positions dring the King administration, was also a small rubber planter. Morris Farm opposite the Cocoa Cola Factory was his first farm. He also had a small farm

in Kakata, near the Du Bridge.

Being the eldest, Harry, then a junior in high school in the USA, did not return to com-plete his studies. Instead, he remained at home to help take care of his mother and sib-lings. It was during that pe-riod that he took over his fa-ther’s rubber farms, then later planted his own.

Harry worked very hard and grew the biggest rubber plan-tation of any single planter. By the mid-1950s Mr. Morris was acclaimed “the Rubber King of the World.”

Mr. R.S.S. Bright, once Sec-retary to President Edwin Bar-clay and later Liberian dip-lomat in the USA and at the United Nations, also planted rubber, on the Firestone Road in Kakata. He, too became a major rubber planter who, unlike Mr. Morris and other planters, invested heavily in real estate in the prime dip-lomatic enclave of Mamba Point. In this initiative, Mr. Bright followed the example of

Henry B. Duncan, who built the initial buildings that now house the Mamba Point and Cape Hotels, both owned by Lebanese.

A few other rubber planters, including Arthur and Charles Sherman, also heavily in-vested in real estate, though not in the Mamba Point area. Harry Morris’ farm, now run by his son Bill, is still the largest in Liberia and prob-ably the world owned by one family. Bill has moved the farm one step further. He now processes his own rubber, and no longer needs to sell rubber to Firestone. Morris rubber is shipped directly to foreign markets.

This is a significant develop-ment that could, with the infu-sion of more capital, pave the way for the manufacture of rubber products in Liberia.

We end this piece on Libe-rian rubber on a painful note. Liberia is no longer Africa’s leading producer of natural rubber. We understand it is now La Cote d’Ivoire, which also holds first place in coffee, cocoa and oil palm production on the continent.

It is not known when Libe-ria will start investing again in tree crops and help Liberian rubber, coffee and cocoa plant-ers to reestablish their farms. Rubber trees throughout the country were destroyed dur-ing the 14-year civil war by illicit and rapacious tapping and cutting down of the trees for charcoal production.

For special and strategic rea-sons, both the Firestone and Morris plantations were left intact during the war.

In the case of Morris Farm, it is because son Bill remained on the plantation throughout the war. Thank God for a son who looked after his father’s business.

: Mr. Harry l. Morris with his wife Wilma (at right) and their young son bill, being paid a visit by world rubber tycoon Harvey s. Firestone, Jr., founder of liberia’s

Firestone Plantations Company. This visit by Mr. Firestone was a tacit indication of the great respect he had for Harry Morris as one of the world’s preeminent rubber

planters.

Daily Observer Page 7 Thursday, January 23, 2014

The Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) in collaboration with its Independent Adminis-trator (Ernst & Young Ghana/MGI Monbo & Company) is reconciling all payments from the oil, mining, agri-

culture and forestry sectors to the Government of Liberia from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. As part of its mandate, the LEITI requested all entities operating in these sectors to submit report-ing templates of payments of payments made to the government for the period under review and in support of its 5th Reconcilia-tion Report.

It is important to note that after series of extension in deadlines from November 22, December 20, 2013 and January 15, 2014 the below listed companies have not submitted reporting templates as required.

LEITI is therefore constrained to enforce the Multi-Stakeholder Steering Group (MSG) Regulation of 2009 which in part calls for Public Censure. Failure to submit reporting templates may lead to additional sanction by the LEITI MSG. The companies concern are:

AgricultureLiberia Agriculture Development CorpLiberia Forest ProductLIBINC Oil PalmSime DarbyThe Liberia Company

Forestry1. B&V Timber Company2. Bargor & Bargor Enterprise3. Ecowood Incorporated4. Euro Liberia Logging5. Geblo Logging Inc.6. International Consultant Capital7. Liberia Hard Wood Corp.8. Thunder Bird International

Mining1. Acquarian Commercial Holdings Inc.2. Amlib United Minerals Ltd3. Ascension Resources Ltd4. Bukon Jeddeh Resources Ltd5. Investment Development Corporation6. Konblo Bumi Inc.7. Liberia Development Initiative8. Middle Island Resources9. Mount Belle Resources Liberia Ltd10. Planet Minerals Limited11. Shankil Resources Inc.12. Southern Cross13. Thacket Mining Inc.14. Viola International Inc.15. West Peak iron Ltd.

For Immediate Release

No. Description Unit Quantity Unit Price Total Price 1 Bath soap-Medicare dozen 1,575 2 Body lotion-Cocoa Butter-

medium size dozen 525

3 Small size “Ghana Must Go bag” dozen 580

American Institutes for Research (AIR) has been contracted by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Liberia to implement the USAID-Girls’ Opportu-nities to Access Learning Plus (USAID-GOAL Plus) Project. GOAL Plus, in its partner-ship with the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Education, is committed to improving primary school age girls’ enrollment, attendance, retention and completion in grades 1 through 6 of selected schools in Lofa, Bong and Grand Bassa counties.

In preparation of our second semester scholarship distribution for girls in sixty (60) se-lected schools in Bong, Lofa and Grand Bassa counties, we are seeking quotations and or proposals from vendors who are able to provide the following items as follows:

TENDER NOTICE FOR STUDENTS’ SUPPLIES

The selection will be based on the criteria of quality, reasonableness of price, the capacity to pre-finance required work or services, past performance history, and lead time. All bid-ders are required to submit samples of the items quoted for and copies of their current tax clearance issued by the Ministry of Finance. Interested vendors must quote for all the items.

The bids must be submitted at the office of the American Institutes for Research (AIR) on 17th Street, Sinkor, Warner Avenue latest by Wednesday, January 29, 2014 up to 12.00 P.M. The bids will be opened on Thursday, January 30, 2014 at 10:00 A.M at American Institutes for Research Office, on 17th Street, Warner’s Avenue, in Monrovia in the presence of the bidders or their representatives who wish to attend the proceedings.

For any query related to this tender notice, please feel free to contact any of the following cell numbers: 0886541152 and 0886417619.

In Monrovia 21st January 2014

Howard WilliamsChief of PartyAmerican Institutes for Research USAID-GOAL Plus Project

LAND COMMISSIONMONROVIA, LIBERIA

January 20, 2014

TITLE INVESTIGATIONS SURVEY AND DEMARCATION NOTICE

The general public is hereby notified that the Land Commission in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands, Mines & Energy will be conducting a survey and demarca-tion of properties, which hold claims to the proposed Roberts International Airport land in Lower Margibi County to determine who hold legitimate land claims.

The Roberts International Airport proposed land is bounded in the northeast by Borbor Dahn’s Rubber Farm, Boedrun Town and Sammy Kollie’s Rubber Farm, Sundaygar Joe Blow, and Sana Town; it is also bounded in the Southeast by the Fish Creek and the Farmington River. In the Southwest and South are December Village and Batro Village, Charlesville, Tarr Gblo Gblo, Pualabahn Town, and Zor respectfully.

It should further be stated that the Land Commission will not accept any deed(s) or diagram(s) for areas lying above Fish Creek and across the Farmington River in the Southeast. Lahai Town is outside of the demarcation area.

All claimants should come along with copies of their deeds and other relevant land docu-ments and should be present with their technical representatives on January 22, 2014 in Smell No Taste for the commencement of the demarcation exercise. The following are par-ticularly asked to be present: Charles E. Pitchford & Theresa G. Pitchford, John G. Bestman and others, George G. Mcgee Sr., Augustus Feweh Caine, Gedeon & Joanna Gadegbeku, and Albert D. Peabody.

Those with copies of their deeds and other relevant land documents that have not been submitted to the Land Commission should submit same to the office of Mr. Tiswen N. Synyenlentu, Program Officer for Land Administration, Land Commission, or present them at the site of demarcation.

Contact numbers: 0886544063/0776544063Email: [email protected]

Signed: Arthur R. Tucker Information and Communication Officer

Approved: Dr. Cecil T. O Brandy Chairman, Land Commission

Daily Observer Page 9 Thursday, January 23, 2014 8

Farmers’ Cooperative Establishes Oil Palm Nursery for Farmers

by Judoemue Mohmoh Kollie

Over 4000 oil palm seedlings (young plants) are cur-rently on nursery

in Bellemu, Panta District, Bong County, to be distributed to local farmers for cultivation.

The business manager of the Panta Multi-purpose Coopera-tive Society (PANFAMCOS), Isaac B. Yarkparwolo, made the disclosure to the Daily Ob-server Farmer Desk on Tues-day, January 21, at his office in Bellemu Town in an exclusive interview.

Mr. Yarkparwolo stated that

the oil palm seedlings are intended to empower local farmers, who have developed interest in growing oil palm in Panta District and its environs.

Oil palm (Elaesis Geineen-sis) is a native crop of Equato-rial Guinea. When planted, it gets matured within three to seven years depending on the varieties.

Mr. Yarkparwolo, chairman of PANFAMCOS in Panta District.

It can be planted early April to May.

Mr. Yarkparwolo said that more than 187 farmers from nine communities in Panta district are expected to benefit

from the seedling distribution.“Beginning April to June of this year, farmers should have gotten hold of their supplies of oil palm seedlings,” he dis-closed.

According to him farmers will be obligated to pay back the value of the seedlings in cash at a minimum rate, which he could not say.

He stated that his coop-erative has received supports from an international NGO, Winkrock to enhance oil palm production in his district.

He disclosed that the initia-tive to grow oil palm started immediately after the civil crisis.

“Having realized the need for self employment, we taught of organizing farmers in the district in 1997 to prioritize the production of the crop to earn income. Today many of the farmers have begun to har-vest and process palm nuts for market.

He mentioned that this pro-cess has helped to reduce poverty in the lives of many farmers.“Many farmers including my-

self, have owned properties just from growing oil palm,” he declared.

On the constraints face by farmers, Mr. Yarparwolo told the Observer that they have serious challenges with mar-keting the oil that is processed.

“We are no longer exporting oil out of the country, so our revenue base has dropped,” he stated. He added that all the oil they process from the palm is consumed right in Liberia.“There is a need that the

government thinks seriously about creating market for our produce to encourage more farmers in the business.

Moreover, he added that get-ting improved seeds to nurse is another major challenge.“The Central Agriculture Re-

search Institute(CARI) must now began to provide seeds for farmers in the country,” he noted.

He disclosed that due to lack of improved oil palm seeds in the country, farmers buy seeds

from La Côte d’Ivoire at exor-bitant cost.

Meanwhile, the PANFAM-COS business manager also disclosed that his cooperative is also involved into rubber crop farming as well as food crop.

But he strongly noted that the monopoly in the rubber business poses a serious a problem for rubber farmers in the country.“Our persistent calls to the

government are that the mora-torium on the exportation of unprocessed natural rubber should be lifted to allow farm-ers to make more money and improve their lives. Firestone Rubber Plantation cannot be the only buyer of rubber from farmers. There must be other companies to compete with Firestone to have attractive prices for the purchase of the product,” he stressed.

He went as far as criticizing the government for not ensur-ing that rubber produce in the country by Firestone other companies is processed to cre-ate more jobs for the citizens.“We cannot understand why

Liberia being the largest producer of rubber in the world is yet to add value to the product,” he said.

Bong Female Farmers Harvest 4 Hectares Farmland

by Judoemue Mohmoh Kollie

At least 30 women calling themselves,

“Arise and Shine” in Totota, Salala

District, Lower Bong County on Saturday, January 18, har-vested 4 hectares of farmland planted with improved variety of swamp rice.

The variety of rice grown was the NERICA 18 (meaning new rice in Africa.)

The rice harvest event was the official launch of the Arise and Shine farming group, which is an all-woman farm-ing project.

It was attended by several distinguished personalities in-cluding the local authorities of Salala District, NGO workers and other farmers.

In his brief remarks, the rice specialist of the Food Enter-prise Development (FED), David Benevfel, disclosed that his institution has

been working with the wom-en in Salala District to im-prove their productivity.

Benevfel said that his institu-tion had supported them with seed, tools and fertilizer.

He further stated that FED shall remain committed with their support to the women.

Head of Arise and Shine,

Harriette Laway showing some of the products pro-duced by them.

Giving an overview of the agriculture project, the head for Arise and Shine, Harriette Laway, said the project is in-tended to empower vulnerable women in her district.“We staged this project to help empower many of the women economically to sup-port their families. It is a self-help initiative that is giving them income. We also mean to enhance food production in the district through the imple-mentation of this project,” she said.

Harriette also stated that about 20 acres of swamp land

was cultivated through assis-tance from the Food and En-terprise Development (FED) program.According to her, FED has

supported them with certified seed, tools and fertilizer to en-hance their production.

She, however, regretted the lack of support from the Ministry of Agriculture, stat-ing that they are not working to improve agriculture in the country.“I have informed the MoA

about our farm project but we have not been helped. Throughout the year, the Min-istry’s vehicles pass this farm, which is closed to the road, without stopping to inquire,” she lamented.

She also disclosed that her organization is involved into vegetable production.

Some of our members are growing crop like, bitter ball, watermelon, pepper and oth-ers.

In his welcome statement, the Commissioner of Salala District, Karmon Kenneh, called on NGOs to intensify their support toward agricul-ture in his district.“I have observed that NGOs’

works in this districts are not making the necessary impact needed on the lives of farm-ers,” he stated.

He said that farmers in his district are committed to pro-ducing more food but lack the support.

According to Commissioner Kenneh, with more support given to farmers, food pro-duction will increase in the district.

He stated that there are many

swamp land in his districts that were laid out in the sev-enties and that when they are developed, farmers would be empowered.

Also speaking, former de-velopment Superintendent for Bong County, George Sally, called on government to prior-itize agriculture with allotting more money in the national budget for agriculture.

He stated that it is only by doing so that agriculture sec-tor can be revamped.According to him many

Liberian farmers are still doing farming through manual labor, adding that such system of agriculture activities will not have the country self-sufficient.

He suggested that the gov-ernment now become to sup-port farmers through mecha-nized farming.“Let the government support

farmers’ organizations in the country with modern equip-ments to increase their produc-tion,” he stressed.

Mr. Sally, who is also one of Salala District’s potential farmers disclosed that farmers in his districts do not get farm-ing inputs from government and partners on time.

He said that it is posing a serious problem for many farmers in his district.

Women of the arise and shine farming group harvesting NeriCa 18 rice

Head of arise and shine, Harriette laway showing some of the products produced by them

The oil palm nursery established by PaNFaMCOs to be distributed to local farmers

Mr. yarkparwolo, chairman of PaNFaMCOs in Panta District

Daily Observer Wednesday, January 22, 2014 Page 4Tuesday, November 5, 2013Thursday, January 23, 2013 Page 9

Liberia’s Business Climate Thrills MG Official

Mo n e y G r a m (MG) re-gional di-rector for

Maghreb (Northwest Af-rica) &West Africa says he is thrilled by the growing investment climate in Li-beria. Francois Peyret is in Monrovia for the first time to acquaint himself with the country’s growing money transfer market.

“Liberia is rich for Mon-eyGram and I am im-pressed. I am also surprised to be honest that the busi-ness atmosphere in Liberia is so good,” he said. Pey-ret arrived in the country Wednesday, January 22, along with MoneyGram business development man-ager of Anglo West Africa Mrs. Kemi Okusanya.

The two officials faced

the media in Paynesville City; outside Monrovia where he disclosed that in 2012, MoneyGram re-corded an impressive re-mittance into Liberia was US$378 million, a growth

of over 18%. Peyret also disclosed that

Liberia is the second high-est recipient of migrant re-mittance as a share of gross domestic product (GDP). According to him, remit-

(r-l) Francois Peyret and Mrs. Kemi Okusanya face the media in Monrovia

tance flow from the United States corridor alone is es-timated at about US$330 million.

“Of this amount,” He said

“Diaspora remittance ac-counts for approximately a third of the country’s GDP, in 2011 and 2013.”

MoneyGram began op-erations in Liberia 12 years ago. But the company has been able to withstand competition from its ma-jor international and local competitors maintaining its market share. A Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) de-cision to allow all banks to utilize the international money transfer companies created an open market for MG. The CBL decision led MG to establish windows at all eight banks operating in Liberia thereby increasing its presence in the country.

“That decision was very great as it now creates in-

tense competition in the market,” Peyret added. He said though MG is still the second biggest money transfer company in the world, the company intends to strengthen its presence in Liberia and across the Afri-can continent.

Peyret told reporters that MG will engage in series of programs that will engen-der strong presence in the various regions in Africa.

“The objective of this,” he said “is to promote strong regional money transfer ac-tivities using MG.” He also disclosed plans under con-sideration to launch mobile and internet money transfer programs in Liberia.

Motorcycle Dealer Frowns on Gov’t Decision

by alvin Worzi

The general man-ager of Masarco Auto Services, Inc., Mr. Saah F.

Johnson, has frowned on the Government of Libe-ria’s decision to ban mo-torcyclists from plying the principal streets of Monro-via.

Johnson claimed, until the ban sometime last year, his Masarco was the big-gest motorcycle dealer in Liberia.

In an exclusive interview with Johnson, the Daily Observer was told that the government’s ban against commercial motorcyclists on the main streets of Monrovia, has seriously affected many citizens, in-cluding students and those young people who use the

trade for ends meet. According to him, pur-

chase of motorcycle in Central Monrovia has “completely” come to a halt, thereby seriously af-fecting his business and other dealers.

Johnson said, despite the ban, government was still demanding them to pay taxes, when they are not generating revenue to adequately meet up with taxes.

He stated that since last December, it takes days before someone walks in to ask about a bike, unlike the beginning and moving toward the middle of 2013 when he saw many people coming into his store every day to purchase bike.

He indicated that they were finding it difficult

to respond to tax demand from the Ministry of Fi-nance.

He said they have tried to meet with authorities of the Ministry of Transport, who told them that the police decision was em-braced by other ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Justice.

Johnson, meanwhile, called on the Government of Liberia to lift the ban so that business can smoothly flow again thereby making him able to meet up with his tax obligation to gov-ernment.

“I will be forced to let some of my employees go due to the constraints of slow business. If things re-main difficult for us as im-porters and dealers in the country,” he concluded.

For Africa By Africa a Consumer Trend to Watch Out for in 2014by Jaco Maritz

(Howwemadeitinafrica.com)

In a recent bulletin, Trendwatching.com identified a new con-sumer trend in Africa

called For Africa By Afri-ca, where African compa-nies are creating products specifically for consumers on the continent.

Trendwatching’s African regional director Lola Pe-dro, who penned the bulle-tin, told How we made it in Africa she first got wind of this trend through African-inspired fashion on display in the West. “[In] Paris, New York, London you started to get this traction around things that are Af-rican made.”

Last year fashion labels EDUN and Diesel col-laborated to launch their second Studio Africa col-lection. This collection is made from denim entirely manufactured in Africa with cotton from Uganda.

After witnessing this in-creasing focus on African-made products internation-ally, Pedro became curious about whether this trend was also manifesting itself in Africa.

She says examples of For Africa By Africa products are the Bamboo D700 tab-let promoted by Nigerian company Debonair De-vices, as well as a recently announced smartphone by South Africa’s Seemahale Telecoms and CZ Elec-tronics.

Another example is cassa-va-based beers introduced by international drinks companies SABMiller and Diageo in countries such as Ghana and Mozambique. Cassava is the second most consumed source of car-bohydrate in sub-Saharan Africa, but the crop’s in-dustrial potential has been largely unexploited.

She says the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa also contributed to a grow-ing sense of pride among

Africans.Born in the UK, Pedro re-

cently relocated to Nigeria. She says Nigerians are in-creasingly enjoying them-selves in Nigeria, rather than travelling abroad. She says the arrival of interna-tional brands in the country means people don’t have to shop overseas that much.

She says African prod-ucts and services often add more value to the lives of people living in the conti-nent than those produced by multinationals. She highlights the example of 2go, a mobile social net-work that at one stage re-portedly had more users than Facebook in Nigeria. The company was founded in 2007 by two South Afri-can university students.

When Pedro first moved into her house in Lagos, the painter asked her if she was on 2go, saying that it is better than Face-book. “There was a value he was getting from it that he wasn’t getting from

global versions of the same thing.”

She says even though many of these African companies are small and might not currently pres-ent a real threat to mul-tinationals, it is good for global brands to take note of the For Africa By Africa trend. “If you are, for ex-ample, working in Apple it

is good for you to be aware that… there are brands in Africa that are producing technology hardware that you need to be aware of… maybe you need to consid-er how you can Africanise your next product.”

Trendwatching is wit-nessing a growing inter-est about Africa from its global clients. “A lot of the

brands that we deal with are asking us questions about Africa.”

Pedro says the For Africa By Africa trend is still in its infancy, but is likely to grow. “Even though it is still quite niche it is defi-nitely going to keep grow-ing, and we will see more and more examples of it as we go through the year.”

Daily Observer Page 10Thursday, January 23, 2014

on the current situation re-garding the continuing rise in the exchange rate by Tuesday, January 21, 2014.

But the committee pleaded with the plenary during Tues-day’s sitting to give it up to Thursday to be able to com-pile all interventions and com-ments from fellow Senators during last Thursday’s heated debate.

It may be recalled that mem-

bers of the 53rd Senate ex-pressed rage and vented their anger and disappointment following the reading of a communication authored by Senators George T. Tengbeh and Matthew Jaye of Lofa and River Gee Counties respec-tively.

The communication by the two Senators, dated January 15, said: “We have realized over the past weeks the high

rate of the US Dollar against the Liberian Dollar. The rate seems to be increasing on a daily basis. The situation is causing the living conditions of our citizens to become dif-ficult.

In view of the above, we rec-ommend that this honorable plenary invite the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia to appear before the Senate ple-nary on Tuesday, January 21,

to explain the high rate…”Reacting to the communica-

tion, a majority of the Senators called for immediate actions, such as inviting the Minister of Finance and Central Bank of Liberia Executive Governor to appear before that body to present a holistic picture of the economy.

Others like Maryland Coun-ty Senator, H. Dan Morias, condemned the astronomical rise in the exchange rate and

warned that if no decision is taken now by the Senate, the situation would cause the peo-ple to take to the streets one day.

The chair on the committee on Ways, Means, Finance & Budget Lofa County Senator, Sumo Kupee, who is also an economist, told his colleagues that the current situation was predicted months ago. He said there was a warning given back then stating if the

rise in the exchange rate was not halted at the early stage; by December, the rate would have gone to 85 or 90.

“My suggestion today, is that the plenary empowers the committee to go back and conclude its work: or things will get worse. If not halted in the next couple of weeks or months, the rate might ap-proach 90, Senator Kupee ad-vised.

Senate Makes

open a book of condolence to receive messages on behalf of the Province and the family.

Shock and sadnessPeople across the Anglican

Communion have already been expressing their shock at his death. In an email to the Anglican Communion’s Francophone Network, Epis-copal Bishop in charge of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe Pierre Whalon said, “What a loss for the Province of West Africa, for the Anglican Communion and for us all.”

The Rt Revd Zacharie Ma-simango Katanda Bishop of Kindu in the Democratic Re-public of Congo and the Prov-ince’s Primate Henri Isingoma also told Network members how they had been saddened to hear of his death.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby today wrote to Archbishop Johnson’s wife, Priscilla, and to the Archbish-op of the Internal Province of Ghana, the Most Revd Dr Daniel Sarfo, to offer his con-dolences and assurance of his prayers.

He wrote to Archbishop Sarfo: “I know that many will miss Archbishop Tilewa for

his boundless energy and the great enthusiasm he had for his ministry, in the Church, both in Gambia, in the Province of West Africa, and in the wider Anglican Communion.

“His gifts were not confined exclusively to the Church, and he had an active role within the national life of Gambia, serving as a member of a num-ber of boards and committees. He was generous in his hospi-tality, and was always glad to welcome visitors to the Gam-bia, where he had served as Bishop since 1990.

“I know that all my col-leagues, the people of the Church of England, and espe-cially those in the Diocese of Chichester with which the Di-ocese of the Gambia is linked, as well as your brothers and sisters across the Communion, will be holding you in prayer and love at this time.”

Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Canon Kenneth Kearon said today, “Archbishop Tilewa was a big man in every sense of the word. His great height made him stand head and shoulders over others, but so did his heart. He had a great love for the church, and worked hard

for the spread of the Gospel in his own country, his diocese, and more recently, the Church of the Province of West Africa, which he served with distinc-tion as Primate.

“His immense pride in be-ing able to represent his dio-cese at the Lambeth Confer-ence of 2008 was matched by his love and compassion for those in any sort of need. He was a man of justice, and served with distinction on his country’s Independent Elec-toral Commission. All of this was rooted in his love for his Savior. To his wife and family, of whom he was so proud, to his church and to his country, we extend our prayers and our sincere sympathy.”

Anglican Ollie Sagnia was one of those who expressed their grief on the late Arch-bishop’s Facebook wall, “To-day we mourn but tomorrow we hope to celebrate your life and continue your work as you pass on the torch. You excelled at being a great family man and an outstanding leader, an embodiment of peace, love and humility. Your vibrancy, zeal and enthusiasm, blended with humor and wit, awed us all. You will always be our bishop.”

Zambian priest and Director

for Mission of the Anglican Communion Office John Kaf-wanka wrote, “What a shock to hear about the death of Archbishop S Tilewa Johnson. You will be fondly remem-bered for your service to the Lord and humanity. We prayer for your family and the Church in Gambia and the whole Province of West Africa. Rest in God’s eternal peace.”

The many other posts on Archbishop Johnson’s Face-book page and elsewhere on Social Media sites expressed shock, sadness and a very personal sense of loss from people in countries including Ghana, Nigeria, the Gambia, England, Tunisia, and Sierra Leone. Several people even changed their Facebook photo to one of the Archbishop to honour his memory.

A Man of FirstsDr Tilewa Johnson as the

Ninth Primate and Archbish-op became not only the first Gambian Bishop but also the first Gambian Archbishop and Primate.

He was due to join members from across the Church of the Province of West Africa--from Cameroon, Cape Verde Islands, Ghana, Guinea Bis-sau, Guinea Conakry, Liberia,

Senegal, Sierra Leone and The Gambia--at its Synod in Feb-ruary.

A Life of ServiceSolomon Tilewa Ethelbert

Willie Johnson was born in Banjul, The Gambia, on 27 February 1954. He attended the Wesley Primary School in Gambia from 1962 to 1966 and then Gambia High School until 1972.

He started his career in 1975 as a teacher at Banjul’s Gam-bia High School. However, after two years he applied and was admitted to Trinity Union Theological College, Umua-hia, Imo State, Nigeria. In 1980 he left with a Diploma in Theology.

After three years at The UK’s University of Durham (1982-1985) he obtained a BA (Hons) in Theology. Twelve years later he returned to Brit-ain to gain a Certificate in The-ology from Oxford University. In 2000 he became a graduate of the Theological Founda-tion of Indiana in USA with a Doctorate degree in Applied Ministries.

Solomon Tilewa Johnson was a deacon from 1979 to 1980, a priest from 1980 to 1990, and was a diocesan bish-op from 1990. On September

29, 2012, he was elected as the 9th Primate of the Church of the Province of West Africa as well as Metropolitan Arch-bishop of the Internal prov-ince of West Africa. He was enthroned on November 16, 2012.

He was designated ‘Person of the Year’ 2012, by the Gam-bia News and Report Weekly Magazine who said his selec-tion was because of his “elec-tion as the 9th Archbishop and Primate of the 38 mem-ber Church of the Province of West Africa (CPWA), making him the first Gambian Bishop to hold such a position.”

He was involved with a range of organisations and committees both in Gambia and overseas including mis-sion agencies; educational establishments; national bod-ies tackling socio-economic issues; and such ecumenical bodies such as the All Africa Conference of Churches, and the World Council of Church-es and the Gambia Christian Council.

Archbishop Solomon Tilewa Johnson is survived by his wife, Priscilla Gladys John-son and three children, Njilan Johnson, Jeggan Johnson and Dado Johnson.

Anglican

mobilization campaign by the Ministry of Finance is intend-ed to boost the government of Liberia’s (GOL) revenue collection across the country. GOL insiders told our busi-ness desk yesterday that the Finance Ministry is launch-ing this campaign in order to save the government from a prospective budget shortfall, a situation that is glaringly occurring as the GOL has al-ready experienced a US$17.7 million shortfall in revenue collection for January, 2014. Minister Konneh has already assured Liberians that the fundamentals of the Liberian economy remain stable and strong to support vigorous col-lection of revenue.

His assurance comes amid widespread speculation that the GOL is experiencing a budget shortfall of around US$40 million. Konneh has been criticized for poorly managing the post-conflict Liberian economy, but he has vehemently denied this allegation insisting that the fundamentals of the economy remain sound and strong amid some challenges.

Speaking at the Legislature on Tuesday, January 21, when he appeared before the House of Representatives’ hearing on

budget execution and revenue performance, Minister Kon-neh reiterated his assurance to lawmakers that despite the fall in the value of the Libe-rian dollar to the US dollar, the economy is not in trouble.

He informed the House of Representatives that the economy was not in trouble as it has been speculated by pundits. The Finance Minister committed to a vigorous cam-paign to raise the much needed resources to finance the Gov-ernment’s development agen-da platform under the Agenda for Transformation (AfT).

The Finance Minister used the occasion to provide up-dates on the execution of the fiscal year 2013/2014 National budget. He acknowledged that the late passage of the national budget last year had some implications for the budget implementation and on the macro-economy.

Minister Konneh explained that though the draft national budget was submitted to the legislature on time, it was not until the last week of leg-islative session that the draft FY13/14 was passed into law. Atop of the delay by the law-makers to pass the budget law was a further delay by Presi-dent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to

sign the budget. The President signed the budget in mid-Oc-tober, 2013.

On the overall performance of revenue collection, Minister Konneh said out of US$296.5 million estimated to have been collected as of January 18, 2014; the Ministry has col-lected US$278.8 million to date; accumulating to around a US$17.7 million shortfall as of

January 17, 2013.Minister Konneh assured

the public that while there is no need to panic, the Ministry of Finance will do everything to ensure that resources, to the extent of collectables, are collected. According to him, the collection up to date was not a small undertaking, and, “it was made possible by hard decisions and many sacrifices

Konneh Leads made by officials of the Min-istry.”

On the budget execution, Minister Konneh informed the Legislature that there is a risk of delay in revenue of about US$47 million. He warned that further delays are expect-ed due to the non-payment of the European Union budget support tranche of US$14 mil-lion as one of the education sector triggers was not met. He said the budget is under pres-sure due to the revenue delays and the additional demands on the budget of over $18 million.

Minister Konneh further warned that cuts are expected in all sectors, mainly in the use of goods and services budget classification, with the excep-tion of security, education and health.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister is urging the public that as his ministry strives to build a more robust economy with inclusive growth that will build social cohesion, stake-holders within the private and public sectors must be fully engaged in the process of eco-nomic development. “That, to me, is the challenge we face and we must face it together,” Minister Konneh declared.

After being bombarded by lawmakers with questions on the state of the Liberian econo-my, Minister Konneh conclud-ed by assuring the lawmakers

and the public that Liberia’s economic growth was sus-tained in 2013, led by iron ore exports, construction, and a strong performance in the ser-vice sector. He also said that this outlook, however, remains vulnerable to commodity price fluctuations, particularly for iron ore and rubber, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and donor assistance, including the partial withdrawal of the substantial United Nations Mission in Liberia force (UN-MIL) that affects inward re-mittances.

The drawdown of UNMIL now requires the government to divert expenditure to the security sector, and would reduce consumption of local services. Disputes regarding concession agreements, par-ticularly in the forestry, palm oil, and oil sectors, also con-stitute substantial risks. Faster job creation would be neces-sary to ensure stability. Con-sumer price inflation was 8.5 percent in 2013 compared to 6.9 percent in 2012, reflecting lower international food and fuel prices.

In response, House Speaker Jenekai Alex Tyler thanked Minister Konneh and his team for the briefing the legislature describing the Minister’s pre-sentation as “very brilliant.”

Finance Minister amara M. Konneh

Daily Observer Wednesday, January 22, 2014 Page 4Tuesday, November 5, 2013For

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Read more sports articles on the Daily Observer website @ www.liberianobserver.com/sports

Thursday, January 23, 2014 Page 11

Samukai May Lead Liberia Basketball Association

by Omari Jackson

It may be one of the most important good news for basketball fans and teams at the beginning of

2014 as one of the long serv-ing and passionate promoters, Abraham Samukai, is likely to lead the Liberia Basketball As-sociation as its president.

Information reaching the Daily Observer yesterday said there is a consensus among basketball leaders to petition Mr. Samukai to lead the lead-ership of the Liberia Basket-ball Association.

“Samo has been a good lead-er, considering his support to the K-Delta Basketball Team, and leading the LBA will demonstrate his commitment to push basketball to another level,” a long time follower of basketball told the Daily Ob-server yesterday.

He said the K-Delta Basket-ball Team has education and healthcare assistance for its members and with sports and education being encouraged in the country; his presence will bring fresh ideas to Liberian basketball.

Another former basketball player said Samukai was in the administration of former president Tarr Harris, when the organization was known at the time as Liberia Basketball Federation, LBF.

“It was one of the most suc-cessful administrations in bas-ketball history,” he said.

It is therefore no understate-ment that with all things being considered, Abraham Samukai could be the man to infuse new blood into the administration of basketball in the country.

Meanwhile, a source from Samukai informed the Daily Observer that basketball own-ers need corporate support to ease the financial burden on private team owners.

During a recent interview with the Daily Observer, Mr. Samukai said the Government of Liberia must also make sports development a priority.

“The government,” he said, “has a commitment to develop the physical abilities of the young people and therefore with sports’ intrinsic values of

fair play and respect for rules, it is in the government’s inter-est to make their development paramount.”

He said much must be done in both the public and the pri-vate sector to move Liberian basketball to another level.

Meanwhile, a source close to Samukai yesterday said he may consider any request by the members of the LBA to consider leading the LBA in a quest to improve on the game in Liberia.

abraham samukai—to lead lba? action from recent Oilers’ clash in Tunisia

SWAL Elections Postponed

-Due To Discrepancies in Membership listing

by William Q. Harmon

The pending elections of the Sports Writers of Liberia (SWAL) scheduled on Jan.

24 has been postponed by the Elections Commission due to some discrepancies in the listing of its membership , the commission’s chairman Mo-molu V.O Sirleaf announced yesterday.

Chairman Sirleaf took the decision after the commission had a brief but crucial meeting with candidates, outgoing of-ficials and other stakeholders of SWAL at the Press Union of Liberia’s headquarters in Monrovia. The elections are now slated for Feb. 7, 2014.

The listing discrepancies were unearthed by the Elec-tions Commission as a result of a protest filed by one of the presidential aspirants, Mr. Leroy Sonpon who suspected manipulation.

Chairman Sirleaf said of the 134 names presented 16 are not members, while 15 regis-tered members were deliber-ately or accidentally left out.

Sirleaf said to make the elec-tion process freer, fair and transparent there was a need for the election to be post-poned so that the membership list could be better scrutinized and those left out included.

He said the listing would be a reconciliatory listing, mean-ing every registered member, whether financially obligated

to the institution or inactive for a while will all be included.

He indicated that the new listing should be sanctioned by the outgoing president, Fumba Kanneh, chairman of the membership committee, and the Secretary General, Roland Mulbah, who is contesting the presidency.

The new official list, he said should be presented to the commission Monday Feb. 3, 2014.

Meanwhile, in his protest let-ter to the chairman of the elec-tions commission, Mr. Leroy Sonpon made reference on the discrepancy, especially the ad-dition of some non-members while other active members’ names were left out.

He therefore craved the commission’s intervention to investigate and determine the validity of the list to promote the intent free, fair, transparent and independent elections

sWal election Commission Chairman

sirleaf

Alpha Honors Gorge WeahAlpha Old-timers,

probably the most organized old-tim-ers team in Liberia

has organized a top rated hon-or for Africa football legend Ambassador George Weah for his numerous services to Libe-ria and the world.

A release signed and ap-proved by Joseph Dortu and Sunny Nyemah, chairman of the organizing committee and President of Alpha Old-timers respectively, noted that the ceremony is intended to honor the Liberia Peace Ambassador for his meaningful contribu-tions toward peace, sports, as well as his Hall of Fame award recently in Mexico.

Alpha also noted that the former world footballer of the year has been in the van-guard of fostering unity and good sportsmanship among Alpha members as well as other teams of the Liberia Old-timers National Association (LONA).

The release added that a tournament which began last Sunday, January 19, 2014 at

the Subah Town sports pitch, (the home of Alpha) in Du-Port Road, Paynesville saw Cheetah thrashing Satellite 3-2 in the opening encounter.

Satellite took the lead in the first stanza, but surrendered 2-3 to Alpha. In the second engagement, Ambassador

Weah’s Red Bull demolished Trojan 6-1 to close the day’s encounter.

Meanwhile, the tournament will continue this Sunday with more matches. In first match, former Lone Star captain, Joe Armstrong Nagbe, LFA top flight outfit, LISCR FC Presi-

ambassador George Weah

dent Mustapha Raji , Alpha Boss Sunny Neymah, Abel Sneh and Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS) Deputy Direc-tor General Legerhood Ren-nie will lead a squad against probably the tournament’s fa-vorite Red Bull led by Ambas-sador Weah, former Lone Star striker Musa Shannoh, Eugene Fallah Kparka of the Honor-able House of Representative, and former Alpha President Theophilus Gould.

The second match will see Satellite and Trojan coming face to face. National Police Director Christopher Mas-saquoi, Lemuel Sherman and Andy Quimie will lead a for-midable squad to outdo a Tro-jan side that has Liberia Busi-ness Association (LIBA) boss Dee-Maxwell Kemayah, Jo-seph Farkollie, Willie Knuck-les, and Brownie Samukai.

At the same time, Red Bull will engage satellite in the third match, while Trojan and Cheetad will close the day.

The organizers have mean-while called on all football lovers to turn out to watch con-temporary old-timers football where Weah, who conquered the world in 1995, will show-case his talent.

Bafana Pockets R1.3m for Chan

Despite crashing out the African Na-tions Champion-ship (Chan) at the

first hurdle, Bafana Bafana will pocket about R1.3 million in prize money for finishing third in their group, it was an-nounced on Tuesday.

The prize money for Chan would total about R34m the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) said.

The winner of the tourna-ment would earn about R8.1m, the runner-up about R4.3m, and the third and fourth placed teams about R2.7m each.

The losing quarterfinalists would take home about R1.9m each, the teams placed third in the group stage R1.3 million each, and those placed fourth in the group stage about R1m

each.The tournament, which is

being hosted by South Africa, ends on February 1.

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You love one who loves you; but how can you love in return when you never

feel the impact of the other’s love?

-As Former NIOC Workers Plan to Disrupt ActivitiesWestern Cluster’s Operation ThreatenedBy Joaquin Sendolo

Former em-ployees of the National Iron Ore Company (NIOC) are threatening to

disrupt operations of West-ern Cluster Liberia as a way of registering their concerns about delays in settling their severance benefits.

The National Iron Ore Company operated in the Mano River Community in Grand Cape Mount County and near Tubmanburg in Bomi County in the 1960s and closed in 1985, follow-ing what government termed at the time as a “downturn” in the price of iron ore in the iron and steel industry.

A strong-worded document from the former workers in-dicates that 1,820 workers have been on the waiting list to be settled since 1985,

but government has not ad-dressed their plight; which they say will now result in actions rather than mere talk.

A special government no-tice under the signature of former Finance Minis-ter Nathaniel Barnes, also notes that the National Iron Ore Company is principally owned by the Government of Liberia, but closed its op-erations in 1985 as a result of a downturn in the iron and steel industry, leaving 1,820 employees unsettled in their severance and other benefits.

According to this docu-ment, copies of which are in the possession of this paper, government and the employ-ees reached an agreement that if NIOC would resume operation, the same employ-ees would be employed as required by law and best practice guiding economic recession and employment.

Moreover, it states that if

any succeeding company comes to take over the mines, the former workers would be paid their benefits from funds provided by such company.

James T. Mafalon, Chair-man of the former NIOC Workers Union told this paper that during closure of the company, expatriates were paid their benefits af-ter which government made a promissory note that upon resumption of the company or any other company that may take over, their benefits would be paid.

According to Mr. Mafalon, they were present when a concession agreement was signed between the Govern-ment of Liberia and Western Cluster in 2011, and an up-front payment was made in the tune of US$40.5 million to government.

The disenchanted workers union chairman stressed that government was informed about the unsettled benefits of the former workers, but since then they are yet to see

the fulfillment of the promise made with document to sub-stantiate.

The workers’ union chair-man said they would not sur-render to any piece of advice at this time but would halt and impede every activity of the company taking over NIOC to ensure that their benefits are made available.

Mr. Mafalon alluded the case is in court pending in-vestigation, but alleged that government lawyers are playing delay tactics in order to draw attention from it.

He said the radical step would certainly draw gov-ernment’s attention to their plight since it (government) does not respect the diplo-matic channel the workers have been following over the years.

When contacted via mobile phone on January 22, 2014, Press and Public Affairs Manager of Western Clus-ter, Ansu Conneh, said the company cannot make any comment on matters between government and the former workers.

Mr. Mafalon: “We will disrupt activities of Western Cluster without surrendering.”

By Abednego Davis

A man who al-legedly fled after stabbing his friend to death for marijuana in

their West Point Community was on Wednesday, January 21, surrendered to the Monro-via City Court for prosecution.

Mohammed Barrie, 30, a Guinean national has been charged with one felony count of first-degree murder by the Court.

Barrie and his victim Ama-dou Jalloh, also a Guinean,

were arguing when he used a pair of scissors to stab him in the left side of his chest on the Kru Beach in the New Kru Town community.

Jalloh was found unrespon-sive on the Kru beach Thurs-day, January 9 and was rushed to the John F. Kennedy Hospi-tal, where he was pronounced dead by a doctor upon arrival.

At the Court Wednesday, January 22, Defendant Bar-rie was later remanded at the Monrovia Central Prison to await trial, because the crime is a non-bailable offense under Liberian Penal Law.

During investigation, police

said, Barrie explained that pri-or to Jalloh’s death, he and the deceased joined money to buy marijuana to smoke.

When the victim was going to buy the marijuana Barrie left the area to buy cigarettes. Unfortunately, when he re-turned the victim--- who he met cutting the marijuana--- refused to give Barrie his share of the drug.

Because of that, he got an-gry and decided to seize the victim’s five Liberian dollars lying on top of the marijuana.

While in the process, Jalloh took the scissors and cut him twice on the back of his both

Man Dies over Marijuana Fight in West Point hands.

When he attempted to take the scissors from the victim,

they got into serious fight and it was when the victim’s chest ‘fell’ on top of the scissors.

THURSDAY, JAN. 23, 2014, vol. 16, No.62indd 1 1/23/14 12:34 AM