Confusion between locals and the oil palm plantation may be coming to an end?
By Throble kaffa Suah, Freelance Journalist
The CDC government in Liberia has mandated Sime Darby Plantation Liberia Incorporated, a Malaysian owned Oil Palm Company, to negotiate with project affected communities in the west of this country, which has sparked years of confusion.
The affected communities include Motor Hill, Boakai Village and Madina Town, and have them recorded to benefit theirs from lands acquisition programme in Garwula District, Grand Cape Mount County.
It believes that the Plantation must begin the dialogue with those delisted towns in one week, beginning Monday, 10 December 2018 on ground that they have legitimate claims to their lands and they should therefore not be excluded in whatever form or manner.
This follows months of investigation conducted through the Internal Affairs Ministry in the project-affected communities and the Plantation, according to a report released Wednesday, 5 December 2018.
The report was released at a mass meeting held in Kon-Town, Madina Township in Garwula District, Grand Cape Mount County.
Sime Darby Plantation was represented by Jacques Wauvo, Corporate Communication Relations Manager and Adama Seh, Department of Communications.
The project-affected communities were represented by Alfred F. Quayjandii, Chief Negotiator/spokesman; Madina Town Chief Folley Sherman and Youth Leader Boima Freeman. Also, Chiefs Momo Kollie, Omaru F. Kanneh, James Mator, Emmanuel A. Diggs as well as Garwula District Paramount Chief, Madam Jartu Sambolah-Carlon among others were presence.
Madina Township Commissioner, Stephen M. Perry, who chaired the team of commissioners who carried out the investigation, called on the Plantation to start the discussion without delay so as to put to rest years of confusion and protests at the Plantation.
He told the audience that their probe was done with transparency and without fear on five (5) counts intended for peaceful co-existence between those communities and the Plantation as well as for the betterment of the country.
In attendance were Madam Jartu Sambolah-Carlon, Paramount Chief of Garwula District and other officials of government including Commissioner Perry.
Testimonies were collected from witnesses in six (6) Project Affected Communities in the Plantation who confirmed that Madina Town gives them land during their early establishment in the 1940s.
The report indicated that Madina Town founded the Project Affected Communities (PAC) and was among the eighteen (18) communities that presented the fourteen (14) counts against the Management of Sime Darby Plantation Liberia (SDPL) to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf at the time in 2012.
It furthered that testimonies of witnesses included the those from the then Operation Chairman of the PAC (Project Affected Communities) and now current Chairman of the PAC; one of the Senior Managers of the Company (Sime Darby) in person of Gopi allegedly deleted Madina Town; Motor Hill and Boakai Village from the PAC list on ground that they are not affected.
The report, among many things, said the reason given by Sime Darby’s Manager Gopi was that Madina, Motor Hill and Boakai Village “did not present crops compensation receipt during the verification exercise,” and that Madina raised a case against the Management of Sime Darby Plantation Liberia (SDPL) should not be cause for their denial.
The communication to Sime Darby Plantation General Manager, Abou Hassan stated that we (government/internal affairs) herein rule that the people of Madina, Motor Hill and Boakai Village have ownership to their land and that they are even affected more than many of the communities in the project affected communities (PAC).
It said testimonies of witnesses have proven that Madina Town is the “stranger father” of many of communities in the project-affected communities. It therefore said, strangers cannot benefit from the property of the “stranger father” more than the father.
It went on to say that the lack of crops on a land does not in any way take the rights of the people to their land and that the situation of the Plantation around those communities can clearly be seen that they are affected.
Similarly, a similar report was made by the National Bureau of Concession (NBC) after its assessment. The NBC communicated with the Plantation Management not to exclude Madina, Motor Hill and Boakai Village from the project affected communities.
In their reaction following the reading of the report, residents of the project affected communities were delighted with the outcome and praised the government.
But they stressed the need to prevail on the Plantation to implement the investigation without delay.
The residents believe that practicalizing the report will put all to rest as they do not wish to be in confusion with investors. But equally so, they should have rights to their land because that it is the only thing their ancestors left with them, residents of the affected communities said.