PHOTO: Women of mine affected communities of Nimba
By Melvin Suah
Women of ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) operation areas in Nimba County under the banner Community Development Management Committee (CDMC) are calling for improvement in the extractive industry of Liberia.
Speaking recently to Journalists in the Concession area of Yekepa at the end of a day’s training workshop, they said companies operating in the extractive industry have often reneged on their corporate social responsibilities, in line with their respective Mineral Development Agreements (MDA).
CDMC mainly comprises eight towns and villages in Sanniquellie Mah and Yarmein Administrative Districts in Nimba County.
Areas mainly affected by the operations of AML iron ore mining are Zolowee, Gbapa, Liagbala, Camp-4, Bolo, Lugbeyee, Sehyi-Geh and Mankinto.
According to the head of the CDMC Helen Weanquoi, communities around concession areas of the giant steel company directly affected by the company’s operations in Nimba are crying due to its failure to impact the lives of citizens with money annually allotted in its County Social Development Funds for affected communities.
AML pays a fee of USD 1.5M annually to the Liberian government in Social Development Funds, 20% of which is solely set aside for projects in communities directly affected by the mining company’s operation.
But Madam Weanquoi is disappointed that it has been difficult to access the funds which is in national government’s coffer due what she terms “bureaucracies and inconsistencies.”, saying this was stalling development activities within affected communities.
Weanquoi and the CDMC are also calling on AML to prioritize the employment of residents of the affected communities especially women who have skills and vocational training knowledge.
“We have written several letters of application. Our letters are always rejected. We have sat interviews multiple times. But we are usually turned down”, the CDMC women head told reporters.
The training was organized by the local NGO, Committee for Peace and Development Advocacy (COPDA).
Presenting earlier at the training, the AML Livelihood Officer assigned in the Yekepa concession area applauded the women’s efforts to advocate for improvement in the extractive industry.
Mr. Edmund Saye Gbah also called on them to use the MDA as guide in the process, saying a good advocate uses the law to hold stakeholders and other duty bearers responsible.
Any advocacy done outside of the law, he noted, is a dead advocacy.
The Livelihood Officer acknowledged the deplorable and low living standard of some residents of the affected communities, but said such situation is not unique to Liberia, but common in most countries around the world where mining activities are carried out.
‘Some people are still living below one dollar a day. Something is wrong. But what I want to let you know is that, this is not just about us living around the mine. If God were to call a conference and say he wants to remake the world and asked for individual wants, some people would prefer a chicken to the mountain. When the hen hatches, all the chicks will belong to the owner. Because people who live around communities where the natural resources are extracted continue to live in poverty” Mr. Gbah asserted.
Gbah added that the situation is same even in Nigeria, Congo Brazzaville, Cameroun and other countries, as he wondered “whether the mineral under the ground was a blessing or a curse”.
He assured that AML was committed to upholding its corporate social responsibility enshrined in the MDA signed between the company and the Liberian government in 2005 and amended and renegotiated in 2006.
COPDA wants the women to expand their advocacy to other parts of the country where extraction of natural minerals are taking place.
The Executive Director of COPDA Ted Brooks pledged his organization’s support to enhancing the activities of the CDMC women to ensure successful advocacy in achieving their objectives.
COPDA is involved with building the capacity of the women to conduct the advocacy for improvement in the extractive Industry and is presently implementing a 12 month women empowerment and capacity building program with funding from COPDA Sweden.
During the training, the CDMC women highlighted what they described as progress made by them since the commencement of their advocacy almost a year ago.
According to Weanquoi, they attended the 2020 Nimba County Sitting, had interactions with the Superintendent and the media, something she noted, has motivated them to do more.
Weanquoi stressed that until the CDMC women can achieve their objective to bring about a transformed extractive industry in the country; especially the mine affected areas of Nimba County, they won’t cease