The NGO Coalition of Liberia on the forest sector has expressed disappointment about the passage of an Act to govern the forestry industry development and employment regime by the Liberian government.
On August 29, 2017, the House of Representatives and Liberian Senate passed the Bill into law, which was signed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf waiving 24 million United States Dollars that logging companies owed the Liberian government over the last ten years.
The act also gives logging companies a lot of latitude for a period of three years of their operation between 2016 and 2020.
Addressing a press conference in Monrovia this week, the National Facilitator of the coalition, Mathias Yeaney called for the cancellation of the act because it is not in the interest of the Liberian people.
There has been no reaction so far from Liberian authorities.
The coalition is appalled by this latest “counter-productive move by the government given the dismal performance of logging companies in paying taxes.”
According to Yeaney, the law undermines current stressed economy as proffered by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and agreements between the Liberian government the European Union on one hand and the Norwegian-Liberian letter of intent.
The NGO Coalition claimed that the new law also denies the rights of the Liberian people who reside around the forest to benefit from the forest resources as the main custodians of the forest.
The group further said this law will also undermine participatory stakeholders process, which has become the hallmark of the voluntary partnership agreement and the pending forest concession review to be conducted under the Norwegian Liberian funding agreement.
The NGO Coalition of Liberia is therefore calling for the cancellation of the law in order for the stakeholders in the forest sector and the public, especially the inhabitants of the forest to make input on a new law
In recent years, the Liberian government has been depending on donor countries and partners to subsidize its annual national budget that has been hovering around five hundred plus million United States dollars.
The waiver of the US4$24 million comes against the background of rapid depreciation in the value of the Liberian dollar against US dollar with the exchange rate currently standing USD 126 to one USD. Report by Augustine Octavius