By Jacqueline Lucia Dennis
IPNEWS – The Liberian Senate has blamed National Government for the bad Mineral Development Agreement between Western-Cluster and the Government.
Following the reading of the findings of the investigation, from the Senate’s Committee on Lands, Mines, Energy, Natural Resources and Environment, Senators Darius Dillon, Jeremiah Koung and others lamented that the company is not living up to the MDA.
It was established during Tuesday’s regular session that Western Cluster is operating contrary to the agreement signed with the Liberian Government.
According to findings of the investigation, top managerial jobs that should be given to Liberians as per the dictates of the agreement are not given to Liberians contrary to the agreement.
The Committee report further highlighted that the Western Cluster has sub-contracted a Ghanaian company that has employed foreigners and not Liberians.
Meanwhile, Senator Koung has called the National Bureau of Concession a toothless bulldog for its apparent failure to ensure that Western Cluster adheres to the agreement it signed with the Liberian Government.
Koung said the Bureau of Concession is doing little or nothing to regularly engage companies operating in the Country to know the status of agreements signed between them and the Liberian Government.
He said rather than being vigorous in the discharge of their duties, employees of the National Bureau of Concession are sitting in Monrovia and doing nothing.
For Rivercess County Senator Wellington Geevon Smith, he blames the Liberian Government for allowing concession companies to sub-contract smaller companies to execute their functions.
Senator Smith observed that many concession companies are engaged in such arrangements deny employees their just benefits when they are retired. “Concession companies are enaged in such deals deny citizens, who have worked for them for many years their just benefits,” the Rivercess Senator said.
In a related development, the Liberian Senate is calling for the cancellation of the mineral development agreement signed between Western Cluster and the Government of Liberia.
The call was contained in Senate’s Committee on Lands, Mines, Energy, Natural Resources and Environment report, noting that the company’s operations contravene the agreement.
The committee’s report also disclosed that Western Cluster has employed more foreign nationals, many of whom it said are Ghanaians.
