Monrovia — New Group Conducts Feasibility Study

A British/Indian Company has successfully won the right to manage the facilities of the Liberia Mining Company(LIMINCO), and has since began cleaning the facilities to begin full scale operations at the institution.

Global Infrastructures Holding Limited (GIHL), won the right from among four other companies that applied to the Ministerial Mineral Technical Committee to manage and operate the facilities of the company in Yekepa in Nimba County and Buchanan in Grand Bassa County. Other entities that applied but were not selected by the commission are the West African Transport Company (WATCO), BHP, a British Company and LNM.

The commission consists of representatives of the Ministries of Justice, Land and Mines, Planning and Economic Affairs, The National Investment Commission and the Ministry of Labor.

In keeping with the decision of the commission to grant the Global Infrastructures Holding Limited the green light to manage the facilities of the Liberian Mining Company, the group has mobilized hundreds of ex-combatants to brush and clean the facilities of the company.

During a visit at the Buchanan facilities of LIMINCO by journalists yesterday, it was observed that hundreds of ex-combatants mainly from the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) have since began work to clean the facilities of LIMINCO for the last two weeks. They are expected to complete the exercise few days from now.

According to the ex-combatants some of whom spoke to our reporter, the decision by GIHL to employ their services to carry out the cleaning of the LIMINCO facilities is helpful to them because as they put it, the opportunity is bringing relief for they and their dependents.

They expressed their support for GIHL to continue their services to protect and manage LIMINCO's facilities, stressing that the opportunity that is being afforded them by the company, would help them transform their life and think about war no more.

According to the ex-combatants, they are paid US$225 each by the GIHL for the services they are rendering.

The Resident Manager of LIMINCO assigned to Buchanan, Mr. Dexter Puieyoe has also welcomed the new company and lauded its efforts thus far.

For his part, a member of the technical committee that granted GIHL the right to operate, Mr. P. Sumo Darwulo of the Labor Ministry who spoke to reporters when he toured LIMINCO facilities to see for himself, expressed satisfaction over the level of work carried out by GIHL and vowed to persuade other members of the committee to maintain the services of GIHL.

In a related development, reports filtering into Monrovia, suggest that some invisible hands are working around the clock to revise the decision of the technical committee to grant GIHL the green light to operate in the country.

According to reports gathered by this paper, individuals in high government circle are behind the syndicate to bypass the normal bidding process set by the technical committee so as to deny GIHL the right to manage the facilities of LIMINCO.