allAfrica.com: Liberia: LAC - Villagers Under Threats (Page 1 of 3)

Since the Management of the Liberia Agricultural Company (LAC) took the controversial decision three years ago to evict thousands of villagers from their homes in districts #3 and 4 in Grand Bassa and Rivercess counties, that region of Liberia has not known respite.

LAC had huffed and puffed; the threatened villagers had flexed weak muscles in resistance and got inhumane backlash from their own government; and some members of human rights community and the Buchanan-based Resilient Elders of Grand Bassahave taken matters up to the law; but nothing significant changed, save for LAC management to slow down its expansion program.

But now, the Liberty Party is stepping into the imbroglio with an open letter, calling for renegotiation under the banner of reconciliation, justice, and national growth under the rule of law. The Analyst Staff Writer reports:

Liberty Party House Representative for Grand Bassa County, J. Byron Brown, has prevailed on the Sirleaf Administration to renegotiate the terms and conditions of the Concession Agreement of the Liberia Agricultural Company.

He said the renegotiation was imperative especially in view of the change in circumstances and laws, treaties, and conventions. This imperative, he said, was publicly acknowledged a year ago on September 7, 2006 when President Sirleaf met the Resilient Elders of Grand Bassa.

"You will recall that at a meeting with President Johnson-Sirleaf on September 7, 2006, which you, Elders of Grand Bassa and River Cess Counties, and the Concerned Citizens of Grand Bassa attended, the President made a decision, which was clear and unequivocal.

"Her administration would not tolerate the ugly practices of the past - no Liberian would be evicted from their ancestral homeland to plant rubber trees.

The President also took a decision in the interest of encouraging investment in the rubber industry, LAC would be given additional, but uninhabited land upon which to expand its plantation through a process of negotiation with the Government, and confidence building meetings between LAC and the people of Grand Bassa and River Cess."

"Pursuant to the decision of the President, you, on behalf of the government, and the Elders issued a joint Press Statement, dated September 9, 2006, affirming that the native people would not be evicted from their ancestral homeland.

Of course, the directive of the President has been ignored by LAC, of which you are aware, as they continue to expand their plantation by evicting peaceful and law-abiding citizens."

Rep. Brown's statements were contained in a September 6, 2007 "Open Letter" he addressed on behalf of the Liberty Party to the government of Liberia through Agriculture Minister Chris Toe.

"We believe that the Concession Agreement of the Liberian Agriculture Corporation (LAC), which was entered into on March 3, 1959 (the "Agreement"), would by reason of logic, also be renegotiated," Rep. Brown said.

If the government saw the need to review and renegotiate agreements signed as recently as 2005, he told Minister Toe, there would certainly be the need to renegotiate one signed in 1959.

He said besides President Sirleaf's public acknowledgement of the need to renegotiate the 1959 agreement, the Joint Government of Liberia-United Nations Rubber Plantations Task Force report submitted to President Sirleaf on May 22, 2006 indicated that years of government's complacency and LAC's negligence have created conditions that are threatening the survival of villagers in the area.

"The government should renegotiate agreements to update and standardize them where necessary to ensure compliance with Liberian law and international principles of responsible business practices," the open letter quoted the joint report as recommending.

LAC has not budged an inch from its original determination to evict the people from their land by force, the letter said, notwithstanding the findings of the joint report, the President public acknowledgement, and contentions by the local communities that LAC expansion program was not only illegal but was also threatening their right to reside on their ancestral land and destroying their farms and crops.

"Since 2004, LAC has continuously stepped out of its Concession Area into areas inhabited by the native people of Grand Bassa and River Cess, and forcibly evicted the people, contrary to the terms and conditions of the Agreement".

"This has been and remains a source of contention between LAC and the Bassa-speaking people, which is not healthy for our fragile peaceful environment," the Party's open letter said.

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