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Liberia: Gov't Admits Error in Western Cluster Deal
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The NEWS (Monrovia)
15 April 2008
Posted to the web 15 April 2008
Sheriff Z. Adams
Monrovia
Barely three months after the Liberian government announced the South African group, Delta Mining Consolidated Ltd., as winner of the Western Cluster Iron Ore bid, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has admitted 'procedural error' in the process.
In a nation-wide address Monday, the President said government was considering a change in the PPCC Act and the process to require due diligence as a part of the bidding process, prior to evaluation.
She said the team of senior international lawyers who assisted in the renegotiation of Concession Agreements is currently helping the government to get this process right.
However, President Sirleaf explained that the process under the law which calls for due diligence of firms after bid evaluation is now underway through a private firm with USAID funding.
"...At the same time based on this experience, we are looking at a change in the PPCC Act and the process to require due diligence as a part of the bidding process, prior to evaluation. The team of senior international lawyers who assist us in the renegotiation of concession agreements is assisting us to get this process right," President Sirleaf indicated.
The President's statement appears to support recommendations made by opposition politician Dr. Togba Nah-Tipoteh that government should revisit the decision granting Delta Mining the Western Cluster Iron Ore deposit.
In a statement issued February 26, 2008, Dr. Tipoteh observed that the decision of the Liberian government in favor of Delta was fundamentally flawed, in that whenever decision was made to give a company work to do, it has to be established in fact that the company is able to do the work desired within given cost and time limits.
He argued that Delta Mining Company was selected without any investigation into whether or not it could do the work required.
Dr. Tipoteh also expressed disappointment with the selected method used by the Inter-ministerial Technical Committee, as it had no basis in capability determination, but seeks to have the selected company go through "due diligence" which is an investigative exercise to determine the capability of each of the six competing companies to do the required work after the selection has already been made.
Dr. Tipoteh: "The government is operating backwards; therefore, it should go through the due diligence and grant the mining award to the company which demonstrates that it can be the best performer. If the company that comes out first in the due diligence is not Delta, then Delta must be dropped and replaced by the company that takes first place in the due diligence exercise."
Last year, the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy called for bids for the exploration of the Western Cluster Iron Ore deposits located in Bomi and Grand Cape Mount counties.
Six international firms responded and the Ministry constituted an Inter-Ministerial team comprising the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy, which headed the committee, the Ministries of Finance, Justice, Labor, Planning and Economic Affairs, the Central Bank of Liberia and the National Investment Commission.
Following several months of scrutiny, the Inter-ministerial Committee selected Delta as winner of the bid.
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President Sirleaf, in her annual message to the Legislature, announced that Delta was selected by the Inter-Ministerial committee following a bidding exercise.
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