The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and Integrity Watch Liberia (IWL) have launched an anti-corruption mobile application called "Talkay" for reporting corruption and illegalities within the forestry sector.
The launch of the mobile application is a boost to Liberia's forestry sector. It is intended to curtail the corruption that has engulfed it.
The Swedish government, through the Embassy of Sweden, is fully sponsoring the Community-Based Forestry and Protected Area Management Project (CBFM).
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in collaboration with the FDA, are also implementing it.
The CBFM project is taking several approaches to strengthening the management of community forests and protected areas in Liberia.
The approaches include improved governance structures, improved capacity of forest regulatory institutions, empowered forest farm producer organizations, integrated natural resources management, and improved livelihoods of forest fringe communities.
IWL Executive Director Mr. Harold Aidoo presented the mobile application to the government and development partners during the official launching ceremony held at the FDA head office in Paynesville over the weekend.
Mr. Aidoo said the reporting tool is intended for citizens to report any corruption or illegalities within the forestry sector.
"We are launching this mobile reporting tool to address illegalities within the forestry sector," said Mr. Aidoo.
He suggested that the tool will help the community provide feedback on how different implementing partners on different livelihood issues are implementing projects funded by donors.
"Those feedbacks are intended to get to the FDA and partners so that the donors funding that [is] being provided different aspects within forest management or livelihood issues can be used properly," said Mr. Aidoo.
Mr. Aidoo observed that over eighty percent of the country's population owns a mobile phone.
He believes that Liberians will use the Talkay App to make a call or send a voice message to report suspicious acts of corruption and illegalities within the forestry sector.
He noted that the platform works both online and offline and detailed that they considered some challenges, including people who can't read or write.
"Those who can't read or write, but once they have a mobile phone, all they have to do is send a voice message reporting exactly what has happened," he noted.
The IWL Boss said the app can be downloaded from the Google Play store, and it is a seven-step process.
The reporting aspect is the last step that anyone will use to file their report by writing or sending a voice message.
"We are launching this application to integrate anti-corruption and inclusive forest, using the Talkay reporting app," said Aidoo.
For his part, FDA Managing Director Rudolph Merab welcomed the initiative and termed it as timely for the work of the FDA.
"We will try not to hide anything. This administration here at FDA will welcome anything that opens up transparency," said Mr. Merab.
"The polluters of the earth are those that are using carbon, that's what's causing the global warming," he explained.
He warned citizens to refrain from using or producing the hydrocarbon, adding that the more they use it, the more pollution they cause.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"We all are in this game together, Liberia and the rest of the world, and we have come to recognize that the forest is the lung of the earth," he said.
In remarks, the Program Officer for Environment, Climate Change, and Natural Resources at the Swedish Embassy, Jenkins Flahwor, praised IWL for developing the mobile application to help the FDA in its quest to tackle corruption.
Flahwor said the Swedish Embassy sees the launch of the anti-corruption reporting tool as groundbreaking. It is designed not only for the forestry sector but could also be used and applied to other areas of governance to promote accountability and transparency.
"But for us at the Embassy of Sweden, we strongly believe that with the development of this tool, we all will work collectively in addressing those challenges that have stalled the work of the FDA," he noted.
