Liberia: Land Authority Rejects Gvl's Claim Over Sinoe Land Conflict

2 October 2024
Liberian Observer (Monrovia)
By James Harding Giahyue

GANTA — The Liberia Land Authority has refuted a claim by Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL), suggesting the government had settled a boundary dispute between two communities in Sinoe County.

In a recent report to Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which regulates the oil palm industry worldwide, GVL claimed the Land Authority had "decided" on the conflict between the Du-Wolee Nyennue Township and the Numopoh District.

"The communication session on the result to both communities will be [carried] out in [the fourth quarter] of 2024 with new government officials," GVL said in the report.

But in an interview with The DayLight on the margins of the just-ended Land Conference in Ganta, Nimba County, the Chairman of the Land Authority Adams Manobah rejected GVL's assertions. Manobah said the Land Authority had conducted meetings with the two communities but was far from an outcome.

GVL's palm plantation covers thousands of hectares in Sinoe, Maryland, Grand Kru, River Gee and River Cess. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

"We have not done that yet," said Manobah.

"The last solution we have is to go back and do the surveying and establish the boundary between the two communities," Manobah added.

"We are still waiting for the concession to provide the support so that we can have a definitive line between the two communities."

Manobah's comments confirmed those of representatives of one of the communities. Augustine Jerbo and Daddy Nyenswah, two community leaders in Du-Wolee Nyennue, want the Land Authority to conduct the survey and end the impasse.

"This thing needs to come to an end," said Nyenswah.

The RSPO had ordered GVL not to develop the 463-hectare land and to work with the Liberian government to resolve the issue in 2018. The order was part of the watchdog's decision against the company for developing farmlands without locals' consent.

GVL reports quarterly to the RSPO on the status of its implementation of the decision, over six years after the deadline.

[Additional reporting by Esau J. Farr, Derick Snyder and Matenneh Keita]

This story first appeared in DayLight. It has been published here as part of an editorial collaboration. The Green Livelihoods Alliance provided funding for the story. The DayLight maintained editorial independence over its content.

Read the original article on Liberian Observer.

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