According to the Executive Director of Integrity Watch Harold Aidoo, most of the concession agreements negotiated over the years has been characterized by flaws thus denying the state of the necessary benefits to meet up with its challenges in terms of infrastructure development, provision good healthcare and education in the country. His statement comes during the Integrity Watch Liberia with funding from the Embassy of Ireland day round table discussion with members of the national legislature on standardized score framework for reviewing mineral development agreements and concession contracts in Liberia.
Speaking at the program marking the end of the discussion, the Executive Director of Integrity Watch disclosed that minerals in Liberia needs to able appropriately negotiated with concessionaires in order for the state and its people be able benefit form agreements with the government. “We are of the opinion that the natural resources in the country can increase to more than one billion in order to address critical challenges in the infrastructures, health and education,” he adding; “the current national budget of over 880,661,000 United States Dollars may not be enough to cover the government’s ARREST agenda in the amount of 8.4 billion United States Dollars in four years.
Remarking during the program, the Ambassador of Ireland to Liberia, Geraldine Considine, said Liberia must unlock its full potential of its natural resources through effective governance, strategic stewardship and significantly increase its domestic financial resources. According to Irish Ambassador, the standardized score framework represents far more than a technical tool for institutional transformation.
Speaking on behalf of the lawmakers, the Chairperson of the Africa Parliamentarians Network on Illicit Financial Flows and Taxation, Senator Francis Dopoe, assured the Integrity Watch Liberia and the international partners that national legislature will make good use of the knowledge gain from the discussion. The discussion was graced by lawmakers from the Liberian Senate and the House of Representatives representing the Liberia Chapter of the African Parliamentarians Network on Illicit Financial Flows and Taxation, the committees of concession, judiciary and directors of departments.
Author: Zac T. Sherman
