Firestone-Liberia has described as “simply wrong” recent media reports about amendment to the amended and Restated 2008 Concession Agreement between it and the Government of Liberia (GoL).
Recently Liberia Public Radio reported that Firestone was trying to amend the restated agreement of 2008 for exclusive rubber production right in Liberia.
The LPR report media took cue from a report by the Senate Committee on Concession and Investment, presented to Plenary on Thursday May 23, 2019.
In the report, the Senate Committee listed as one of the highlights of the 2018 Amendment to the Concession Agreement, “that the Government of Liberia has granted Firestone Liberia the exclusive right, permit and license to engage in production in the production area (subject to other terms in Liberia) and the utilization in Liberia of rubber and rubber products and the exportation of rubber products from Liberia.”
The committee added “as provided that such production of other agricultural products shall not adversely affect [rubber] production; that nothing contained in this agreement shall prevent affiliates of Firestone Liberia from engaging in other businesses within the territory of Liberia, pursuant to law.”
However, Firestone Liberia in a statement issued on Wednesday, May 29, said it the media reports “are simply wrong.”
“Firestone-Liberia says the reports carried in a number of dailies recently are erroneous, and inflammatory in nature, and do not reflect the reality of the company’s agreement with the government,” said the statement, signed by Firestone Liberia communications director, Patrick Honnah.
According to the statement, Firestone-Liberia began negotiating the amendment in good faith with the GoL since four years ago, “and throughout this process, it has worked closely, openly, and in keeping with proper concession procedures with the government to arrive at an amendment that would provide critical support of its Liberia-based operation due to continued and unsustainable major financial losses.”
The release added, “The reasons for the amendment were clearly communicated to the GoL and other stakeholders, and previously reported by other media during the protracted negotiations over the past four years.”
The company’s management noted that it is working closely with the office of the President George Weah and the National Investment Commission (NIC), the ministries of Agriculture (MoA), and Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) as well as the Inter-Ministerial Concessions Committee and other stakeholders.
The release said the “rehabilitation term provided for certain duty and tax relief as Firestone rebuilt its operations and business after the end of the civil conflicts in the country.”
“The only exclusivity provided in the amendment is what was already stipulated in the company’s 2008 Concession Agreement with the GoL– the ability to exclusively engage in production in the production area of Firestone-Liberia,” the release said.
Firestone Rubber Plantation is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, Inc. with headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, United States.
