The Liberian Senate has concurred with the House of Representatives on the ratification of the amended Arcelor Mittal Mineral Development Agreement (MDA).
It follows after several weeks of committee works and consultation from the Senate and the House of Representatives Joint Committees on Judiciary, Investment, Resource Lands, Mines and Energy, Natural Resources.
According to our legislative correspondent a conference committee is expected to be convened to sort out the differences in the two agreements earlier passed by both Houses.
Minutes after both houses had concurred, Nimba County Senator Prince Johnson described the deal as bad, claiming that the company had reportedly failed to live up to previous agreements passed by the previous administration.
“I walked out of session because I don’t believe the deal is a good one.
In the first MDA there is a clause that allows counties to take ownership of their social development money. There are things in the old MDA that were not implemented and they refused to put it in this new MDA,” Senator Johnson said.
Among the many recommendations, the Joint Committees have recommended that the Ministry of Lands Mines and Energy ensures that ArcelorMittal conducts exploration in the concession areas in line with the exploration regulations, Infrastructure rehabilitation that the company responds to pressing issues and grievances in Nimba, Bong and Grand Bassa counties where the company operates.
The Joint Committees also suggested that the attached matrix, which is stakeholders’ grievances be appended to and be an integral part of the third amendment. The matrix, which was approved by Arcelor Mittal and representatives of the affected communities, provides details and specifics of infrastructure rehabilitation, education, health, employment, sustainable livelihood and other benefits to affected communities with timelines for delivery.
“It is in Liberia’s national security and economic interests, especially in light of the framework agreement signed with the Republic of Guinea, that other parties have unhindered access to the rail and the Buchanan Port to transport their mineral commodities mined in Liberia or neighboring Countries.”
The Joint Committees recommended that an additional US$25 million be provided by Arcelor Mittal to the Consolidated Funds at the Central Bank of Liberia in addition to the amounts already indicated in the third Amendment, adding “portion of this amount should be used for benefit of affected communities and other portion for the National Budget support”.
The Joint Committees further recommended that there should be a Third Party Access to the Railroad and the Port of Buchanan infrastructure.
The Committees, however, indicated that during the implementation of the phases and activities enshrined in the 3rd Amendment, the Executive Branch of Government should ensure that third parties and any other entity the government approves has unhindered access to the rail and port.
Further, the Joint Committees recommended that various agencies of the Executive Branch properly monitor compliance by Arcelor Mittal to the terms of the MDA and that local businesses should be prioritized to supply goods and services to the mining operations, as well as periodic environmental audits are conducted and the report published.
Additionally, the Joint Committees recommended that at least 50 percent of professional jobs for Liberians be allocated for professionals from the three affected counties, especially Nimba County, if the required skills can be found in those counties and that the company institutes an effective communication mechanism that will alleviate the information gap between the company, citizens, and the government of Liberia, as well as the affected county caucuses.
The Joint Committees, at the same time, recommended that a new regime and strategy for the management of the social development funds allocated to the three affected counties be discussed and implemented so that the hosts or project-affected communities in the affected counties feel the impact of the mining project.
EU endorses Mittal’s deal in Liberia
While the Liberian Senate was still debating how impactful the amended Mineral Development Agreement of Arcelor Mittal would be to the country and its economy, the Vice President of the European Union Parliament for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Joseph Borell, said the amended Agreement is important to Europe and has benefits for Liberia.
Mr. Borell was answering to a concern by a Romanian politician and a member of the European Union Parliament, Ramona Strugariu, who raised a question on the floor of the Union Parliament. His question was to ascertain the EU’s awareness of the controversies surrounding the amendment and the concerns raised against it both in the mainstream and social media and whether the concerns have been raised with the authorities.
He also sought to ascertain if the new MDA is compatible with the EU’s objectives of promoting good governance and sustainable development in Liberia.
The proposed Agreement, the third amendment to the original MDA signed in 2005, has already been passed by the House of Representatives and forwarded to the Liberian Senate for concurrence.
The Agreement, among other things, called for ArcelorMittal to make US$800 million investment in Liberia, employed over 1,000 Liberians and provide the Government of Liberia with US$55 million within 19 months of ratification.
Economic benefits
As the largest foreign investor in Liberia, ArcelorMittal Liberia has invested over $1.7 billion in the country over the past 15 years, the company’s data shows.
More than 2000 jobs are expected to be created during the construction phase, with Liberians envisaged to fill the majority of the roles created.
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