The Plenary of the Liberian Senate has concurred with the House of Representatives on the ratification of the third amendment to the Mineral Development Agreement between the Government of Liberia and Arcelor Mittal Liberia.
The Amendment was passed by the House of Representatives in December 2021 and forwarded to the Liberian Senate for its concurrence. According to a Senate release, Plenary concurrence on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, was predicated by a comprehensive report from the Joint Committee on Lands, Mines, Energy, Natural Resources and Environment, Concession and Investment along with Judiciary recommending the passage of the agreement with several amendments.
With respects to the recommendations, the Joint Committee recommended that an additional US$25 million be provided by Arcelor Mittal to the Consolidated Fund at the Central Bank of Liberia in addition to the amounts already indicated in the 3rd Amendment, adding “portion of this amount should be used for benefit of affected communities and other portion for the National Budget support”.
The Joint Committee further recommended that there should be Third Party Access to the Railroad and the Port of Buchanan infrastructure. The Committee 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 have unhindered access to the rail and port.
The Joint Committee further recommended that various agencies of the Executive Branch properly monitor compliance by Arcelor Mittal to the terms of the MDA and that local businesses are 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 Committee recommended that at least 50 percent of professional jobs for Liberians bed allocated for professionals from the three affected Counties, especially Nimba County, if the required skills can be found in those counties and that Mittal institutes an effective communication mechanism that will alleviate the information gap between the company and citizens, the government of Liberia as well as the affected County caucuses.
The joint Committee 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 host or project-affected communities in the affected counties feel the impact of the mining project.
In Concluding its recommendations, the Joint Committee noted in the report that the consideration be given by the Government of Liberia to the three affected counties in the disbursement of the signature bonus in the 3rd Amendment.
“In view of the findings and associated recommendations indicated, the Joint Committee on Lands, Mines, Energy, Natural Resources and Environment, Concession and Investment, and Judiciary, Human Rights and Claims and Petitions, seek the endorsement of Plenary of its report and approval of the bill entitled: “Amendment NO.3 to the Mineral Development Agreement amongst the Government of the Republic of Liberia and Arcelor Mittal Liberia and Arcelor Mittal Holdings A.G.” the Joint Committee ended.
Following an intense debate from the report and inputs of various Senators, Plenary voted for the passage of Mittal’s 3rd amendments. Based on other concerns raised by Senators, the Presiding Officer, Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor in consultation with President Pro-Tempore Albert T. Chie named a Conference Committee to work with the House of Representatives for final approval of the bill.
Members of the Conference Committee include Senator Augustine S. Chea as Chairman, Senators, Varney Sherman, Nyonblee Kargna-Lawrence, Prince Moye, Simeon Taylor, Numene Bartewka, and Jeremiah Koung as members respectively.
In a related development, Nimba County Senator, Prince Johnson walked out of session upon his college raftering the ArcelorMittal deal. according to him, the deal is not favorable for the county and its people.
