Global Policy Forum

By Moses M. Zangar, Jr.

Since Liberia took a nose dive into chaos, socio-economic activities in the country have been stagnated with the drowning of the economy into an ocean of doldrums. Additionally, the inclusion of a ban on timber has compounded the deplorable living conditions of war-wearied and poverty-stricken Liberians in rural parts of the country. Residents of Grand Bassa, Sinoe and Grand Gedeh Counties have complained of extreme hardships occasioned by the closure of logging companies and other concessions in their Counties.

The timber industry in Liberia is the life-blood of the rural economy and it is the largest employer of rural dwellers. Besides, a significant amount of the country's revenue is drawn from the exportation of timber or logs. But the United Nations Security Council in 2003 included a ban on timber export on its list of sanctions against Liberia, on allegations that revenue from the timber industry was used by the former Charles Taylor regime to buy arms in violation of the UN sanction on arms importation.

This Paper was taken on a three-day tour of Grand Bassa, Sinoe and Grand Gedeh Counties last week and spoke with residents including women about the unbearable living condition they were experiencing due to the closure of the timber industry. "We want the logging companies to resume operation so that our children can go back school. I can hardly afford a day's meal for my family because I'm not working", Peter Garglahn, a resident Buchanan said.

Mrs. Nora Sundaygar, a businesswomen and a resident of Nyonben Town in District Four, Grand Bassa County told our reporter that the resumption of logging activities and the creation of other jobs would help ease the level of hardships facing them. "I am now serving as a house-wife and a husband at the same time because my husband is out of job," she intimated.

During the tour, it was observed that scores of jobless men and women including former ex-combatants who were in the employ of the Oriental Timber Corporation(OTC) and other logging companies continue to roam the streets of Buchanan while others have chosen to join fighters of the rebel Movement for Democracy in Liberia(MODEL) to loot and vandalize the Port of Buchanan and the plywood factory constructed by the OTC. Despite the lack of jobs and complaints of continuous security harassment in Grand Bassa County, the City of Buchanan remains lively with the resumption of educational activities in Buchanan.

Unlike Buchanan, life in the Port City of Greenville in Sinoe County has gone from bad to worse. Greenville, a City once noted for increased economic activities lies in ruins. It is predominantly occupied by combatants of MODEL with no economic activities. An elderly man, Timothy Jerbo, said life in Sinoe County was deplorable. He intimated that the war, couple with the subsequent decline in economic activities, especially the closure of logging companies has made things difficult for them.

Julius Nyenplu, a logger turned fisherman in Greenville, also told The NEWS that since the ban on timber, many of them have turned to the fishing industry for survival. "Everybody in Greenville depends on fishing to make life", Nyenplu said.

The views of many of the residents in Sinoe and Grand Gedeh Counties concerning the effect of the ban on timber were one of unanimity. They reasoned that the ban on timber has done the ordinary people more harm than good. At the same time, the residents are calling on the UN Security Council to lift the ban on timber and logs, which they said were the sources of survival for them.

Meanwhile, the Forestry Development Authority has opened its regional offices with the subsequent deployment of monitors in Grand Bassa, Sinoe and Grand Gedeh Counties. At the opening ceremonies, FDA's Managing Director D. Eugene Cooper spoke of his administration's desire to resuscitate and reform the forestry sector. According to FDA regional staffers who witnessed the ceremonies, the opening of the regional offices is a bacon of hope.

Mr. Wilson led 26-man delegation to Grand Bass, Sinoe and Grand Gedeh Counties on a three-day tour to assess FDA facilities to get first hand information on allegations of illegal logging among, etc. The delegation included representatives of Conservation groups, the Liberia National Police, Ministry of Finance, Timber Association and journalists.

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