More on Arcelor Mittal "Gift"

What is the Value of a Liberian Legislator - A Mitsubishi Pickup?
Sunday, September 21, 2008

By Emmanuel Abalo


The present Liberian administration has in recent times been buffeted on all sides by allegations of corruption, malfeasance and "crocrogee" dealings involving some former and current government higher-ups; and in some instances, trusted associates of the president. Although we want to unequivocally state that there is no evidence that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is directly accused of any of these improprieties.

The latest is news emanating from Capitol Hill in Monrovia early this week that a major business venture, Arcelor Mittal Steel has donated 100 Mitsubishi vehicles to the Executive Mansion, and these have been turned over to the country's lawmakers and members of the National Legislature for use.

Some of the legislators couldn't wait to test drive the vehicles in the parking lot of the Capitol Building while sporting broad smiles and glee at their latest acquisition.

The official pronouncement of government is that there would be zero tolerance for corruption in the Sirleaf Administration, and took steps to fight corruption. The same National Legislature just passed a National Anti-Corruption Bill which was just signed into law, and the new anti- Corruption Commissioner czar's staff have not even found an office building in Monrovia yet to begin work, and the legislators have started accepting "gifts"?

In fact the irony is that some members of civil society groups and the opposition had voiced concern about the preferment of the Anti-Corruption Commission czar, Counselor Frances Johnson Morris less than a week ago claiming that her preferment lacked broad-based consultation, nepotism and cronyism, had called for her non-confirmation. But less than a week ago, the Commissioner got the nod instead from the Senate.

Why would Arcelor Mittal Steel Company purposefully present such "gifts" to the government, and why has some members of the National Legislature exercised poor judgment in acceptance, while the international community whose development dollars continue to flow to the country watch in amazement at governance in Liberia.

What would prompt the Arcelotr Mittal Steel Company to even make such an offer? On the other hand it is for Arcelor Mittal Steel Company to offer the gifts, but it is for the government and lawmakers to do the right thing and either refuse acceptance due to the perception of "bribery or impropriety," and divert the use of the vehicles to much needed programs and agencies and institutions such as the University of Liberia, the John F. Kennedy Hospital and leeward county medical practitioners or such.

No one is impugning the integrity of the honorable legislators except that the perception of "quid pro quo" now looms even larger. The Krio proverb says " When crocodile runs from rain, he'll fall into the water." The correlation is that if government is sagging under allegations of rampant corruption, even as admitted by the Chief Executive, it doesn't make sense for a branch of government to be seen as accepting such "gifts."

And so we challenge the Honorable Legislators to issue a statement refusing such gifts and maintain their integrity, or donate the vehicles to other agencies of government that are in dire need of such.

Let us not be tempted to place a cheap value on on our lawmakers or invoke the term "Mistubishi Pick-up legislators

Emmanuel Abalo is an exiled Liberian journalist, media and human rights activist, and a former Acting President of the Press Union of Liberia (PUL). He now resides in Pennsylavnia, USA and serves as News Director of WRAR-96 Internet radio on www.runningafrica.com.

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750km of Liberian Territory v. Stranded Investment in Guinea

More tantalizing hints

“The deposits are located in the south east of the country very close to the border with Liberia and 750km away from the sea.”

Story follows; but when will Rio-Tinto reveal their relationship with Acelor-Mittal. Is it too soon for transparency? Could it be that the Liberian People have been cut out of the deal already. We are still waiting for the answers. We will not forget the mysterious circumstances during the bidding on the old LAMCO mine…. Rio-Tinto backed out leaving the deal on the table for Mittal. It is a matter of record. But, why? Hint: 750km of Liberian territory and a stranded investment in Guinea.

STORY

Rio Tinto eyes Chinese investors to partner it in Guinea iron ore projectRio Tinto has already spent US$300 million on its Simandou iron ore project but the company still eyes investors from China to partner it as it moves to develop the 170 million tonne per annum mine.

Author: Frank Jomo
Posted: Friday , 16 May 2008

BLANTYRE -
The world's second largest producer of iron ore - Rio Tinto - says it will be courting Chinese steel and construction companies to partner it in developing the US$6 billion Simandou iron ore mine in the West African state of Guinea.

Rio Tinto, itself being the subject of a hostile takeover by rival, BHP Billiton, would make a final decision whether to go ahead with the mine in 2009.

But head of Rio's iron ore division Sam Walsh told the Financial Times that he was optimistic of bringing Chinese investors into the project later this year and that the company's preference would be to have a steel company that is allied to a construction company. He said the Chinese steelmaker would agree to buy a portion of Simandou's output on a long-term off-take contract while a Chinese construction group would be valuable in making sure the mine is built on schedule and on budget, at a time of rising costs.

The Simandou deposit is touted to be one of Africa's largest iron ore deposits estimated at between eight and 11 billion tonnes and made up of high grade haematite, which has a 65 percent iron content.

However to tap these huge deposit, Rio Tinto will have to part with a fortune. The deposits are located in the south east of the country very close to the border with Liberia and 750km away from the sea. In addition poor infrastructure in the country might prove a spanner in Rio's works to develop the mine into one of the world's great iron mines.

For now though, the miner seems set to roll on the project having spent US$300 million on it. The company announced recently that its pre-feasibility study into the development of a 70 million tonne per annum mine at Simandou is well advanced. Rio says the development of the mine would make it one of the largest iron ore mines in the world and that there are future plans to make it even larger, to 170 million tonnes per annum.

© Mineweb Holdings Limited, 1997 - 2007

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Anthropogenicagent

Transparency in the Extractive Industries

EITI++ Extends Oil And Mining Transparency Agenda
Publish What You Pay (London)

PRESS RELEASE
11 April 2008 Posted to the web 11 April 2008 Washington, DC

Publish What You Pay (PWYP), the global civil society coalition campaigning for transparency in the extractive industries, welcomes the World Bank’s effort to extend transparency in this sector beyond revenues through its new EITI++ initiative. EITI++ includes disclosure along the spectrum, from the licensing of concessions all the way to government spending. In order for this initiative to be credible, PWYP calls on the World Bank to implement it effectively across the globe and to meaningfully involve civil society throughout the entire process.

“We welcome the Bank's initiative to extend transparency in the oil, mining and gas sector beyond revenues to look at how concessions are awarded, contracts negotiated, and how the money is spent. Civil society has played a crucial role in shaping the EITI and we hope to play the same role in this new initiative because real change for the better depends on us using the information arising to hold governments and companies to account,” said Radhika Sarin, International Coordinator of the PWYP coalition. “The natural resource wealth of Guinea, if managed properly, is one of our best chances to lift our citizens out of poverty. We ask that the World Bank work with us as equal partners, and not limit itself to the government and companies. This hasn’t always been their strength in the past but we won’t accept anything less,” said Mamadou Taran Diallo, Coordinator of PWYP Guinea. The current focus of EITI++ is on Africa, with Guinea and Mauritania as the two pilot countries.

While the EITI is a good first step towards making public the flow of revenues from companies to government, it is not enough. “With the scramble for resources heating up across Africa and elsewhere, there is a pressing need for a more open and fair system for allocating oil and mining concessions, so that competition amongst Western and Asian companies doesn’t turn into a race to the bottom on corruption, human rights and the environment,” said Gavin Hayman, Campaigns Director of Global Witness.

PWYP would like to see this initiative move beyond just Africa and outside of just the World Bank to help define global standards of natural resource governance that all countries and extractive companies could endorse and apply. PWYP also hopes the World Bank will draw on existing best practice in this area, such as the IMF Guide on Resource Revenue Transparency.
For this initiative to have impact on the ground, genuine civil society involvement is necessary at both the international and the country levels. This can be achieved by building on the multi-stakeholder principle of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which sets a minimum global standard for the reporting of oil, gas and mining revenues.

The stated goal of EITI++ is to promote the use of natural resource revenues for development, and this can only happen if civil society is able to influence its own governments to manage these resources in the best possible way. But in some countries it is downright dangerous for citizens to challenge governments about how revenues from oil, gas and mining are spent. “The World Bank has an important role to play in protecting these activists and promoting their ability to work without fear or intimidation,” said Karin Lissakers, Executive Director of the Revenue Watch Institute.

“If EITI++ results in a more joined-up effort by the international community to promote and support this goal, we look forward to a constructive engagement on how to take things forward for all our benefit,” she added.

Publish What You Pay is an international coalition of over 300 NGOs calling for the mandatory disclosure of the payments made by oil, gas and mining companies to all governments for the extraction of natural resources and the resulting revenues earned by resource-rich country governments. The coalition also calls for the disclosure of licensing arrangements and extractive industry contracts.

Copyright © 2008 Publish What You Pay

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Anthropogenicagent