President Boakai has vowed not to sit and watch people take the country’s resources and leave nothing for the people’s benefit.
Monrovia, May 1, 2024: President Joseph Nyumah Boakai has threatened to cancel Western Cluster Mining Company’s deal because it extracts the nation’s resources, damages the roads, and leaves no benefits for the people.
Mr. Boakai announced his plan at Suehn Mecca District in Bomi County on Tuesday, 30 April 2024, during a chat with Public Works Minister Roland Giddings while embarking on an inspection of roads across Liberia.
“Minister, let me tell you, [if] we don’t close Western Cluster down, we’ll lose the bridges; we will lose those bridges, and it’s going to be disastrous for this country,” said Mr. Boakai.
“By the way, I am just telling you that I met with the lawyer for Western Cluster this morning and told him we are going to close them down,” President Boakai announced.
As part of his 100-day plan to ensure that no car gets stuck on bad roads, some reporters covering the presidency indicated in a live broadcast that the route leading to Suehn Mecca District has been reconditioning.
The Minister of Public Works could be heard telling the president that the reconditioned road, which is not asphalt, could be pliable for three years.
President Boakai said during the election that the road was terrible when he visited the area. He told Minister Giddings that Western Cluster is just taking the country’s resources, “and we get no reward for it.”
“I told him emphatically this morning that we’re going to close them down, and I am telling you seriously,” he continued.
President Boakai noted that he was not going to sit here and let people take the country’s resources and leave nothing for the country’s benefit.
If Western Cluster wants to invest further, President Boakai has urged the company to build a railway instead of damaging the roads and leaving Liberians stranded.
In 2010, Western Cluster obtained its Mineral Development Agreement (MDA), but low iron ore prices and the outbreak of Ebola were said to have stalled the commencement of its operations at the time.
However, it is reported to have broken grounds in 2022 and it has since been operating here.
However, there have been concerns that it allegedly contributes massively to destroying the roads in its host counties.
