GVL employment rises to 2,500

The management of Golden Veroleum Liberia or GVL says employment at the company has increased to 2,500. The company added that it has employed approximately 1,800 staff in Sinoe County, and approximately 2,500 countrywide, with plans to increase the workforce over the long-term to nearly 40,000.

GVL head of Corporate Communication, Virgil Magee, at a news conference Monday in Monrovia, said given the agreement between the people of Butaw and GVL management, employment is definitely expected to increase.

The press conference was jointly addressed by Mr. Magee and the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs for Administration, Varney Sirleaf. Deputy Minister Sirleaf said, the agreement is on course and that the people of Butaw in Sinoe County have reached an understandable agreement with the management of GVL.

According to the minister, the agreement will benefit more Sinoeans through jobs, better schools and health facilitates.

Minister Sirleaf said during the negotiation process, the Liberian government sent a delegation led by him, including Assistant Minister Paul Jallah of the Ministry of Agriculture, and Assistant Minister Prince Korvah of the Ministry of Labor.

Minister Sirleaf added that there a community development fund has been allotted to the county and affected communities, but those communities should be able to identify projects, which will be undertaken by the management of GVL in collaboration with the residents.

Butaw community citizens and Golden Veroleum Liberia recently reach an agreement on the way forward to maximizing development and increase employment in the area, after nearly three years of negotiation.

The agreement, brokered by community groups Abloteh and the Butaw Youth Association sets out a new timeline for specific activities to be conducted by Golden Veroleum, the Butaw citizens and non-governmental organizations.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Butaw land will be surveyed, tentatively scheduled for the later part of March 2015, along with a review of the Forest Trust assessment report, conducting Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) process in targeted communities, a withdrawal of the 2012 complaint against GVL by the community and the drafting and signing of a new memorandum of understanding between the community and GVL, to take place later in the year.

By E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor