GVL presents US$100,000 cheque to MOA

Golden Veroleum Liberia or GVL has presented a cheque for US$100,000 to the Ministry of Agriculture as scholarship funds for university students studying Agriculture. The presentation was made over the weekend at the Ministry of Agriculture office in Gardnersville, outside Monrovia.

Presenting the cheque on behalf of GVL, Compliance Manager, K. Emmanuel Yarkpazuo, said, the company hopes that funds allotted for Agriculture students are used for the internal purpose.

He said GVL will continue to work along with the Government of Liberia, especially the Agriculture Ministry to achieve its goal of educating more Liberians in the Agriculture sector.

Receiving the cheque, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Florence Chenoweth, thanked the GVL family for its kind work over the years. She said some of the students benefiting from the scholarship, who have earned their Master’s, will be sent for PhD studies and then Liberia will have Junior Scientists in Agriculture.

Minister Chenoweth said the ministry looks forward to finding other companies to contribute to the fund for agriculture students in other counties and universities. She also indicated that said since the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, the country’s nutritional index has fallen.

For his part, the Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Liberia, Dr. Julius Sarwolo Nelson, thanked GVL for its financial assistance program to students of the University of Liberia.

The Vice President for Institution at the University of Liberia, Dr. Walters Wiles, said it is essential to build human capacity and he thanked the GVL for investing in that area.

The Dean for the Agriculture College at the University of Liberia, Dr. Roland C. Massaquoi, said since the GVL started this initiative, enrolment in the college has increased from 1,000 to 4,500. He said the company needs to revisit the University because the students are so many in the Agriculture sector and they are meeting up with the required GPA to remain on the scholarship.

The Vice President of the United Methodist University, Dr. Everlyn Kandakai, thanked Golden Veroleum Liberia for its good gesture and hoped that it will continue to develop Liberia. She also said GVL needs to upgrade schools in Sinoe County and the entire southeast of Liberia.

Liberia’s Education Minister, Etmonia David Tarpeh, said agriculture should become a primary focus for the educational sector, and urged students benefiting from the scholarship to be very serious and take their studies seriously.

Emmanuel K. Weah, a beneficiary of the scholarship from the Cuttington University, thanked GVL and assured the management that money being invested agriculture students will not go in vain; assuring that after completion of studies, they will return to work at the Ministry of Agriculture to develop Liberia.

Earlier, the Manager for Career and Educational Programs at Golden Veroleum Liberia, Madam Jean Hannah Thompson, said the company has been providing scholarships for Liberian students since it signed a concession agreement with the Government of Liberia in 2010.

She said each year, Golden Veroleum provides US$100,000 to the Ministry of Agriculture to promote the agriculture sector here.

Madam Thompson said since 2010, 1,600 students have benefited from these scholarships and 20 of the beneficiaries presently employed with GVL.

Some Liberian universities benefitting from the scholarship include: University of Liberia, Cuttington University, Tubman University, Booker Washington Institute, and the United Methodist University.

By Ethel A. Tweh