Open
letter to Archie Williams, Director of Civil
Aviation
What
are you afraid of?
Monday, May 07, 2007
By
Sei Digker
As
a result of the president of Liberia’s clarion
call for all qualified Liberians to return home
and help in the reconstruction process of our
nation, I recently paid a visit to my country in
order to assess how and where best I could serve.
And being a qualified and experienced aircraft
engineer, I thought it wise to pay a courtesy call
on someone that I thought I could relate to; and
that person was you, Mr. Williams, because I felt
that we had similar professional background. But
it turned out that was the most disappointing
visit I paid to any civil servant in Liberia.
To
begin with, you were very reluctant to meet with
me. My wife and I received a lukewarm welcome from
you when we finally got around to seeing you at
your Spriggs Payne Airfield office. Of course, I
had a wide range of discussion with you on what is
presently happening in the airline industry and
how Liberia can adequately fit in. We agreed
that there was a need to infuse more qualified
technicians and technocrats into the system.
But my disappointment was that you think
that those technicians and technocrats can only be
nationalities other than Liberians. This can
be attested to by the fact that you have
surrounded yourself with “experts” from
countries like Singapore, etc. That left me
to wonder whether there are no qualified Liberians
to do the same jobs these “experts” are doing
for the fabulous paychecks and benefits they are
getting.
I
sincerely believe that there are many qualified
Liberians in the industry just like me, but I
think you are afraid to recruit them because you
see people like us as a threat to your job.
Even though you know fully well that I am an
American-trained aircraft engineer (not mechanic)
with more than twenty years of experience in the
field, not once during our entire conversation did
you encourage me to return and help in the
revamping process of our airline industry. I
wonder why? I spent at least five of my years of
experience working as an aircraft mechanic at the
Roberts International Airport in Liberia. I have
spent more than fifteen of those years working in
the airline industry here in America. Is
somebody asking why I did not go back home ever
since? The answer is obvious: The time was
not right. I did not trust the people that
were at the helm of power in my country. I
had too valuable an asset to allow myself to be a
casualty of somebody’s ignorance and greed.
I now feel comfortable to contribute my quota to
the development of my country because I am
convinced beyond all reasonable doubts that my
resources will not be squandered. My
resources will not be squandered because the
present president of Liberia—Her Excellency
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf—knows what she is about.
And I am willing to lend her my support in any
positive way possible.
Indeed,
Mr. Williams you have every reason to keep people
like us at arm’s length, because I doubt that
you have the requisite credentials for the job.
Prove me wrong if you can. I was able to pick up
couple of factual errors in some of your analysis
during my visit with you. For instance, you
said that during your tenure as assistant manager
at the Roberts International Airport back in the
‘70’s, technicians at that airport were able
to replace the engine of a B-747 airplane. I
have researched this information and have found no
record to that effect. These kinds of
deliberate lies make one to wonder what else you
are lying about, Mr. Williams. Do you really
have the requisite credentials for the job?
The Liberian people need to know, because an
airline industry is not one to be managed by any
fly-by-night manager. I think you may have falsely
impressed upon some people in government in order
to land your present job. But, I believe, it is
never too late to correct such mistakes.
I
hope the President of Liberia, the minister of
transport, and the Liberian people will read this
letter and do something about some of these
unqualified and incompetent civil servants who,
for fear of losing their jobs, are driving
potentially qualified Liberians away. Thank
you very much.
Sei
Digker, an aircraft engineer, works for a major
airline in the United States. Digker is a graduate
of the College of Aeronautics at LaGuardia
Airport, New York, and a 1982 graduate of the
Booker Washington Institute in Liberia.
