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A
"Giant Step?" But what's in the Arcelor
Mittal Steel deal?
Sunday,
December 31, 2006
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
Liberia is
one of few countries on earth that can boast of a vast
reserve of pure Iron Ore waiting to be extracted for
the use of whatever iron is used for in the global
economy.
We are proud of that distinction and don't want
to be left out of the equation this time around as it
was in previous agreements when multinational
corporations, with the blessings of past Liberian
governments polluted the environment, exploited to the
bone the Liberian workers and ignored the needs of the
nation and the surrounding neighborhoods for their own
selfish interests.
The Mittal Steel Agreement signing ceremony:
(L-R) NIC's Richard Tolbert, Justice Minister
Johnson-Morris, Finance Minister Sayeh, Lands, Mines
& Engery Minister, Shannoh, Chair; Mittal Steel
M. P. Singh, Head, Mittal Mining Department, Other
Mittal officials. Photo Sando
Moore
There are whispers of oil
below the surface somewhere in Liberia. And if that
oil is finally found, future Liberian governments,
hopefully, will do the right thing by using the
potential oil reserves to develop the country by
building modern hospitals, schools, sewer system,
airports, relocate the capital, Monrovia, and improve
the standard of living of the Liberian people.
The nation is also blessed with vast acres of
timber, gold and other natural resources most nations
on earth would be more than happy to have to put its
citizens back to work, stimulate its economy and add
to its existing national treasure.
The recent agreement between the Liberian
government and Arcelor Mittal, the world’s largest
Steel Company, which is believed will create more than
20,000 jobs, is a sign of the normalcy we crave as we
move away from a bloody era to a hopeful period in the
history of our country.
Arcelor Mittal Steel needs Liberia to expand
its international operations and boost its profit
margin, and the Liberian nation needs the giant steel
company to put its people back to work and boost its
economy.
Like any partnership, mutual respect, honesty,
dignity, and working together to reach a common goal
are key to a healthy relationship.
By agreeing to rework a previous agreement
signed by Gyude Bryant and his interim government in
2005, reportedly seen as unfair by President Sirleaf,
and rejected by her administration and later resigned
by both parties shows the clout of this administration
and the power of negotiation, especially when the
other side is confident of having the upper hand.
Arcelor Mittal Steel is in the business of
making profit, and must make that profit to continue
its investment in Liberia.
At the same time the steel company must respect
the Liberian workers, treat them with respect and
dignity, pay them fairly and equitably according to
their labor and guidelines of the International Labor
Organization, so that we will not have to return to
the days when Firestone Rubber Company and other
companies paid Liberian workers slave wages, did not
provide them health insurance and retirement benefits
to sustain them.
Arcelor Mittal Steel must establish community
outreach programs to assist the community, its needy
children and adults, and must appoint a Liberian as
Vice President or Director of Community Outreach – a
liaison between the steel company and the community
where it operates to deal with community-company
issues.
Arcelor Mittal Steel must help in building
roads, schools, modern hospitals, and if possible,
must add to its long or short-range plan the building
of a facility that manufactures some of its steel
products in Liberia, which will then read “Made in
Liberia” or ‘Made in Nimba, Liberia,” which
certainly will be a proud moment for the people of
Nimba County and the Liberian nation.
It is unclear whether any stipulation was made
in the signed agreement to protect the locals, the
environment - the air, streams and rivers, and to
avoid the fatal landslide that occurred when Bong
Mining Company left an uncovered hole decades ago
after it folded creating an unsafe and hazardous
environment that affected countless Liberians in that
region.
This is not 1926, the year when then-Senator
William V.S. Tubman, who would later become President
of Liberia sat face-to-face and represented
international investor Harvey Firestone as his lawyer
in signing a 99-year one-sided, anti-Liberia agreement
that ‘sold’ the Liberian nation and its workers to
Firestone for little or nothing. President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf cannot afford to repeat the painful
mistakes of her predecessor. This new steel deal must
put Liberia first.
No one knows for sure what is in the agreement
since it is sealed and will not be available to the
public until January 6, 2007.
A giant step? My attitude now is to wait and
see, and hope it is all about the Liberian nation and
the Liberian people.
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