The Chief Executive Officer of Srimex Oil and Gas Company, Musa Hassan Bility, has sharply reacted to a decision by the government, through the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC), to reduce storage fees payable to Liberian terminal operators from thirty-five cents ($0.35) to two cents ($0.02) per gallon, while at the same time creating new “technical” cost lines for LPRC, the direct primary beneficiary of these cuts, claiming that the net effect is to effectively shut down Liberian-owned petroleum terminals and centralize power in the hands of a few.
Bility, who is also Representative of Nimba County’s district #7, argued that the intent of the government’s action is to divert money away from Liberian terminal operators and redirect it to LPRC, with the intent to weaken Liberian ownership and silence Liberian innovation.
According to him, the decision not only threatens the energy security but also undermines Liberian jobs and families, as there is no way that terminal operators can remain in business if the government carries out this action.
“The role of government is to create an enabling environment where the private sector can flourish and where Liberian businesses can benefit. This action by the government is in direct contravention of that role and does not represent meaningful reform. It is a deliberate attempt to cripple Liberian entrepreneurs who have invested millions of dollars, much of which has not even been recovered, into infrastructure, technology, and workforce to stabilize the petroleum sector,” he observed.
According to him, the petroleum terminal business is one of the few sectors of the Liberian economy built and sustained exclusively by Liberians, emphasizing that no responsible government policy would sacrifice its own citizens’ businesses under the pretense of price relief.
“I speak not only as a legislator, in defense of the right of Liberian businesses to thrive in their own country and contribute to the growth and development of an already weak and stagnant Liberian private sector, but also as the owner of Srimex Oil and Gas Company,” he added.
Bility therefore called on the Government of Liberia (GOL) to immediately halt the “harmful maneuver” and engage in transparent consultations with terminal operators, and ensure that any reform in the petroleum sector genuinely serves the Liberian people and the growth and development of the private sector, not political interests.
