The National Civil Society Union of Liberia (NACSUL) has registered its commendation for the unconditional and swift passage of the investment incentive agreement signed between the Government of Liberia (GOL) and the Jeety Rubber LLC on November 19, 2021, and now pending ratification by the National Legislature.
In a press statement issued Tuesday, December 21, 2021, NACSUL, through its President, Amos B.S. Kanneh, said, “We herein, with haste, indicate as per our keen observation that, under this agreement, the investor promises to construct, develop and operate a natural rubber processing and production plant for the production of tires and other natural rubber products, such as long and short rubber boots (rain boots), slippers, rubber and latex gloves, condoms and rubber band. It is also an important agreement that is determined to process approximately 25,000 tons of natural rubber per annum, which could very likely be provided by local rubber planters who currently undergo several difficulties with the growing, harvesting and marketing of their produces.
“We strongly believe that this Natural Rubber Processing Plant will save our local rubber planters the stress of marketing their produces in a competitive local rubber market. Most important to be singled out is the fact that this investment is the first of its kind and could set the pace for many other positive down-stream investments in this promising sector.”
President Kanneh said they support the passage because of the immense array of benefit to both the Government of Liberia (GOL) through the increase of revenue and the people of Liberia at large through the corporate social responsibility that the agreement contains. “We opine that the speedy passage of this agreement represents the sincere desire of the members of the Legislature to alleviate the suffering of the people through the provision of job opportunities because this deal certainly provides jobs for the many unemployed young men and women who currently languish about the terrain of district #5, Margibi County, seeking reliable means of survival,” he stated.
“We believe that in the face of the struggle our economy is currently encountering as a result of being heavily dependent on import of important goods, which process places a heavy burden on the local currency market, the establishment of Liberia’s first Natural Rubber Processing Plant will not only provide jobs for thousands of locals but will more importantly help reduce the pressure on the foreign exchange process, leading to great containment of the inflationary difficulty we experience as a result.
“In closing, while we wish to use this medium to thank the President of the Republic of Liberia, H.E. George M. Weah, for his farsightedness towards developing our economy from within, we want to congratulate the Jeety family for their continuous humanitarian and investment contributions to our country and encourage them to never stop being the positive partner that they are to the Liberian people.
“Finally, we urge Jeety Rubber LLC to act on the contract that brought the rubber plant into existence by adhering to its social corporate responsibility and respect for the rule of law and human dignity,” the NACSUL press release continued.