The Liberian Senate, through its Committee on Concession and Investment, is expected to conduct vigorous inspection at the operation site of all concession companies working in Liberia as part of its oversight responsibility.
The disclosure was made on Thursday, October 20, 2022 on Capitol Hill by Grand Kru County Senator, Numene T. H. Bartekwa, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Concession and Investment. Speaking to reporters after session Thursday, the Grand Kru County Senator disclosed that the mining sector of the country needs to be monitored because its contribution to the growth of the economy is cardinal.
In order to begin with such inspection as a committee, Senator Bartekwa said he seeks the indulgence of the Senate’s plenary through a communication to allow the Secretariat of LEITI to appear before a committee of a whole of the Liberian Senate to give requisite information on its function, compliance issue of a number of mining and logging companies and future work plans.
This appearance, according to him, will provide the opportunity for senators to interact with the LEITI Secretariat, whose work is important for the revenue generation and sustainable livelihood for a number of rural communities that depend on the extractive industry. After the appearance, Chairman Bartekwa intoned that the committee will make a background check by visiting the various operation areas to have interactive discussion with community dwellers.
On Tuesday, Senate Pro-tempore, Albert Chie, told his colleagues that he met with the Secretariat of the Liberia Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (LEITI), at which time he assured of the Senate’s commitment to working with them. He said there is a need for mining and logging companies to be properly monitored in order to contribute to the country’s national budget.
LEITI is expected to appear before the Senate next week to give detailed information on its working.