Press Release

LPRC Kicks Off Road Show in Washington, DC

By Abdoulaye W. Dukulé

Mr. Harry Greaves, Dr. Amelia Ward, ms. Nyonblee Garnga and Liberians of the Washington, DC area

As Liberia looks down the road to recovery from the war and embarks on reconstruction, its most important asset is certainly the great human capital it has scattered around the world. Without any doubt, the majority of those constituting the Liberian nascent middle class, with a wealth of knowledge, training and financial capital lives in the Diaspora, and most particularly in the US. On each of her visit to the US, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has made it a duty to speak to that class of Liberians, urging them to participate in any way possible in the rebuilding of the nation. On several occasions, she said that no amount of foreign aid will rebuild Liberia and that the task lies squarely on the shoulders of her compatriots. However, those who have escaped the many wars and the mayhem that ensued are still skeptical or just "not ready" to make the jump to the other side of the Atlantic. One way to convince them that things are getting back to normal at home and that there are positive developments taking place in a many areas is to involve them in a constant dialogue.

Barely a few weeks after a delegation led by National Security Advisor H. Boima Fahnbulleh visited Washington, DC and Philadelphia to address the fallouts from the "Nippy Memo", another delegation is now making the rounds in various cities and states with large concentration of Liberians to talk about developments at home. While the Fahnbulleh delegation focused on political issues, these new messengers are talking about the economy and the developments in one public company, the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Corporation, (LPRC).

The Managing Director of LPRC, Mr. Harry Greaves who is heading a delegation comprising Board Member Dr. Amelia Ward and the Public Relations Manager, Ms. Nyonblee Garnga, said he came to the US to tell Liberians about the progress made by the company. "We have made a lot progress in the past two years and we want to share it with our compatriots in the Diaspora and give them an insight on things at home."

Starting with its first town hall meeting in Washington, DC, the delegation will take its "road show" to Philadelphia, PA on February 26, followed by a stop in Brooklyn Center in Minnesota and to continue south in Atlanta, Georgia on March 1 and Dallas, Texas on March 2. In every community, chapters of the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA) have accepted to facilitate the meetings at the urging of President Emmanuel Wettee.

Mr. Boniface Satu, President of the Liberian Community Association (LCA) of the US capital area, who facilitated the meeting between Liberians and LPRC, said that this move by the Sirleaf administration was a positive development. "In getting Liberians involved in a discussion over what takes place at home, we feel part of the process." The meeting, held in College Park, brought together members of the LCA, the Liberian Embassy in Washington as well as media practitioners and other members of the community.

For the past many years, LPRC has been at the center of different controversies. From the "Nigerian oil deal" to the issues of "tax not collected" and now to its current ambitions to expand its operations, stories have abounded in the media. In her introductory statement, Board Member Dr. Ward said that the trip was meant to solely address developments at LPRC. "We want to talk about where we were two years ago, where we are now and where we are headed. There have been lots of stories about LPRC and we are here to give you the facts about our operations."

However, may be because he sensed the tension in the room, Harry Greaves started by an attempt to "debunk" what he termed as the many "fictions" that have been circulating on LPRC in Liberian media, both at home and in the Diaspora. After a lengthy exchange on the thorny issues, he turned his attention to the accomplishments of his administration. Among other things, he spoke of the lay-off of some 400 hundred workers, the payment of dividends to the government and their plan for the future, which includes the building of a new refinery in Buchanan, with the capacity to treat 50,000 barrels a day.

During the Q/A period, many members of the audience raised issues with numbers and certain policies. Ambassador James T. Tarpeh questioned the wisdom of an all-out privatization scheme that could leave Liberians out by shelling the national wealth to outsiders. He said government has a responsibility in ensuring that Liberians are the primary beneficiaries of economic development and therefore government must set aside a portion of shares for Liberian investors in any privatization program. Morris Koffa, the head of the Liberia Environmental Watch raised alarms about oil spills, fires, and buried pipelines - especially in Gardnersville - that could affect the underground water that people use for cooking. Others sought clarifications on the accounting process.

In the end, the audience was mostly in agreement that the meeting had led to a positive exchange. Mr. Edwin Lloyd of Concerned Liberians said that "call it whatever you may, but the fact that the government finds it necessary to engage the Diaspora in these discussions and keep us abreast of how things are evolving on the home front must be applauded. It takes some courage to do this and we must than k the LPRC Management and Board for this, with the hope that other government agencies dealing with strategic issues will follow suite."

Mr. Edwin Sealey, the new Deputy Chief of Mission at the Liberian Embassy in Washington, DC and currently serving as Chargé d'affaires was introduced during the ceremony. He offered his words of encouragement to the process and expressed government's commitment to dialogue, fairness and transparency. He said the doors of the diplomatic mission are opened to all Liberians at all time.