Garbage Millions War

New Democrat (Monrovia)

24 May 2011

More controversy is brewing over claims that the Government has placed millions of dollars in the hands of a Ghanaian garbage collector because competent and reliable Liberians are lacking to implement the World Bank project.

The multi-million project, designed to rid Monrovia of huge heaps of garbage, is administered by the Monrovia City Hall, with a Ghanaian, Mr. Peter Ofori, hired as a World Bank expert, to oversee the project.

Acting Monrovia City Mayor Mary Broh told this paper in an interview Monday that several Liberians have faulted on similar projects, but that she is not responsible for awarding City Hall contracts.

Ms. Broh, reacting to claims that she has dished out duty free privileges to contractors, however confirmed that the World Bank project entails duty free privileges for the contractor, and also claimed that local Liberian contractors have, in the past, been awarded similar duty free privileges.

But she stressed that duty free privileges accompany all donor-funded projects.

She said when she served as deputy managing director at the National Port Authority, she saw volumes of duty free documents for donor projects.

The General Auditing Commission, in its audit of the government’s duty free regime, discovered massive abuse. It said UNMIL, one of the recipients of duty free privileges, refused to respond to its inquiries.

Ms. Broh also rejected suggestions and claims of conspiracy to isolate Liberians in favour of more compromising Ghanaians and others.

Local Liberian contractors have cried foul, accusing City Hall and the International Development Association (IDA) of awarding garbage collection contract worth millions of dollars to a Ghanaian based company called ZoomLion.

But Ms. Broh counter-argued the three Liberian contractors, Caspian, MC Sanatos and Libra Sanitation lost in the bidding process.

Last month, Liberia received US$4 million from the IDA to support the Emergency Monrovia Urban Sanitation Project after the World Bank Board of Directors approved this additional financing on 7 April 2011.

The original funding of US$18.4 million for the EMUS Project was approved in October 2009 at the request of Government under the Liberia Reconstruction Trust Fund (LRTF), to help increase access to solid waste collection services in Monrovia. The LRTF is a multi-donor trust fund established in 2008.

It is this funding that Caspian, MC Santos and Libra Sanitation, all Liberian owned companies feel that A Liberian company should be entitled to instead of a Ghanaian company.

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