FORNOR/MANO RIVER KONGO GRAND CAPE MOUNT COUNTY – Illicit miners have invaded the Gola Forest National Park, extracting gold and diamonds from one of Liberia’s five protected areas and smuggling them across the border to Sierra Leone, local authorities say. Gola Forest National Park cuts across Sierra Leone and Liberia. Residents of Porkpa District, Grand…
Environment and Resources Reporting
Miners Drive River Cess Fishing Town into Poverty
WESSEH TOWN, River Cess – Fifty-two-year-old Churchemah Wesseh says her grandson died from malaria last year because she could not afford to pay the hospital bills in time. A fisherwoman for more than 30 years, the single mother of six hardly makes ends meet these days. Her catch has declined, and the little money she…
Land Dispute Driving Villages into Poverty in Lofa
MamadeeKelledue, Lofa County – Fatuma Kamara, turned to gardening, planting plantains, cassavas and bananas after her husband died more than three decades ago. Her garden prospered. Proceeds from the garden did not only feed her family but left her with enough money to save and pay her children’s tuition. It seemed her dream of becoming one…
County Authorities Fight Community over Logging Deal in Bassa
Residents of District #3B&C in Grand Bassa County on a sunny day in July 2018 gathered in their numbers to celebrate the presentation of an official certificate from the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) that gives them the right to manage their forest. They slaughtered a cow, had a big feast and partied all nightlong. That…
Liberia: Foya Fights to Prevent Yearly Forest Fire
KPANDU, LOFA COUNTY – Andrew Saah Kendema expected a big harvest, not the big fire that swept through his farm and thousands of acres of forest land in the Foya Tengia District of Lofa County in March this year. His sugarcane farm would have fetched him about 20 drums of liquor, enough returns on a US$10,000…
Liberia: Denied for Decades, Women Lead Land Rights Campaign in Bong
GOKAI TOWN, BONG COUNTY – Gormah Mulbah and her five children were thrown out of their home last year after her husband died. Her late husband’s family was angry she refused to marry his younger brother. While she thought all hope was lost, a man—whose identify she would not reveal over reprisal—confronted her in-laws over the…
Liberia: Villagers Hold Vigil outside Forestry Development Authority over Logging Dispute in Nimba
WHEIN TOWN, PAYNESVILLE – More than 60 townspeople of Doru chiefdom in the Gbi/Doru District of Nimba County spent the sixth straight night at the headquarters of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) here, demanding the cancellation of a logging contract between their community and the Liberia Tree and Trading Corporation (LTTC). LTTC, owned by former Representative…
Falling Global Oil Prices has Big Impact on Liberians
The price of oil has fallen sharply around the world in the last year. That’s forced major companies like Chevron and Exxon Mobil, that were pouring millions into Liberia, to hold back and watch the global trend in the oil market. Despite their initial investment in the country, Chevron has pulled out for now and…
Oil Industry Chaos: Liberians Benefit From Low Oil Prices
Monrovia – The plunge in oil prices on the world market has dealt a devastating blow to Liberia’s oil industry dashing hopes that oil may have been the savior for Liberia’s struggling economy. But at the same time those low prices have been an expected boost to ordinary Liberians thanks to the sharply lower price…
Tetee Gebro Reflects on her Experience Reporting on the Oil Industry in Liberia
First off, a confession: even as the oil industry in Liberia made a lot of news in our country in the years from 2010, as a practicing journalist I knew very little about it. Like most of my peers, all I ever knew reporting on the sector came at the mercy of the National Oil…
Exxon Set to Drill – Are Liberians Ready For Jobs in Oil Industry?
Monrovia – Liberia’s oil industry is holding its breath waiting for the outcome of ExxonMobil exploration efforts by the end of the year. With global oil prices low, and little interest by big oil companies in Liberia’s yet unproven oil reserves, Exxon’s drilling operation may represent Liberia’s last chance of discovering oil for some time….
Passage of New Oil Law Offers Hope of Industry Restart
Monrovia – In this last of a three-part series on the survival of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) amid financial turmoil and the global oil crisis, we ask whether the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Law could save Liberia’s oil and gas sector from further decay. The recent passage of the Petroleum (Exploration and…
Climate Change Threatens Liberia
With a global reliance on fossil fuel for energy, climate change is increasingly becoming a threat to human existence. Across the world catastrophic weather patterns are killing people and devastating agricultural activities. In our own region, one of the biggest inland water sources – Lake Chad – has almost disappeared. Drought and floods have…
NOCAL Slashes Costs To Survive As Income Dries Up
Monrovia – In this second of a three-part series on the survival of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) amid financial turmoil and the oil crisis we look closely at how the company is operating in these difficult times. NOCAL is cash-strapped and is no longer leading the promising Liberian oil and gas sector…
NOCAL Collapses One Year On – Liberia’s Oil Basin Goes Quiet
Monrovia – In this first part of three-part series on we look at what is currently happening in the Liberian oil basin one year on from the collapse of the National Oil Company of Liberia. What is the status of the different oil contracts between Liberia and oil companies and what does the future hold…
Liberians’ Health: Generators, Cars Posing Dangers to Residents
Monrovia – On June 19 this year, two men—Varnie Sarjue and Jusue Vannie – spent the night in the office of GMT Fishery in the Bong Mines Bridge community outside Monrovia. Both men were guarding the company’s properties, and on that fateful night Sarjue brought with him his girlfriend, Garmeh Howard. They put on a…
Politics and Oil
Liberia’s third post conflict democratic elections are expected to be held in 2017 to usher in another government when the mandate of the current government’s second and final term expires. This will mark the country’s first democratic transition in more than forty years. Already, the United Nations Mission in Liberia or UNMIL has turned over the…
Total Gas Stations Threaten Protected Wetlands
As the rest of the world struggles to come to terms with the effect of climate change, the poorest countries, like our own, are on the front lines. Scientists say the vast majority of climate change is caused by richer countries like the US and China, far out of our control. But an investigation by…
Oil Crisis Sparks Shift to Renewable Energy in Liberia
It stands one storey tall and is painted in radiant orange and green but that is not what makes Emma’s Fashion perhaps the most noticeable building at V.O.A. Junction on the Roberts International Airport highway. What makes it stand out is 16 solar panels attached to two opposite sides of its roof, providing the modern…
Total Stations Threatening Liberia’s Environment? Neither EPA or Public Works Admit Granting Permits
Monrovia – The swamps or wetlands along Liberia’s coast is said to play a crucial role in the country’s ecosystem. They are nesting grounds for sea creatures, which lay and hatch their eggs before returning to the rough sea. Without them Liberia’s fishing industry could be endangered. The wetlands also play a crucial role in…
No Oil but Chevron Leaves Its Mark on Liberia
As almost all of the oil companies are shutting down operations in Liberia, we look back at what one of the biggest companies Chevron, is leaving behind as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility program in Liberia. This is a special radio production on Radio Gbarnga bringing to the spotlight the impact of Chevron’s Corporate…