Community members here in Tartweh and Drapoe chiefdoms are fuming over a range of what they claim are violations of Liberian laws by the country’s forest management body the Forestry Development Agency….
New Narratives
Communities Drowning in Trash Furious Over Failed US$3M Waste Management Project – Part Two
In part two of this two-part investigation Anthony Stephens and Tina S. Menhpaine report with New Narratives on the obstacles that doomed a $3m EU-funded waste management project….
Land Title Authorities Overwhelmed By Disputes following Land Rights Act
Emmanuel Tokpah always wanted a home of his own. The 27-year-old bike rider had saved enough money to begin construction on a house in this village. But his dreams were shattered in July 2016 when a group of men from neighboring Gbonata came and ordered him to stop work. By Mae Azango The men claimed…
Overwhelmed Doctors at StarBase Treatment Unit Plead with People to Believe the Covid-19 is Real
Liberians are facing the latest and most dangerous wave since the Covid-19 pandemic started 15 months ago. This latest wave, caused by the highly infectious Delta variant which entered the country a month ago, has taken dozens of lives including journalists and high-profile personalities. By Mae Azango with New Narratives As of July 11, 2021,…
Hundreds of Sacked GVL Employees Still Waiting for Jobs; Company Blames the Pandemic
BUTAW, Sinoe County – Timothy Browne bought into the promises made by Singapore-owned palm oil company Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL) when they came to this rural area of Sinoe County with offers of jobs and development for the people here in exchange for 2,600 hectares of land. Browne even hosted one of the major meetings that…
Port Authority Head in Dispute with River Cess Community over Customary Land
CEE TOWN, River Cess – For months, residents in this area of Gbarsaw Clan have watched with increasing alarm as hundreds of men with heavy machinery have cut down trees and hauled them away. In March, residents told The Bush Chicken that the land – more than 600 acres according to the local Community Land Development Management…
River Cess the Latest Flashpoint in Clashing Laws over Land
VONDEH TOWN, River Cess – The people of this area celebrated in 2019 when a forestry company began operations here. The five-year Social Agreement signed with the company, African Wood and Lumber, an Italian-owned company, was supposed to deliver the community US$5,000 each year in scholarship funds, US$15,000 in land rental fees, two feeder roads,…
National Rivercess Community Claims Port Authority Manager Has Illegally Farmed Customary Land
Some Citizens of Gbarsaw Clan in Central River Cess District are raising concerns about the clearing of more than 600 acres of land that they say is the community’s customary land. The person responsible for the clearing has been a mystery until now. And because none of the required community consultations have happened anger is…
Farmers Demand ‘Balance’ Payment In Land Deal with Equatorial Palm Oil in Grand Bassa County
Editor’s Note: This story is the first of a two-part series on growing tension between Equatorial Palm Oil and villagers in Grand Bassa County over land rights. JOGBAHN CLAN, Grand Bassa – October 6, 2016 was a happy day for Morris Beah and other townspeople of Gmenee, Wesseh Village, Paye Town, Morb Town and Kampala, which…
Logging Company EJ&J Shipped US$3 million in Lumber Despite Telling Community Exports were Halted; FDA Fails to Act
ZAMMIE TOWN, River Cess County – Water dictates the lives of people in this part of central River Cess. With just three hand pumps to supply a town of 7,000, women and children here wake as early as 3 am to fetch water from distant creeks. But the creek water carries dangers they say: contaminants from…
Liberia’s Fragile Wetlands are in Crisis
Across the world people are experiencing different impacts from rising global temperatures. Governments are racing to protect natural environments that will help stop the worst changes.But with Liberia’s fast growing population, more and more people are moving to coastal cities, especially Monrovia, looking for means of survival.That is putting a pressure on one of Liberia’s…
Kailando Gas Station Demolition Said To Be Delayed But Courts Provide No Evidence A Case Exists
By R. Joyclyn Wea and Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA-It has been four years since a gas station and minimart owned by George Kailondo, the businessman and politician with the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change political party, were constructed on SKD Boulevard in Paynesville. The building, constructed on wetlands protected by the Liberian government…
Amid Diplomatic Dispute, Monrovians Beg For Relief From Trash Crisis
PHOTO: Residents in Slipway dump on the bank of the Mesurado river BUZZI QUARTER, Monrovia – As the growing waste and sanitation problem in Monrovia became part of a diplomatic dispute this month, people in slum communities said they didn’t care who solved the problem as long as they get some relief from what many say…
Buchanan Seaside Communities Beg for Rock Wall to Protect Them from the Sea
Coastal erosion caused by climate-induced rises in sea levels and intense tropical storms have already destroyed the homes of hundreds of Liberian families and put critical fisheries at risk. Nine of the country’s fifteen counties sit along the sea coast putting 60 per cent of the population at threat and causing tens of millions of…
Buchanan Seaside Communities Beg for Rock Wall
By Eric Opa Doue with New Narratives BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa – Forty years ago Atlantic Street was one of this port city’s busiest streets, humming with stores and chop shops. Today it is almost deserted. The encroaching shoreline has swallowed up structures and is threatening to take out the street itself. Bobby Gibson’s father used to run…
New Farming Approach is Luring Farmers Out of the Forest
As the changing climate impacts more and more people worldwide, there are renewed efforts to protect the planet’s forests. Trees soak up the carbon that is the worst factor in causing climate change. Liberia’s forest is one of the largest remaining. But millions of Liberians rely on the forest’s bounty for their survival. As the…
Can the Coastal Defense Project Save West Point?
Alex Weah had no clue that the sea would swallow up his home when he built his six bedroom house here. But the Community Youth Chairman and senior student at the United Methodist University watched helplessly in 2017 as the sea quickly overtook the house. “The sea was coming closer but we were thinking that…
Monrovia and Paynesville are Drowning in Plastic; One Company Tries to Help
MONROVIA – Waste plastic is becoming a scourge around the world but it is especially true here in Liberia’s capital city and its satellite sister, Paynesville. Discarded plastic is choking waterways, blocking drains, killing fish, and leaching harmful chemicals into the water and soil. By Tina S. Mehnpaine, with New Narratives With poor or limited waste management…
Former State Security Agent Gets 25 Years for Human Trafficking; Trafficker Claims a State Conspiracy
MONROVIA — A Monrovia court has sentenced Arthur Chan-Chan, a former agent of the National Security Agency, to 25 years in prison for human trafficking—the highest penalty yet for a convict of the crime in Liberia. The longest sentence until now was 20 years – following Liberia’s revision of the trafficking law making the minimum sentence…
Former National Security Officers Found Guilty of Human Trafficking in Landmark Trial
MONROVIA, Liberia – A former agent of the National Security Agency has been found guilty of human trafficking, becoming the first person with a direct link to the Liberian government to be convicted of the charge. Following a landmark trial ten of the twelve jurors in the case at Criminal Court “A” said they agreed…
Victims of Liberian Warlord Convicted in France Celebrate Verdict
After a nearly four-week trial in the Paris Court of Appeal Kamara was found guilty of torture, barbarism and complicity crimes against humanity this week and was sentenced to life in prison. As evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh reports for Okay FM and PrimeFM Kunti’s victims in Foya say the French court’s ruling is long overdue justice…