Monrovia – FrontPageAfrica has intercepted a communication under the signature of the Mayor of Monrovia, Jefferson Koijee, to the Country Manager of the World Bank in Liberia, Larisa Leshchenko, seeking Technical Assistance in the area of privatizing sanitation in Monrovia.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
“I present my compliments and would like to kindly request a Technical Assistance (TA) from the World Bank to assist the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) in developing terms and reference (TOR) and tender documents for the privatization of sanitation services in the municipality of Monrovia,” Major Koijee requested of the World Bank.
Though the MCC’s legal framework provides the City Corporation the right to hire private services to ensure optimum sanitation of the city, the letter to the World Bank squarely admits to the technical inability of the MCC to develop a set of requirements and applicable tender documents.
Mayor Koijee writes, “We are embarking on working with the private sector through a public-private partnership (PPP) to provide these services as a way of increasing our productivity and ensuring optimum sanitation of the city always. As you are aware, our procurement legal framework requires us to hire the services of private sector actors through open tender processes which is why the MCC needs to first develop a set of requirements and applicable tender documents.”
Already a Moroccan company is eyeing a massive waste management contract with the Monrovia City Corporation and has begun lobbying in that regard.
It can be recalled that sometime in May this year, Mayor Koijee was invited by the Moroccan Ozone Environment and Services to Moroccan to give him an impression of their services and equipment and how they could make an impact if given the chance to take up sanitation contract in Monrovia.
Also on the trip with Mayor Koijee were the Administrative Assistant Mahommed M. Bamba Jr, Director General for Internal Operations Cain Prince Andrews and Director of Central Region Solid Waste Department Fredrick Cole.
Upon their return, the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) issued a press release expressing strong gratitude to the company’s CEO for the gesture.
“The Monrovia City Corporation has commended the Chief Executive Officer of Ozone Environment and Services Company Aziz EL Badraoui for fully facilitating the recent trip of Mayor Jefferson T. Koijee and delegation to Morocco,” the release stated.
The MCC added in the release: “The CEO of Ozone Environment and Services Badraoui was praised by Mayor Koijee and his high power delegation for the high level hospitality shown them while in Morocco.”
“The CEO of Ozone Environment and Services, who is a great admirer and fanatic of President George M. Weah during Mayor Koijee and his Team’s visit, promised to work in supporting the Government of Liberia to achieve its desired goal geared towards improving the lives of the ordinary people.”
“Aziz EL Badraoui promised to continuously work with Mayor Jefferson T. Koijee to make his dream of maintaining a “ green, clean, and safe” Monrovia come to realization.”
Conflict of Interest?
Answering to an inquiry from FrontPageAfrica, Pekeleh Guapaye, Media Relations Officer at the MCC, said the gesture extended to the City Mayor is no form of inducement, though the company is seeking contract with the MCC.
“That is not a conflict of interest because they invited Mayor Koijee and the team to go and assess their equipment and other things and they’re going to fully fund it. Mayor Koijee never had the plan to go to Morocco, but because they invited him he decided to respond to their invitation and they said they were going to fully take care of everything,” he said.
Guapaye contended that the trip would have constituted conflict of interest if it were the Mayor, who had requested the trip.
Ozone Environment Comes to Monrovia
Just a week after the Mayor’s visit to Morocco, a high-power delegation from Ozone Environment and Service Company arrived in Liberia on an assessment tour.
They arrived in the country on Monday. Their visit to Liberia, according to reports, is to further buttress Mayor Koijee and the MCC’s effort to maintain a clean, green and safe Monrovia.
The delegation, which comprised technicians and solid waste experts, who would do an assessment of the entire city and draw a methodology in line with the Monrovia City Corporation’s solid waste management to tackle garbage.
Mayor Koijee had continuously said garbage is an enemy which needs collection approach to fight it. He has since declared war on garbage.
FrontPageAfrica could not find record of Ozone Environment and Services Group’s involvement in waste management in any country either than Morocco.