MONROVIA — The Ministry of Public Works Monday restored the Western Cluster Road User Permit, which was suspended on May 3, 2024, following President Joseph Boakai’s expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which the company continued to destroy the road with their heavy-duty trucks.
By Selma Lomax, [email protected]
The restoration of the permit, however, is contingent on an agreement reached with the company to provide $200,000 for rehabilitation and expansion work on several parts of the road.
It can be recalled, President Boakai, during an inspection of a road rehabilitation project in Bomi, said the company has failed to honor its Mineral Development Agreement and he had personally informed the company through its legal team of a potential closure.
President Boakai warned that if the government didn’t close Western Cluster Mining Company down, Liberia would lose major bridges and it might be disastrous for the country. The Liberian leader said he will not tolerate such insensitivity by Western Cluster Mining Company in that part of the country.
“I just met the lawyer for Western Cluster this morning and I told him we’re going to close them down. Minister, let me tell you, if we don’t close Western Cluster down, we’ll lose those bridges and it’ll be disastrous… I went on the hill the last time, Western Cluster is not mining, they’re just taking our resources and we get no reward for it. I told him emphatically this morning that we’re going to close them down… If they want to invest further, then build a railway.”
However, in a June 5, 2024 communication addressed to Joseph Coeiho, Western Cluster’s chief executive, Public Works Minister, Roland Giddings, said the restoration of the Road User Permit is predicated upon the company’s compliance in providing 200,000 for the repairs of the road from Klay Junction to the St. Paul Bridge and the receipt of the assessment report to provide for the railway bridge parallel to the St. Paul Bridge.
The minister said the communication sent to the institution serves as an official notification to the effect that the Road User Permit (RUP- 220620-004) of the company, which was suspended on May 3, 2024, is restored.
Minister Giddings restored the permit under an agreed understanding and proviso that the institution widens road by 5 meters with 2.5 meters with a condition that they provide proof of contract provided if applicable.
The government told the mining company that the allowable tons per truck (including 30 tonnes payload and 15 tonnes for empty weight of truck) and total number of trucks should not exceed 125 trucks; and each truck should make at most two trips per day, which is equivalent to 250 trip per day; and with a pay load of 30 tonnes, the total number of weights per day must be 7,500 tonnes per month and 2.7 mega metric tonnes per annual (2.7MTPA).
Additionally, the Minister said the institution should install weighing bridge before Po River Bridge, at a point to be agreed upon between the ministry of public and the company.
The government instructed the company that in order to use the railway bridge parallel to the St. Paul River Bridge, the maximum load to be carried on the bridge should be 48 tons if the bridge is fully maintained, carry out concrete and steel tests on various components of the bridge, and rehabilitate and maintain the bridge.
Additionally, the government mandated to carry out underwater investigation every six month to confirm the integrity of substructure, and also requested that the damaged members of the steel rails be replaced, regular inspection of the structure must be carried out once every three months for maintenance purposes.
In January 2023, several citizens of Bomi County protested the movement of Western Cluster trucks moving iron ore through Tubmanburg City to the Freeport of Monrovia.
The citizens were provoked by what they said was a complete breach of the terms of the agreement between Western Cluster and the Government of Liberia, specifically the aspect that deals with the movement of iron ore by trucks, as well as the environmental risks, and the dangers posed by WC trucks moving unrestrictedly at any hour on the highway, thus making the Bomi-Montserrado corridor vulnerable to road accidents.
The citizens especially decried the company’s complete disregard for rehabilitating the damaged road, while their trucks continued to move iron ore uninterruptedly. They blamed Senator Edwin Snowe for presenting Western Cluster.
Western Cluster Limited is a subsidiary of Elenilto Minerals & Mining, an international mining and exploration group. The company’s holds exploration and mining licenses for several iron ore deposits in Liberia and its key projects the Bomi Hills Iron Ore Project: One of Western Cluster’s main projects, located in Bomi County where it’s carrying out exploration and feasibility studies. It also has the Mano River Iron Ore Project which is situated in Grand Cape Mount County.
