Monrovia – The Plenary of the House of Representatives has mandated its Joint Committee on Ways, Means and Finance and Public Works to work with the Ministries of Justice and Commerce to find an amicable solution in collecting US$24.1 million petroleum importers owed the government.
Report by Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) are also included in the exercise.
The House took the decision in its 41st day sitting of the 54th Legislature following the appearance of the Ministers of Justice and Commerce, Cllr. Frank Musah Dean and Prof. Wilson Tarpeh, respectively along with LRA’s Deputy Commissioner-General, Decontee King-Sackie.
They were summoned by plenary to provide reasons why some petroleum importers and the LPRC have not yet live up to their promise to pay the US$24.1 million owed government from road fund tax collected on behalf of the government.
The government taxes US$.30 per gallon of gasoline, fuel or jet fuel.
However, following sustained deliberations, an amicable solution could not be reached; something that led plenary to vote in favor of a motion mandating its Committee on Ways, Means and Finance to work with the above mentioned ministries and agencies to, among other things to clearly state how much each importer owes and work out an amicable payment plan to report next sitting.
What Was Said?
According to Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean, payment of the arrears of US$24.1million were accrued during the imposition of the stay order on the payment of the fund by the Supreme Court between August 14, 2017, and June 30, 2018.
Prior to that, he said the funds were collected by the LPRC from the importers and delivered to the LRA.
However, following the lifting of the ban, the Legislature mandated the LRA to be the sole collector of the road fund and as of July 1, 2018, there has been no arrears.
Although the arrears were accumulated over a little over a 10-month period, he said the government has entered into an agreement with the importers to complete the payment over a seven-year period, with importers with huge debt paying US$1 million per year.
This angered most of the lawmakers as they argued that duration for payment was far too long; amid the rapidly declining economy.
However, Minister Dean stated that because of the economic stress that’s is being felt by all sectors, and to keep the importers’ business running to be able to pay current fees, the agreement was a bit flexible, adding: “We don’t want to kill the cow to stop producing the milk. We want to keep the cow alive to keep producing the milk.”
LRA’s Deputy Commissioner-General, Decontee King-Sackie revealed of the projected US$31 million to be collected from road fund tax in Fiscal Year 2019/2020, the LRA has collected US$22.2 million; while US$1.8 million has been collected from the road fund arrears.
According to her, there has been no arrear for FY 2019/2020 as all money has been collected.
Giving detail information on a possible fund that is expected to be generated from petroleum over the next 12 months, Commerce Minister, Prof. Wilson Tarpeh put the figure at US$29.4 million.
He said there are 14 petroleum companies in Liberia currently, and of that number, gasoline import will amount to 12, 857 metric ton, generating US$15.3million, fuel is 9,712 metric ton generating US$10.2 million and Jet fuel bringing in US$3.8 million.
Following sustained deliberations and queries, plenary voted in favor of a motion proffered by Rep. Dixon W. Seiboe (Montserrado Dist. #16), calling on the Committees on Ways, Means and Finance and Development Planning and Public works to further investigate and report within one week.