MONROVIA – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) approved the export of 797 logs, valued at an estimated US$923,441, despite being aware that over half of the timber had been illegally harvested. The illegal shipment was one of the first acts of Managing Director Rudolph Merab—a serial logging offender—since he became the unlikely head of the forestry regulator.  

By James Harding Giahyue, with The DayLight  

The export permit and a National Port Authority reconciliation report show that West Water Group (Liberia) Inc., which operates in Grand Bassa and Nimba Counties, owns the shipment.  Merab had approved the export barely two weeks after his appointment in February, according to the permit.

The 4,702.679 cubic meters of logs were loaded onto M/V Tropical Star, a ship flying under the Malaysian flag. The vessel departed the Port of Buchanan on March 16 bound for China. Marine Traffic, which provides information on the movement of ships,  reports that the ship is due in China on May 16.  Wenzhou Timber Group Co. Ltd, the Chinese state-owned firm that deals in timber and other trades, bought the consignment, according to the permit.  

But an analysis of the consignment FDA’s computer system generated by, obtained by The DayLight, identified 401 logs, or 50.3 percent of the consignment as illegal logs.  The LiberTrace system tracks logs from their origin to their final destination. Programmed automatically to flag noncompliance, it is a crucial part of forestry reform following years of corruption and mismanagement. SGS, a Swiss verification firm, created LiberTrace in 2014 and turned it over to the FDA five years later.

A document from the FDA’s legality verification department (LVD) provides a peep into how Merab approved the export. It reveals Gertrude Nyaley, the Deputy Managing Director for Operations, who headed LVD at the time, endorsed the export.

“[Managing Director Merab], please approve [West Water’s export permit] as per the analysis and payment made,” Nyaley wrote to Merab.

Nyaley appeared to have skipped the red flags LiberTrace raised. “Out of the 797 logs, 50 percent are traceable with red label because of diameter [issues]. Two percent is also traceable relating to species. And 48 percent over tolerance,” Nyaley added.   

On the contrary, the analysis shows that the FDA had not authorized the harvest of some of the logs. Others were either immature, originated from different sources or had other issues, violating several forestry statutes.

‘Vulnerable’

The FDA had not approved the harvesting of 180 of the 401 problematic logs, according to the Liber Trace analysis. 

Of that 180, 160 logs were ekki wood (Lophira alata) that did not meet the legal diameter ekki wood is listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a UN-recognized body that promotes sustainable use of natural resources. The DayLight manually verified the permit that details each of the logs exported. Some even measured 60 centimeters, 20 centimeters less than the required dimension, known in forestry as the diameter cut limit.

No penalties

Approving the West Water shipment shows Merab, an outspoken critic of forestry regulations, ignored various legal frameworks, and the violations LiberTrace flagged. The main function of LiberTrace is to keep illegal logs from the FDA’s chain of custody system, which covers everything from harvest to export. That, in turn, rids national and international markets of illegal timber and timber products.

Unauthorized harvesting, cutting smaller trees,  and false declaration of tree species all carry a fine or a penalty.  Unauthorized harvesting, for instance, carries a fine of twice the value of the species of logs unauthorizedly felled, under the Regulation on Confiscated Logs, Timber and Timber Products. Mr. Huiwen, West Water’s owner, did not respond to email and WhatsApp queries for comments.

SGS, which comanages LiberTrace alongside the FDA, reviewed the permit but did not disapprove it. 

Theodore Aime Nna, SGS’ forestry project manager, did not return questions for comments on this story. Nna said he was “not currently around” and would be available in 18 days for an interview. Nna, who took a swipe at The DayLight in two immediate emails, did not reply to the newspaper even 21 days thereafter.  

‘Major traceability errors’

In his response to The DayLight’s queries on Wednesday, Merab said the red flags LiberTrace raised did not “automatically point to traceability or legality issues,” and were, in fact, “normal occurrences.”

Merab said the 12 logs that were different from the one declared during inventory might have been mistaken. “The logs recorded in that specific export permit are consistent with the approved physical logs,” he said, without any evidence.

On undersized logs, Merab suggested that the logs LiberTrace red-flagged in this category were based on tree inventory data, not the ones that were felled or in West Water’s log yard.

This likely mix-up is commonplace in forestry. However, the details of the logs on the export permit do not support Merab’s explanation. The document repeats the very things LiberTrace identified as a warning or an error. If the log data had been verified as Merab claimed, the changes would have been reflected on the permit’s spec.

Merab offered another broad, textbook justification for the ekki logs LiberTrace picked up as immature.

“This happens because logs have a conic shape with a bottom diameter higher than the top diameter. In the case of a crosscut of that log, the diameter and the length will reduce mainly at the top part of the initial log. Again, these are normal occurrences,” he said.

What Merab referenced is called the diameter at breast height cutting limit or DCL in the Guidelines for Forestry Management Planning. But it only measures a standing tree’s trunk or the tree butt end, not the top end or a crosscut log. It is measured at the height of an adult’s breasts.

Furthermore, the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) which writes the bible for the global wood trade describes ekki logs as cylindrical, not conical.   

Merab sidestepped the question regarding the FDA’s disapproval of the felling of a significant amount of West Water’s logs.  

But, remarkably, The DayLight obtained a LiberTrace screenshot detailing the history of the status of the export permit. It reveals that the FDA approved the export permit less than 48 hours after LiberTrace identified the “major traceability errors.” For an agency perennially plagued by financial, logistical and manpower constraints, that was too short a time to correct hundreds of legality issues surrounding the consignment.

A Serial Forestry Offender  

The West Water illegal export has added to Merab’s profile as a serial forestry offender.

His last known illegality was his participation in the infamous Private Use Permit Scandal in which his company Bopolu Development Corporation (BODECO) was illegally awarded 90,527 hectares of forest in Gbarpolu in the 2010s.

Before that, Merab traded “blood timber” alongside former President Charles Taylor, which fueled death and destruction in the Mano River basin between the 1990s and early 2000s, according to British NGO Global Witness.

The Regulation on Bidder Qualifications partially debars Merab and other wartime loggers from conducting forestry activities in Liberia, except if they meet special requirements. It, however, is unclear whether the regulation blocks Merab from heading the FDA.

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a series on the Forestry Development Authority’s approval of illegal timber exports.  

[Gerald Koinyeneh of FrontPage Africa and our editor-at-large Emmanuel Sherman contributed to this report]

To get the estimated value of logs, The DayLight multiplied the total volume of each species of logs in the consignment by the FDA-approved price and summed up the products.

The story was originally published in The DayLight and has been republished here by permission.

Monrovia – Booked in another smelly Global Witness Report, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, J. Alex Tyler and some of his cohorts in the House of Representatives have been named as owners of logging companies that have lied, cheated and stolen from the Liberian people through illegal logging activities.

Report by Lennart Dodoo – ldodoo@frontpageafricaonline.com

“All of Liberia’s large logging contracts are fundamentally illegal, a fact that if not addressed immediately could undermine the important work being undertaken by the government and its partners to ensure Liberia’s forests do not again fuel conflict and corruption.

“Global Witness has collected evidence demonstrating that logging companies are illegally owned or controlled by politicians such as House of Representatives members Alex Tyler, Moses Kollie, and Ricks Toweh” – Global Witness (Full report)

There are evidence, according to the new report – Holding The Line – that the companies behind four of Liberia’s logging contracts are illegally owned or controlled by Liberian legislators or members of their families.

“All of Liberia’s large logging contracts are fundamentally illegal, a fact that if not addressed immediately could undermine the important work being undertaken by the government and its partners to ensure Liberia’s forests do not again fuel conflict and corruption.

“Global Witness has collected evidence demonstrating that logging companies are illegally owned or controlled by politicians such as House of Representatives members Alex Tyler, Moses Kollie, and Ricks Toweh,” the Global Witness

One of such companies, according to the report, is the International Consultants Capital (ICC) which is partly-owned by Representatives Moses Kollie and Tyler.

Tyler, the report said, denied being a shareholder in the company, despite the 2007 Articles of Incorporation of the company shows Tyler as a 15 percent shareholder of ICC, while Rep. Kollie owns 6 percent shares.

“Other company documents show that Liberian Tree & Trading Co. is controlled by the wife of Representative Ricks Toweh.

Additionally, real ownership information for companies behind six contracts – including those owned or controlled by Representatives Toweh, Kollie, and Tyler – was not reported to LEITI as required when the agency was compiling its 2015 Beneficial Ownership Report,” the report noted.

LEITI is the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative which is a global coalition of governments, companies and civil society working together to improve transparency and accountability in the management of revenues from natural resources.

The six illegally awarded contracts include: FMCA which was awarded to Alpha Logging and Wood Processing, Inc. in a bidding process believed to be flawed with violations of the Forestry Development Authority Regulations.

FMC B: Contract awarded to EJ&J Investment Corp. EJ&J is operated by Mandra Forestry Liberia Ltd. (Mandra), according to the Global Witness.

“In 2008, Companies bidding for FMC B (and FMC A and FMC C) came to an agreement with two FDA officials that the final contract payment terms would be changed so as to reduce the companies’ financial obligations to the government by 96 percent.

Following their approval by the FDA Board but prior to being signed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the terms of these FMC contracts were changed in line with this agreement.

It is possible that EJJ was one of the companies negotiating this agreement as subsequent changes to financial obligations were made to EJJ FMC B. Such a deal was illegal as only a committee appointed by the Inter Ministerial Concessions Committee can negotiate a logging contract,” Global Witness.

FMC C: Contract Awarded To Liberia Tree & Trading Company, Inc. operated By Mandra Forestry Liberia Ltd. (Mandra). As of April 2012, Nyunyn Toweh – wife of Representative Ricks Toweh – was Acting President of LTTC, and as of August 2016 remained the company’s main point of contact.

As early as 2008 and possibly as late as March 2012, LTTC was headed by Representative Ricks Toweh himself. Representative Toweh took his seat in the Liberian Legislature in January 2012.

LTTC was awarded FMC C in 2008. It is illegal for Liberian Legislators or their family members to hold logging contracts.

Contract FMC F awarded to Euro-Liberia Logging Co. (Euro) – in 2015, logging companies were required to provide LEITI with a list of their ultimate, or “beneficial” owners. Euro failed to provide such a report to LEITI.

Contract FMC I was awarded to Geblo Logging INC. (GEBLO) operated by Plant Pool Liberia Inc.

As of November 2016, Geblo owed the Liberian government US$ 4,387,070 in rental fees and arrears from previously-unpaid fees for FMC I. The company has consistently failed to pay its financial obligations since it was first awarded its contract, in 2009.

International Consultant Capital (ICC) operated by Forest Venture Inc. was awarded FMC K. This contract was awarded to the company despite members of the House of Representatives were listed as shareholders in its Articles of Incorporation.

Atlantic Resources Liberia (ARL) was awarded contract FMC P, despite in 2009, the company colluded with a second company – Southeast Resources, which shares management and finances with ARL – to bid for an FMC contract. Both companies submitted their bids for the contract in the same envelope.

CFMA 1 license was awarded to Neezonnie-Gbao Community; sub-contracted to A & M Enterprises Inc. and operated by Liberian Hardwood Corp. 

The Community Forestry Management Body (CFMB) did not prepare the CFMA. The CFMA was signed in August 2011, but the CFMB was not created until May 2013, 20 months later. A CFMA is invalid if it is not prepared by a CFMB.

CFMA 2: License awarded To Blouquia Community; Sub-Contracted to A&M Enterprises Inc. (AM).

CFMA 3: License awarded To Bluyeama Community; Sub-Contracted to Sing Africa Plantations Liberia Inc. (Sing).

The CFMB did not prepare the CFMA. The CFMA was signed in January 2012, but the CFMB was not created until March 2012, two months later.107 A CFMA is invalid if it is not prepared by a CFMB.

Key Findings in the Report

Companies are hiding their owners. In an effort to root out corrupt deals, the Liberian government requires logging companies to declare their real, or “beneficial,” owners.

However, in 2015 when the government demanded this information, the companies behind half of Liberia’s logging contracts ignored the demand: five failed to provide the government with any information, while one company filed incorrect data, hiding that it is actually owned by powerful politicians.

Companies are failing to pay their taxes, currently owing an immense US$25 million to the cash-strapped Liberian government, which if paid would amount to nearly five percent of Liberia’s entire budget. 

Companies have illegally-manipulated their logging data on a massive scale, concealing how many trees they are actually felling.

Companies are co-opting community forest licenses – government permits designed help rural people manage their forests.

Evidence shows that five large community licenses have been awarded illegally, with companies encouraging people who do not represent communities to obtain licenses for large forests without first doing necessary mapping and socio-economic surveys.

Liberia is home to 40 percent of West Africa’s best remaining forest, the Upper Guinean Rainforest. During Liberia’s civil war, which ended in 2003, logging companies propped up the regime of Charles Taylor and trafficked arms.  

Following the war, Liberia and its partners – including the EU, Norway, the US, and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative – worked to reform the sector.

These reforms have resulted in both better laws and increased government capacity, but also in new logging licenses covering ten percent of the country,  

“Liberia’s forest reform programmes have been good for the country and should be supported,” said Gant.

“But the Liberian government and international donors must also face up to the fact that big logging companies are corrupting Liberia in a way which threatens to unravel progress on the country’s hard-fought gains.”    

Hold the Line also describes how Liberia and its partners can confront illegal logging companies and ensure that their reform programs work. Key among these recommendations are: 

EU, which has signed a treaty with Liberia promoting trade in legal timber called a Voluntary Partnership Agreement, should make clear it will not allow timber from Liberia’s current large contracts into Europe.

Norway, which has signed a US$ 150 million deal with Liberia promoting community forestry and conservation, should ensure Liberia investigates and cancels illegal contracts as the country promised in the deal.

The Liberian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which requires natural resource companies to declare their real, or “beneficial,” owners, should penalize companies that have failed to report or reported incorrect ownership information.

Monrovia – Green Advocate’s Alfred Brownell claims to be in hiding for his safety as the Government of Liberia, according to him, has been pursuing him to have him arrested due to his refusal to assist the government’s prosecution team.

Legal pundits have told the FrontPageAfrica that Brownell’s failure to show up for the deposition may be either due to he being tampered with by Gus Van Kouwenhoven or he might have provided false information to the Government of The Kingdom of Netherlands.

However, documents obtained by the FrontPage Africa reveals that Atty. Brownell after assisting the Government of the Kingdom of Netherlands obtain statements and affidavits on the operations of Gus Van Kouwenhoven his Oriental Timber Company in Liberia (OTC), refused to give deposition before the court despite a Writ of Subpoena.

Brownell and his Green Advocates in 2004 assisted the Government of the Kingdom of Netherland to obtain statements and affidavit on the operations of OTC which was ran by businessman Gus Van Kouwenhoven.

Kouwenhoven was convicted in 2006 by the Netherlands for allegedly selling weapons to former President Charles Taylor’s government from 2001 to 2003 in exchange for logging rights.

The weapons he allegedly smuggled were used by militias to commit atrocities against civilians during the Liberian civil war.

In pursuant of the case, the Kingdom of Netherlands in 2004 worked with some civil society organizations including Green Advocates which helped the Netherlands obtain statements from individuals who, in some way, worked for the Dutch businessman or were in the know of his operations in Liberia.

In 2011, in accordance with the Mutually Agreed Legal Assistance Treaty between the Governments of Liberia and the Kingdom of Netherlands, Netherlands requested the Liberian Government to assist with deposition (testimonies taken from local witnesses in a local court for a foreign country).

The depositions were to be taken from people who provided statements and affidavits to Green Advocates in 2004 in relation to the operations of OTC and its owner.

The Ministry Justice which posed no objection to the Netherlands’ request petitioned Criminal Court “A” in 2012 to allow the taking of deposition which, according to them, would be done in strict compliance of the laws of Liberia.

In that regard, the Court granted the petition and three persons testified to previous statements before the court in the presence the prosecution and defense teams from Netherlands and before a Dutch Magistrate here in Liberia.

However, the Dutch lawyers and magistrate could not directly examine or cross examine the witnesses in court as it is against the laws of Liberia for aliens to practice in Liberia. They, therefore, worked through prosecutors from the Ministry of Justice while the Dutch businessman was locally represented by Pierre, Tweh & Associates.

In 2013 the Kingdom of Netherlands requested another deposition based on the list of persons Brownell’s team had already spoken with in 2004. Such was granted by the court.

Documents in FrontPage Africa’s possession reveals in pursuant of the case the Dutch government recently requested deposition from 14 Liberians including Atty. Brownell and Cllr. Hilton Powo. Cllr. Powo in 2004 worked with Green Advocates and was part of the team taking statements from individuals who were believed to have had some contact with OTC.

Sources within the Ministry of Justice told FrontPage Africa that some of the persons who could be contacted including Cllr. Powo gave their depositions in the presence of Dutch Magistrate, prosecution and defense lawyers. Powo appeared before the court on October 27, 2016.

The court was presided over by Magistrate Nelson B. Chineh. Government lawyers presented the Kingdom of Netherlands while Kouwenhoven was represented by Pierre, Tweh & Associates. The prosecution’s questions were asked through the Government of Liberia’s lawyers in line with laws of Liberia.

However, Brownell who led the process of statement collection in 2004 did not only refuse to show up in court, but also refused to receive a Writ of Subpoena issued by the court. As a result, the court issued a Writ of Arrest for Criminal Contempt of Court against Brownell.

According to the court, Brownell’s action obstructed court’s precepts.

Reasons for Brownell’s refusal to collaborate with the court remains unknown even though he had worked with the Kingdom of Netherlands in gathering initial pieces of evidence.

Legal pundits have told the FrontPageAfrica that Brownell’s failure to show up for the deposition may be either due to he being tampered with by Gus Van Kouwenhoven or he might have provided false information to the Government of The Kingdom of Netherlands.

“What is he running away from when he was the very one who helped the Kingdom of Netherlands obtain all these affidavits for which they’re now seeking deposition?” a lawyer who preferred not being named asked rhetorically.

The special court sitting was decommissioned last Friday, November 4, and the Writ of Arrest issued on Brownell was quashed.

Brownell Crying Wolf

A team of plain clothes policemen stormed Brownell’s office on McDonald Street in an attempt to arrest him.

They threatened to arrest other staff members when he was not found in the office. Green Advocates International offices have been closed, while members of its staff have also gone into hiding, a former aide to Brownell, Alloycious David said.

David said three weeks ago, a government lawyer contacted Cllr. Brownell by phone, asking him to join a team of government lawyers in supporting a case against Gus Van Kouwenhoven, the former head of the Oriental Timber Company working in Liberia during the regime of former President Charles Taylor.

David quoted Brownell as saying that he refused the request on ground that the that they had been “terrorizing my community’s clients all over Liberia, including threats, harassments and intimidations against me personally relating to my work in the last five years.

“As far as I am concerned, that conversation was closed. Besides, I had serious security concerns because I also knew that this government lawyer (Samuel Jacobs) was a former intelligence officer in former Charles Taylor Police serving under the Criminal Investigation Division (CID),” David quoted Cllr. Brownell as saying.

Brownell, through his staff, claimed that he had received intelligence that there were plans to arrest him and his families due to his refusal to collaborate with the Government of Liberia.

But authorities at the Ministry of Justice told FrontPageAfrica that the Government of Liberia had no case against Brownell and that the Writ of Arrest had already expired.

They wondered by Brownell failed to show up to corroborate pieces of evidence and affidavits he submitted to the Kingdom of Netherlands.

Who is Gus Van Kouwenhoven?

Guus Kouwenhoven is a Dutch businessman who worked in Liberia during the presidency of Charles Taylor.

The United Nations issued an order in 2001 banning him from traveling because of arms trafficking. Kouwenhoven was arrested in the Netherlands on March 18, 2005 and stood trial at the Court of First Instance in The Hague, starting April 24, 2006.

The court tried to summon Charles Taylor to testify against Kouwenhoven. Kouwenhoven was charged with arms smuggling and war crimes in Liberia in the 90s, for which the Dutch public prosecutors sought a 20-year jail sentence and a fine of €450,000 against Kouwenhoven.

On June 7, 2006 Kouwenhoven was sentenced to 8 years in jail for arms smuggling. The court did not find him to be guilty of war crimes.

Both the public prosecutors and Kouwenhoven have sought a higher court appeal. Kouwenhoven was released in March 2007 in anticipation of his new trial.

The Court of Appeal in The Hague acquitted him March 10, 2008 of all charges and sharply criticized the work of the prosecution.

The prosecution appealed the acquittal to the Dutch Supreme Court at March 20, 2008. In April 2010 the Supreme Court ordered a re-trial at the court in Den Bosch.

In November 2014, the court in Den Bosch was to hear arguments for dismissal as there were no witnesses available to testify.

Report by Lennart Dodoo|777 788 805/886 334065|dodoolennart@gmail.com