Carbon Fraud in Liberia: Several Officials Named

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Published 02nd November 2010 - 0 comments - 1213 views -

Liberia, with its rich forest, seems to be attracting a lot of foreign investors, some with motives not in conformity with Liberia’s new forestry reform laws. A British national, Michael Foster of Carbon Harvesting Corporation (CHC) who was arrested for fraud and misrepresentation, had been granted allocation of 400,000 hectares of forest by Liberia’s Forestry Development Authority for harvesting carbon credits.

On June 18, 2010, a Special Presidential Committee was constituted by the president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, headed by Counselor T. Negbalee Warner to investigate the report by Global Witness.

Meanwhile, Counselor Warner’s committee recently on October 5^th submitted his report with findings and recommendations. These included investigation and prosecution of some prominent government officials. The report further recommended the immediate dismissal of Mr. Augustine Johnson, Manager of Geo Information Services (GIS) at the Forestry Development Authority; Mr. Joseph Neufville, Technical Advisor; and Mrs. Peggy Varflay Meres, Executive Director of the Public Procurement and Concession Commission, and forwards them to the Ministry of Justice for further investigation and possible prosecution as recommended by the report. Also included on the list for investigation were former Managing Director of Forestry Development Authority, Mr. John Woods and former Internal Affairs Minister, Mr. Ambulliah Johnson, and the report requested that the Minister of Planning & Economic Affairs, Mr. Amara Konneh, be reprimanded for failure to exercise due diligence by issuance of a blanket Concession Certificate covering Forest Management Contracts. This is consistent with the recommendation of the report. Another recommendation from the Warner’s committee was to direct the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice to start the process for extradition of Mr. Michael Foster of Carbon Harvesting Corporation (CHC) of the United Kingdom and Mr. George Antwi, Agent for CHC in Liberia, for prosecution under the bribery laws of Liberia.

The report has since been circulated in public, but denials have continued to come from the alleged actors.

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About the author

Saki Golafale
Liberia
Student

I was born in Liberia, where I have lived throughout. I graduated from high school in 2002 and enrolled at the University of Liberia in 2004. I am now a prospective graduate anticipating a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. My activities are mainly environment and climate change. I lead a youth group in my community called WOCYMES (www.wocymes09.blogspot.com). I have been blogging for Ceasefire Liberia (www.ceasefirelberia.com) for over a year and my stories are centered on environmental issues and a few about daily life in Monrovia. In 2009 I led the UN Seal the deal Campaign in my community which brought together young climate activists to encourage world leaders to commit themselves to the COP 15 climate change conference. I am also a volunteer for Action Against Climate Change, a local advocacy group in Monrovia. My specific interest is in assessing climate change adaptation (from REDD perspective) and vulnerability among forest dependent population.

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