-Claim AML publicity misleads the public
By: Shallon S. Gonlor
AML, NIMBA CO. — Citizens and residents of Yar Mehn, Zor, and Sehyi Clans in Nimba County Districts 2&3 have refuted and strongly reacted to ArcelorMitta-Liberia’s claim that it has initiated key developments in the mine-affected communities.
This followed an airing of jingles on several local radio stations in Nimba, claiming that as a company, it had made necessary development interventions, where applicable in its affected communities, thus forming part of its community relations, social, and corporate responsibilities.
In the radio jungles, the company named the rehabilitation of farm-to-market roads and, the construction of hand pumps for safe drinking water and healthcare facilities as major interventions work in Yar Mehn, Zor, and Sehyi Clans respectively.
But, speaking to our reporter, citizens, and residents of Lugbehyee, Camp 4, Kanla Towns, and other mine-affected communities condemned and blasted ArcelorMitta-Liberia for misleading the public, terming the information as brunch of ‘lies’ intended to make a good name, noting that AML has never undertaken such developments in their communities as being advertised in the local media.
The citizens intoned, alarmed AML’s poor working relationship in their communities and its deliberate refusal to improve the livelihood of the mine communities and better the living conditions of the ordinary people through employment, mostly for unskilled citizens.
Highlighting bad road conditions, the lack of safe drinking water, healthcare facilities, and unemployment are among numerous extreme life-threatening challenges facing them under the company.
Speaking over the weekend, residents and citizens of Yar Mehn, Zor, and Sehyi Clans noted that AML is operating far from what is put on the paper, stating its refusal to deliver on the MDA signed to benefit the communities.
“Our livelihoods here are threatened. Since 2005 this company, AML has been operating in our farmland, taking millions and billions of iron ore from our mountain we are still yet to get concrete benefits. Today, no good road, no good school for our children, and no good healthcare center. Our children and pregnant women are dying” community dwellers said.
They further said, “We are calling on ArcelorMittal to do the needful as we don’t want to get mad at them again. Our roads are very deliberate, posing a serious threat to our lives and free movement”.
According to them, pregnant women, children, and older people are facing serious life-threatening health complications due to ArcelorMittal Liberia’s alleged violation of their rights to provide them access to good roads, safe drinking water, and healthcare centers in line with the MDA, adding that yet their specific needs have been largely neglected.
However, the aggrieved citizens are demanding the government to halt ArcelorMittal-Liberia’s operation in their communities and the controversial expansion agreement.
A few months ago, the Government of Liberia and ArcelorMittalsigned another Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) amendment, extending the company’s mining and logistics operations in the country.
The amended MDA coming into effect, ArcelorMittal-Liberia agreed to significantly ramp up production of premium iron ore, generating significant new jobs and wider economic benefits for Liberia including the concession communities of Yah Mehn, Zor, and Sehyi Clans in Nimba County Districts 3&2 respectively.
The expansion project which encompasses processing, rail, and port facilities is believed to be one of the largest mining projects in West Africa.
The expansion project includes the construction of a new concentration plant and the substantial expansion of mining operations in Nimba County, with the first concentration plant work ongoing in Zorlowee Town, Yah Mehn Administrative District.
Meanwhile, citizens and residents of the affected communities in the operational areas are decrying the poor living conditions of citizens, lack of adequate health facilities, safe drinking water, schools, and job opportunities among other things.
Thus calling on the Administration of President Joseph N. Boakai to put an end to the additional expansion agreement entered into by Former Liberia President George Weah on grounds that AML has not done enough to impact their livelihood in giving them a well-deserved life from the huge extraction of resources from their farmlands.
In Nimba County, especially in ArcelorMittal Liberia operation areas in Yar Mehn, Zor, and Sehyi Clans, citizens of the affected communities continue to speak to the enormous challenges they go through daily.
Despite the areas being highly natural resource centers, according to them, life has become so difficult for them to easily survive as the result of high economic, reaching a height at which many of them have turned to beggars while others are dying from hunger and common sicknesses due to the lack of drugs and finance to attend to their needs.
EXPERT WARNS OF SERIOUS HEALTH IMPACTS
Mary Lah, a Trained Traditional Midwife (TTM) in LugbehyeeTown, Nimba County District #3 has disclosed that bad roads in the area delay hospital rush with pregnant women, thus causing birth complications.
She added further that the risks are even higher when ambulances and private vehicles no longer enter the town to transport pregnant women to the hospital in Sanniquellie.
“In Lugbehyee, I am the TTM. A caregiver for pregnant women until birth. Whenever they are ready to give birth I will take them to the clinic. But in the case where the clinic here is unable due to birth complications I can rush them to the hospital in Sanniquellie” she stated.
She stressed that due to poor road conditions, pregnant women are at risk of potentially serious birth complications, including abnormal abortion and very heavy bleeding.
“Because of our road challenges, ambulances or private vehicles no longer have access to the town, So, I mostly transport pregnant women on a commercial motorbike, riding on the deplorable roads to reach the hospital in Sanniquellie” TTM Mary Lah asserted.
According to her, on numerous occasions, pregnant women have become victims of traumatic injury, and birth complications during pregnancy due to childbirth, something she said is under pain by the bad road conditions under the watch of ArcelorMittal Liberia.
“I who speaking as TTM, more than five to six times I have sat on a motorbike with pregnant women in pain to go to hospital in Sanniquellie”.
Witnessed by several people on the highway, Ma. Mary Lahexpressed great concern over the extreme life-threatening bad road conditions facing commuters including pregnant women in the area.
“I can’t stress enough how dire the situation is and how desperately we need government and humanitarian aid interventions,” said Lugbehyee TTM.
She further noted that many times pregnant women have been forced to give birth on highways in such harmful conditions with no medical supplies, thus risking life-threatening complications without access to delivery and emergency care services.
TTM, Mary Lah concluded by saying “As a health worker and since I started experiencing these challenges, I have been living in constant fear for the safety and livelihood of pregnant women in the community. At the same time, I am not able to leave behind my commitment to providing women with health services due to present constraints. I have seen and stood with women having a miscarriage due to the poorly maintained road conditions. All of which I am trying to assist but with such limited options and resources available and accessible.. I am afraid for their well-being and even for their lives”.
However, residents and citizens of the mine-affected communities including prominent sons and daughters of NimbaCounty are prevailing on President Joseph Boakai to exercise his ‘A R R E S T, agenda to revisit the operational permit granting ArcelorMittal 25 years of mining activity, something according to them is at the country detriment.
Additionally, the company continues violating mining laws especially the environmental law which protects the community against releasing or discharging extremely harmful substances, causing serious damage to water resources and human health.
CONTAMINATED WATER SOURCES
At the same time, residents of Yekepa and other parts of ArcelorMittal’s concession areas in Nimba County Electoral District # 3 have heavily decried unsafe living conditions as the result of alleged contamination of drinking water sources by AML.
Residents in the concession areas of AML raised alarm over this issue in addition to the lack of electricity, healthcare delivery services, and other necessities.
Bendu Kormandin, a businesswoman told the media that they are living in Yekepa only by the grace of God, noting that the lack of safe drinking water, electricity, healthcare services, and other necessities continued to become dangerous for the majority of locals in the concessions communities.
“Only God oh, because our drinking water sources are being polluted with mining chemicals and waste products used by ArcelorMitta Liberia,” Kormandin said.
Noting that the situation has led to many people, including children contracting diseases as a result of unsafe drinking water being polluted by ArcelorMittal operations.
She said, drinking water sources are contaminated with the discharging of raw sewage, something according to her that has affected water sources, placing a dark cloud over their health and the environment.
Madam Kormandin contended that the largest foreign investor in Liberia only prioritized workers under her employ, and supplied them aqualife mineral water, electricity, and healthcare services, but has failed to provide ordinary people living in the concession communities safe drinking water, among other basic social services outside and forming part of the mineral agreement.
According to her, citizen risks a serious death toll due to ArcelorMittal’s alleged intentional and illegal pollution of water, contamination, or spoiling of water resources by releasing or discharging extremely harmful substances into creeks, rivers, and streams, causing serious damage to water resources.
Because of the situation, she said they are constrained to drink from such contaminated water resources which is their only alternative, adding that the lack of access to electricity, healthcare services, and other necessities is affecting their livelihood in Yekepa, home of World Steel giant company, ArcelorMittal.
She alleged that AML’s poor community development is a major contributing factor to their health problems in the community, noting that they do not have explicit confidence in the company to include fetching water, and the lack of a functional hand pump to attend to their homes matter.
While inflicting this atrocity, ArcelorMittal Liberia has over the years been sued and penalized for its practice of environmental pollution, including a recent fine.
In late 2021, Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fined ArcelorMittal over $110,000 for water pollution in its mining sector.
Before Liberia descended into civil war in 1990, Nimba was home to LAMCO, a Swedish-U.S. iron-mining company that was one of Liberia’s flagship foreign investments, bringing in a sizable chunk of the small country’s revenue for decades.
Now, the area where LAMCO once operated is under the control of another mining company, the international steel giant ArcelorMittal, which signed a 25-year deal with the Liberian government in 2005 is on another renewal for mining.
