By E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor
If the Executive Branch of the Government of Liberia thought proffering a US$59.5 million loan agreement would have excited the Legislature, it was wrong probably wrong. The deal now seems unlikely as the House of Representatives are playing blind eye and not discussing it, let alone pass it.
The lawmakers are currently on the Independence Day holiday break and upon their returned this week. Many of the representatives are seeking re-election and will close their offices at the Capitol Building to campaign. They are expected to return to the Capitol January of next year.
The Liberian government had sent the loan agreement to the legislature for ratification. Members of the Liberian Senate without delay passed the document and forwarded it to the House of Representatives for possible concurrence, but some members of the House are reportedly resisting the passage.
The loan agreement passed the House last week, but it is currently shelved in the office of the Chief Clerk of the lower House of parliament.
The loan agreement came from the president’s desk was requesting the Liberian Legislature to ratify it for pre-financing loan in the amount of US$59.5 million for the pavement of roads.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in a two-page document said that this loan is meant to pave a 24.5ksilometer road from Clay to DC Clark in Bomi County and another 51 kilometer neighborhood road in Monrovia and its environs.
According to the agreement, if East International Group defects on its obligation(s), the question that has arose is who pays back this astronomical loan or offset this liability in seven years? Many Liberians are wondering as how can trust East International be trusted when it was recently shut down by Liberian Regulatory Agency -LRA – for evading taxes, although the company was served a 30-day assessment notice (warning) in line with section 1042(d) and section 70 of Liberia Revenue Code and LRA regulations, these questions raised by some lawmakers but did not comply.
Observers believe that the US$59.5 million Loan Agreement is a bad deal due to its selective and skeptical nature. “It unravels high risk of losses for Liberia and puts East International Group in a gainful and profiteering parameter,” some said.
According some analysts, the deal discourages local dominance of our economy and promotes foreign control, which has a downward impact on growth and development. Additionally, this deal is an unpatriotic attempt to sideline Liberian-owned companies and render them vulnerably inactive and worthless. And this is deal disfigures the true essence of the Liberianization Policy and contradicts Section 45.1 of our Public Procurement Concession Commission Law.
