J.H. Webster Clayeh
Africa-Press – Liberia. Dominic Nimely, National Chairman of the Patriotic Entrepreneurs of Liberia (PATEL) has stressed that President George Weah has abandoned Liberian own businesses despite his pronouncement of not letting Liberian own businesses be spectators in the Liberian economy.
Mr. Nimely is not the Chairman of (PATEL). He is the National Chairman of Commerce and Trade at the Liberia Business Association and President of Liberia Used Cars Dealership Association.
Speaking to journalists at the office in Monrovia, Nimely said they as Liberian own businesses have been marginalized after so many calls to both the President and the Legislature.
“I remember President Weah told us that we will not be spectators. Before President Weah made that statement, he understood that we have been spectators for the past 12 years, and the story needed to be changed,” Nimely said.
He added: “We met President Weah two different times after his inauguration in 2018. He gave an executive order but then his door has been shut in front of Liberian own businesses and we are not given the time to talk to the President.”
According to the National Chairman of the Patriotic Entrepreneurs of Liberia, after countless efforts over the years, the Legislature had not been able to address their plights.
He added: “When we take complaints to the Legislature who have the oversight responsibility -they don’t listen to us. When we take complaints against foreign companies like the APM Terminal, and foreign business nationals in our country and called them while we are being seated with the legislature, they don’t come.”
Nimely added: We have carried our documents to members of the Legislature, and share the documents from office to office. They read the documents with us and promised to put the documents on the floor for discussion but once we turn our back they will trash the documents.”
He continues: “If they don’t trash the documents they will not be friendly with those foreign business people. Because they will be doing the right thing and those foreign business people will cut off their friendship with them (Lawmakers). They prefer to be friends with foreign business people and not to do the right things.”
Nimely said his institution has written the government through the Legislature to provide a 50 million dollars loan for Liberian own businesses but to no avail.
“Some two years ago we put together a document that presidents of every sector in that document we were requesting that the government loan us 50 million dollars. Liberia is the only country in the world that on a twenty feet container you can find 20 to 25 persons on it -we call it groupage container,” he said.
Nimely also discloses that the Patriotic Entrepreneurs of Liberia before the end of the month will stage what he terms a peaceful protest at the ground of the Legislature to call the attention of their lawmakers.
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