David A. Yates
Africa-Press – Liberia. Nimba County Senator Nya D. Twayen, Jr. has trained his sights on ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML), insisting that the company’s much-publicized “US$1.4 billion” concentrator project is a financial mirage designed to enrich the multinational giant while short-changing Liberia.
In a press conference at his Capitol Building office on Thursday, June 12, the Senator said the concentrator’s real cost is “believed by independent sources to be closer to US$550 million,” and he charged AML with inflating the figure to reduce its tax burden and avoid paying fair dividends to the Liberian people.
“As the current mineral developer in Nimba, it is my solemn duty to speak clearly and without fear about the glaring failure of ArcelorMittal to honor both the letter and spirit of its obligations under the MDA,” he declared, invoking a list of complaints that he says have simmered unresolved for years among Nimba residents living in and around the concession.
Twayen described the mining town of Yekepa as “dilapidated and lying in ruins,” a stark contrast to the company’s reported profits and its claimed US$1.4 billion infrastructure expansion. “Does it even make sense, even if the value was US$1.4 billion, to place such an investment in a forested area with no proper roads leading to it?” he asked rhetorically, arguing that AML’s capital spending narrative is out of step with the on-the-ground reality of poor housing and crumbling community facilities.
He further asserted that the concentrator—whose ribbon-cutting AML recently celebrated—consists largely of prefabricated components that could be dismantled at any time, a setup he contrasted to more permanent beneficiation plants in countries like Brazil. “Although they reportedly went to cut the ribbon, it was most likely just to open the crusher, since the Concentrator is not fully ready and is well behind schedule,” he told reporters.
Qualified Liberians overlooked
The Senator’s critique went beyond capital-cost skepticism. He said AML’s hiring practices violate Article 10 of the amended 2007 Mineral Development Agreement, which required 25 percent Liberian representation in senior management by 2012 and 50 percent by 2017. Instead, he noted, the top three executive posts remain in foreign hands: CEO Marko Vandermeer (South African), COO Anthony Cochrane (Australian), and CFO Conor O’Brien (British).
“This is not just a breach of contract—it is a slap in the face to the many qualified Liberian professionals who are overlooked,” Twayen said. At the tier below, only 8 of 19 senior management positions (42 percent) are held by Liberians, shy of the required threshold.
Scholarship obligations, too, are lagging. Article 9 of the MDA stipulates AML must pay US$200,000 annually to fund advanced studies for qualified Liberians abroad. “According to AML’s own 2022 report to the National Investment Commission, these payments only began in 2012—five years late,” the Senator said, arguing that the delay had deprived Liberians of more than US$1 million in educational support. He demanded “full restitution and greater transparency” in administering the funds.
Twayen also revived long-standing allegations that AML employs transfer-pricing schemes to shift profits offshore, thereby under-reporting taxable income in Liberia. “By inflating costs and shifting profits outside of Liberia,” he said, “AML deprives the country of fair economic benefits from its own natural resources.” The supposed overstatement of the concentrator’s capital cost, he contended, fits a wider pattern of aggressive accounting.
“These are not abstract numbers,” he said. “We are watching billions of dollars’ worth of iron ore leave our soil while our people remain in poverty.” He called on the Inter-Ministerial Concessions Committee (IMCC) and the broader Government of Liberia to attach strict new conditions to any future negotiations with AML, beginning with an immediate, binding mandate to pave the Sanniquellie–Yekepa road and rehabilitate derelict housing stock before any fresh construction proceeds.
Another non-negotiable, Twayen argued, is the elevation of a Liberian to one of AML’s top three executive positions. “If Liberians are competent enough to supervise, why can’t they also fill these roles?” he asked, pointing to instances where foreign mid-level staff such as truck-maintenance foremen and welding supervisors answer to Liberian managers.
Scholarship arrears, social-development funds for Nimba, Bong, and Grand Bassa Counties, and quarterly public compliance reports also featured prominently in his list of demands. CSR pledges, he stressed, must become legally enforceable obligations within any revised MDA: “If AML agrees to fix roads, build schools, or improve hospitals, let those become non-negotiable line items in the MDA—not optional favors.”
Inclusive, accountable development
The Senator said AML’s failure to invite the Nimba Legislative Caucus to last week’s concentrator inauguration only hardened local resolve to block any new concession terms that sideline community interests. “This will not silence us. If anything, it strengthens our resolve. We will continue to resist the renewal of the MDA unless our demands are fully addressed,” he vowed.
Twayen urged lawmakers from affected counties to insist on seats at the negotiation table from the outset, rather than rubber-stamping deals at the ratification stage. “This time, we will not sit by and be used to rubber-stamp agreements that do not serve the people,” he said. “We must be at the table from the beginning.”
He concluded with a rallying cry for inclusive development: “We must not be swayed by billion-dollar headlines meant solely to benefit AML’s export goals while our people remain impoverished and forgotten. Development must be inclusive, accountable, and rooted in justice.”
Source: Liberianobserver
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