The LEITI, which publishes public payments, reported the fee in its latest report on agriculture, covering the period.<\/p>\n
But that payment did not take place. MOPP has not paid a cent to project-affected communities since 2018, records of a bank account through which the company pays the communities reveal.<\/p>\n
Activities of the communities\u2019 account at the International Bank (Liberia) Limited detail the communities\u2019 transactions from January 2017 to February this year. It further reveals that MOPP has made just two payments in the 12 years of its concession with the Liberian government. The company paid the communities US$35,390 and US$35,570.20 in March 2017 and 2018, respectively, according to the document.<\/p>\n
In 2011, MOPP signed the concession with Libera, covering 8,800 hectares of farmland in Maryland and Grand Kru with a total value of US$203 million in the course of 25 years.
\n![](\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/sm_1687421706.05965.jpg\")
\nA screenshot of the LEITI report that highlights the mystery US$4,770 payment<\/p>\n
As part of the agreement, MOPP must pay the communities for portions of the land they develop at a rate of US$5 per hectare. That means the company has outstanding payments for the last few years.<\/p>\n
Residents from MOPP-affected communities who manage the fund corroborated the bank details.<\/p>\n
Amos Quoh, secretary general community development fund MOPP, said the company had staff issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said they are in transition, some key officials are leaving,\u201d Kouh said. We invited them and they said they were going to see [a] reason to put money into the account.\u201d<\/p>\n
MOPP did not respond to emailed queries The DayLight sent since February.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Source: Liberian Observer<\/b><\/p>\n
For More News And Analysis About Liberia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" JAMES HARDING GIAHYUE, WITH THE DAYLIGHT Africa-Press – Liberia. The Maryland Oil Palm Plantation (MOPP) told the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) paid US$4,774 to communities affected by its project between 2020 and 2021 The LEITI, which publishes public payments, reported the fee in its latest report on agriculture, covering the period. But that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":38838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,6],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-38839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-liberia","tag-liberia"],"yoast_head":"\n