Govt’s ‘Published Bid’ Under scrutiny 12/13/07

The Liberian Government broke silence last weekend following speculations and media reports that the recent Iron ore deal carried out was done surreptitiously by displaying copies of three newspapers it said published the bid.

The Government named the three as the New Democrat, Inquirer and News Newspapers which accordingly published the bid in their respective April 10, 2006 editions inviting bidders for the purchase of the Buchanan stock-piled iron ore.

While the government is making frantic efforts to justify the sale of ore, critical thinkers and observers have described the government display of the three newspapers showing the publication of bid for the purchase of the remaining stock-piled iron ore at the Buchanan port as shady and crafty, The Parrot highlights the different views on the publication.

Addressing a major press conference in Monrovia over the weekend, the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism (MICAT), Dr. Laurence K. Bropleh said the sale of the Iron Ore was done in line with Public Procurement and Concession Act (PPCA), by publishing bid for the purchase of the Iron Ore. Dr. Bropleh, flanked by Deputy Minister of Information Services at MICAT, Mr. Gabriel Williams, strongly dismissed reports that the deal was done in secret.

The Gov’t’s information man told reporters that the government was doing everything possible to seek the people’s interest, but not for personal gain.
The publication, according to him, was done through the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy. He also disclosed that about 20,000 metric tons of iron ore was sold and proceeds realized have been deposited in government’s account at the Central Bank of Liberia.

There have been media reports in recent time that the sale of a huge quantity of iron ore by the Ellen led administration was done in secret, something political pundits have described as contradictory to the gov’t’s pronounced “transparency” policy.

However, the display of the three newspapers as mentioned above seems not to be convincing the Liberian public that the deal was not done secretly, as observers’ points to some flaws and questionable variables surrounding the publication of the bid.

William Gaye, age 54, described the display of the newspapers by Minister Bropleh as a total mockery. He argued that the Government displayed one-time publication, something which is far from the PPCC act. He said according to the act, the publication of such a bid must be done at least three times. He challenged the government to produce the rest of the publications if it did.

“Anything other than that, the deal was consummated secretly”, Gaye pointed out.

John Diggs age 44; a Liberian farmer took on the three newspapers. He said recent publications of the Inquirer Newspaper have been questioning the sale of the remaining iron ore at the Bassa port. He said one of the recent editorials of the Inquirer demanded explanation from the Government regarding the iron ore deal, in line with the argument that the sale bid was not published. Mr. Diggs wondered why Inquirer will be demanding explanation on the publication of the bid when in fact it is one of the papers that published the bid according to Government. He said the three newspapers displayed by Minister Bropleh have dragged themselves into confidence crisis. “We will be careful with them”, Diggs in a serious tone intimated.

The Inquirer in its Vol. 16 N0. 215 Thursday 6, 2007 editorial said it is demanding explanation from the government. “the failure of the government to inform the public about the reported deal despite the fact that the deal has now come to public attention, creates room for more suspicion, rumors and even casts dark cloud over the deal” the Inquirer stated.

Why will the Inquirer, one of the oldest newspapers in Liberia asserts that the Iron Ore deal was done in secret when it published the bid for the ore as claimed by the government.

Laurence Sackie, a political scientist told this paper that publication shown by Bropleh is shady and crafty. Mr. Sackie said he is of the belief that the publication displayed by Minister Bropleh was back-dated to only save the face of the government from public shame and condemnation, something he noted will not still help the Government as according to him, the Liberian people are no more stupid.

Howbeit, ongoing investigation conducted by the Independent Parrot Newspaper in the publication of the sale bid is giving different signals contrary to what Government has claimed. See detailed reports from the files of Inquirer, New Democrat and the News Newspapers in our subsequent edition.

Many believe that the publication of the bid accordingly by the three papers was stage managed, given the many doubts that are looming over government’s evidence.