LPRC GEMAP Expert Withdrawn - As Oil Deal Backfires
By: Lewis K. Glay
Forum
Monrovia, Liberia
Distributed by
The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
According to classified hints, Mr. Lumburg whose input LPRC Managing Director Harry Greaves is said to have significantly relied on for transparency and accountability at the entity, is said to have been withdrawn on two counts.
The primary cause of his withdrawal is allegedly being attributed to the manner in which he facilitated the handling of the backfired “oil deal” between Liberia and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The second reason why Mr. Lumburg has reportedly left Liberia is his alleged involvement in illegal “child adoption” in the country; something our source said has been suppressed not to get to the public for fear of its negative impact on the expert’s character.
Mr. Lumburg is said to have left Liberia 28 October 2006, while another GEMAP expert, who is reportedly assigned at the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) is said to be earmarked to replace him (Lumburg).
When the Public Affairs Department of LPRC was contacted last Friday for
clarification, the PRO only identified as Jones, said the department has
not been informed on the issue but noted that there were series of consultations
taking place following which management would be informing the public today
(Tuesday).
When the “oil deal” was discovered by Foundation for Human Rights
and Democracy (FORHD) and published same in its magazine followed by The
New Democrat publication last October, LPRC Managing Director Harry Greaves
dispelled the claims surrounding the deal, noting that it was not a “free
gift from Nigeria.”
Mr. Greaves at the time said the deal was a crude oil contract between the LPRC and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) under which agreement 10,000 barrels would have been allocated to the LPRC by NNPC daily.
The contract, according to him, was capital intensive which LPRC could hardly underwrite as such, it was sold to a large shipping company based in Geneva, Addy, which he claimed has the capacity to pay for the oil in the amount of US one million dollars to NNPC.
Mr. Greaves told journalists during his clarification that Addy would pay LPRC a “little profit” which he could not disclose as to how much in term of cash.
Though Mr. Greaves said the transaction has been a company-to-company deal that has nothing to do with government-to-government involvement, he said President Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf requested the Nigerian Government for the allocation of 30,000 barrels of crude oil to Liberia daily of which 10,000 barrels were approved for daily transaction for a period of one year.
Before the deal backfired last October, The FORUM was hinted that this
was a donation from the Nigerian Government during the second official visit
of President Sirleaf to the Federal Republic of Nigeria in a bid to assist
Liberia that has come out of terrible civil war to enhance its reconstruction
process.
The President was reportedly engaged on this deal in the United States during
one of her visits there prior to FORHD’s report following which the
Liberian media joined the search to find out the truth of the deal.
LPRC boss Greaves and Mr. Dew Mason, The FORUM was told, had been the custodians
of the oil saga fund fetch as evidenced by Mr. Greaves constant visits to
Nigeria to dispose off the product to their business interest.
Many Liberians especially critics of the government have maintained their skepticism as to why information regarding the crude oil deal remained unpublicized until the media got involved before clarifications from the LPRC were made.