By: Liberia Forest Media Watch lfmw. Claims and counterclaims about who is right or wrong in the Tartweh-Drapoh forest conflict are enormous as community languishes in abject poverty. Liberia Forest Media Watch LFMW could not logically conclude on who is responsible for the long-running conflict due to the involvement of multiple parties including local government officials and Legislators, with varying interests. The history of Tartweh-Drapoh forest is characterized by reports of financial inducements and interferences by current and former high-profile government officials, dating back to the period of Private Use Permits PUP.
This amount was reportedly received by one Emmanuel S. Upon the release of the report by NSA, the government dismissed key staff of the FDA for their involvement into the financial scandal allegedly influenced by UFC and other logging companies.
Fast-forward to , the community began negotiation to award their forest to a logging company of their choice. Surprisingly, UFC, whose alleged bribery trigged the closure of PUP, surfaced again during the community forest initiative.
Padma, — and Peter B. In reaction, some community members arrested the foreign experts brought in by UFC to conduct the prospecting. The experts told community authorities that they were sent in the forest by UFC. As head of the county, the Superintendent, Lee Nagbe Chea, launched investigation into reports of illegal entry by UFC in the community forest. But to a great surprise, the very Superintendent who punished UFC, on March 30, , allowed community chiefs and elders to conduct a meeting with the same UFC investors, a meeting the Superintendent himself attended, along with the County Attorney, Police Commander, and other community officials.
It is following this meeting that tension between the leadership of the CFMB and chief and elders increased on the one hand and between the offices of the District 1 Representative, Crayton Duncan, and the leadership of CFMB on the other hand. Prior to the involvement of the county officials and Lawmaker in the Tartweh Community forest activities, members of the CA — the ultimate community governance institution in a community forest — and CFMB who should report to the CA operated in a normal and cooperative fashion, until rumors of financial influence and interference from government officials became prevalent.
