Liberians Protest Pollution, Lost Livelihoods, and Lack of Benefits from ArcelorMittal Steel Operations

Dozens of residents from communities around ArcelorMittal’s operations in Nimba, Bong, and Grand Bassa counties have protested the negative impacts of the mining company’s activities in their areas.

Addressing reporters in Yekepa, Nimba County, community leader and project animator for Green Advocates International, Sam Yeadieh, said ArcelorMittal Liberia is working in their communities with no positive impact on affected communities and the country at large, coupled with the alleged lousy treatment meted against them.

He lamented that the company’s activities had taken lands, ruined jobs, and caused air and water pollution, along with loud noises from rock blasts and trains.

According to him, citizens from the three affected counties continue to fear security harassment, alleging that State Security uses excessive force in resolving conflicts between the mining company and communities. He stressed that people from the affected communities and counties are not criminals but people who rely on the land and natural resources for their livelihoods.

Today is one of the first times that we all have come together as affected communities to express our common frustration over the impact of ArcelorMittal Liberia’s work in our communities … It is happening at a time when our land is being taken, our livelihoods destroyed, and our homes falling to the vibration of the blasting of mines and the movement of the train and heavy earth-moving equipment or yellow machines, New Dawn quoted Yeadieh.

He pointed out that their recent gathering in Yekepa, Nimba County, under gloomy weather, showed their dissatisfaction with their current living conditions, including the lack of benefits and job opportunities, among other things.

Dada Konkah, a resident of Nimba County, noted that Arcelor Mittal did not correctly inform residents before blasting the mines, resulting in damage to homes and farmlands. Evelyn Saye and Abel Nyanamah from Lugbeyee Town added that the company’s operations have contaminated their water sources and destroyed crops without proper compensation.

“We are not criminals; we are Indigenous people who depend on the land and forest for the sustenance of our lives,” Matthew B. Dolo and Moses Tokpah from Bong County lamented.

We were here before ArcelorMittal; this is our ancestral land; therefore, we are calling on the management of the mining company to address our following demands: Have a dialogue with the affected communities to discuss a possible redress to all of the issues we have raised about the noise, water and air pollution, livelihood, County Development Fund, our inclusion in decision-making processes that affect us and future generation, and conduct a thorough review of the current grievance mechanism to identify critical bottlenecks that prevent the chances of complaints being addressed by the company; and develop an FPIC policy for the company which will provide requirements for managing information about its operation with all stakeholders, especially the communities that are mostly affected by its operations,” they demanded.

ArcelorMittal is an Indian-Luxembourgish multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed from the acquisition of Arcelor by Mittal Steel in 2006.

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