Monrovia - The General Auditing Commission (GAC) has released the report which is the first flash report borne out of the audit of the  Forestry Development Authority (FDA) issuance of Private Use Permits (PUPs) for the period January 2006 to April 2012 to the National Legislature and the President of Liberia recommending  among others, the dismissal of the managing Director of the Forestry Development Authority, Mr. Moses Wogbeh and the to Reprimand the Chairman of the Board of Directors Madam Florence Chenoweth who is also the Minister of Agriculture .

The audit was conducted under the Auditor General's statutory mandate as provided for under Section 53.3 of the Executive Law of 1972.

The report which copy is in the noted that the FDA was established in November 1976 by the Liberian Legislature, under Chapters 1 to 4 of the National Forestry Reform Law (NFRL).

The objectives of the FDA include among others, the establishment of a permanent forest estate made up of reserved areas upon which scientific forestry will be practiced; devote all publicly owned forest lands to their most productive use for the permanent good of all the people, considering both direct and indirect values; and to stop needless waste and destruction of the forest and associated natural resources and to bring about the profitable harvesting of all forest products while assuring that supplies of said products are perpetuated.

In the Report of the Auditor General released on 5 December 2012 signed by Deputy Auditor General Winsley Nanka, the GAC observed that the Managing Director of the FDA Mr. Moses Wogbeh, did not maintain a complete database of all PUPs issued by the FDA, therefore  determined the total number of PUPs issued by piecing together audit evidence obtained from the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy (MLME), FDA’s Board and Management, Land Commission (LC) and (LISGIS). This omission could lead to misuse of Liberia's forest resources without accruing any benefit to the Government and people of Liberia.

The GAC noted that  the FDA’s Board, as of February 18, 2012 and on the basis of a Presidential directive, instructed the FDA’s Managing Director Mr. Moses Wogbeh to place a moratorium immediately on the issuance of all PUPs; in collaboration with other stakeholders to develop a regulation and guidelines governing PUPs; to recall all PUPs, with the exception of four (4) PUPs extracting logs at the time; renegotiate all PUPs recalled in keeping with the Regulations to be developed; to ensure that property owners and companies wishing to operate PUPs are tax-free; and mandated to commission a compliance/award audit of all PUPs.

However, the Board's directive, according to the GAC was not complied with by the FDA’s Managing Director. The report noted  that non- compliance with FDA’s Board's directive constitutes a serious risk, as it denies assurance that forest resources of Liberia entrusted to its care would be exploited as contemplated under the National Forestry Reform Law of 2006.

The report indicated that the FDA could not provide any evidence to show that the holders of the PUPs had the technical and financial capacity to manage the forest sustainably. These omissions constitute a breach of Section 5.6 of the 2006 National Forestry Reform Law that governs the process. therefore the GAC recommend, among others, that the FDA’s Managing Director, Moses Wogbeh, and Board's Chairman, Florence Chenoweth,  be censured by the President for issuing PUPs without ensuring  due formulation of regulations governing the issuance of PUPs, a cardinal requirement of the 2006 National Forestry Reform Law on PUP.

Continuing, the GAC report  recommends that the FDA’s Board of Directors should be dissolved and reconstituted  for the issuance of PUPs without ensuring due formulation of regulations governing the issuance of the PUPs, as required by the 2006 National Forestry Reform Law, as well as its failure to provide strategic managerial oversight to govern the operations of the Authority. The reconstituted Board should ensure that a regulatory framework is developed in keeping with the 2006 National Forestry Reform Law.

The GAC observed that there was no evidence of permits for 22 PUPs. Efforts made to obtain these permits for review proved futile. Other omissions involved in the issuance of PUPs include the following: PUPs issued to individuals other than the land owners, as exemplified by deeds underpinning the PUPs. An instance of this was the PUP granted to the people of Zaye Town, Grand Bassa County, regardless of the fact that the underlying deed was in the name of Plato, Ella, Elwood and Amada Autridge. Further, the Power of Attorney that was attached to the PUP application was signed by people who were not listed on the deed.

The GAC therefore recommend that all PUPs issued be cancelled and renegotiated under the supervision of a reconstituted Board.

The FDA’s Managing Director cancels all PUPs issued with the view of determining the regularity of their issuance, as their issuance was contrary to the 2006 National Forestry Reform Law.

The Board be dissolved and reconstituted for its failure to exercise in a prudent manner its oversight responsibilities, given the abnormalities observed.

Thereafter, the reconstituted FDA Board should ensure that there is negotiation of all PUPs cancelled, in keeping with the Regulations to be developed.

The reconstituted Board of Directors and Management, in collaboration with other stakeholders, should expedite action on the development of regulations and guidelines governing PUPs.

The GAC report notes that of the  60 Private Use Permits  issued and currently in existence  25 PUPs have been transferred to concessionaires. Of the 25 PUPs noted to have been transferred, 16 PUPs went to Atlantic Resources Ltd., a forest management concessionaire. The remaining 9 PUPs were transferred to nine other individual concessionaires.

The report indicates that the transfer of PUPs to concessionaires constitutes a violation of the NFRL provisions of 2006.The act also constitutes a shortcut by concessionaires to acquire the forest resources of Liberia, thus evading the concession process, which is more detailed and involves a lot of checks and balances.

The The FDA’s Board  should, among others, immediately revoke the 16 PUPs and the other 9 PUPs that were transferred to the Atlantic Resources Ltd. and other concessionaires, as their mode of acquisition constitutes a violation of the extant regulatory framework on forest resources management of Liberia.

The GAC I therefore recommend that the Managing Director, Moses D. Wogbeh, be dismissed  for his failure to undertake annual audit and put in place an effective monitoring mechanism to govern PUP licenses issued; and the FDA Board be dissolved and reconstituted for its failure to provide an effective oversight over the management of the forest resources of Liberia. In addition, the FDA Board Chairman, Florence Chenoweth should be censured by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for her failure to provide effective corporate governance.

The GAC report observed that the Atlantic Resources Limited(ARL) purported PUP18 carried an area of 29,396 hectares while the Social Agreement (SA) carried an area of 52,858 hectares , giving a variance of 23,462 hectares, of forest land in the Dugbeh River District, Sinoe County.

The discrepancy noted in hectares clearly point to the fact that the FDA is not monitoring the forestry sector, thus allowing concessionaires who are using PUPs as a short-cut to avoid the concessionaires’ process to illegally acquire the forest resources of Liberia.

On account of this,  the GAC recommend among others, that all forest resources (logs) extracted or revenue derived from the sales thereof from PUP18 by ARL be confiscated by the government of Liberia. The Ministry of Justice prosecutes the FDA’s Managing Director Moses D. Wogbeh for his failure to exercise due care. FDA’s Board Chairman Florence Chenoweth be censured by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for her failure to provide effective oversight over the forest resources of Liberia.

The GAC is therefore calling the President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Speaker Alex House of Representatives and the President Pro-tempore Gbezongar Findley and members of the National Legislature to consider the resolution of the recommendations urgently given their impact on the  management of the forest resources of Liberia.