A petition seeking to utilize an ancestral land owned by indigenous people of Rivercess County hailing from Kploh District, for Class ‘B’ mining operations has been submitted to the Minister of Mines and Energy, Wilmot Paye.
The lengthy petition, read before it was presented to the Mines and Energy Minister on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 at the Ministry, among key concerns, is pleading with the Government to grant a ‘legal’ Class ‘B’ mining license to the Palm Group of Companies which already has mining activities ongoing in Kploh, but on a smaller scale using Class ‘C’ licenses. During Tuesday’s brief presentation ceremony, the traveling locals of the southeastern County told Minister Paye that their main concern in the company acquiring a semi-industrial mining legitimacy is to give the company freer hands and an increased operating capacity to make bigger impact on their livelihoods.
They cited roads rehabilitation, assistance to the full functioning of schools in the area, including economic empowerment of the youthful population of Kploh through jobs creation as some of the many contributions the Palm Group of Companies was already providing them under its current status as an artisanal and small-scale Miner. Speaking on their behalf when submitting the petition to Minister Paye, Chief Bob Kofi Zah, Speaker of Liberia’s traditional council of Chiefs and Elders, said they are unanimous in giving their ancestral land recognized by the Community Law Rights policy of the Liberia Land Authority (LLA), for Kploh Chiefdom/District to be used for Class ‘B’ mining. Chief Zah said, their petition is aware of proper modalities leading to the granting of semi-mechanized mineral right to a company and noted that they have no reservations whatsoever that the Liberian-owned Palm Group of Companies is appropriately capacitated to deliver on their confidence given the company’s past and current record of coexistence with them.
The company’s Manager, Peter Logan was among the Petitioners, including the ‘traditional Queen’ of Kploh District, Madam Rebecca Garsaynee. Responding, the Minster of Mines and Energy commended the Rivercess people from Kploh, for the peaceful channel they chose in bringing to the Ministry’s attention, the mineral potential of their District. Minister Paye said, their petition helps clear doubts about citizens’ go-ahead approval for higher level mining activities to take place on a community land owned by them. The Minister assured the group comprising youths of Kploh, that his team will review their petition and make a determination on the way forward.
Minister Paye further assured the Petitioners that such move by the Ministry will be made in a relatively short period of time, and said, once the Palm Group of Companies is in good standing with its legal obligations whilst already operating under Class ‘C’ licenses, the company will be in a better position to transition to a ‘B’ license in order to scale up its production capacity to enable it make the needed contributions to the community; a desire they strongly pronounced in their petition.
Deputy Minister for Operations, William Hines, at the ceremony, confirmed assertion by the Petitioners that the Liberian-owned mining company they want operate on their land, has already filed in an application for a Class ‘B’ license. He [Deputy Minister Hines] said, the Ministry will look into circumstances that may be surrounding the Palm Group of Companies’ Class ‘B’ application and determine issuance of the requested license to the company.
