Business
Liberia: Cautious Optimisim About Oil Prospects
Security Concerns
In Nigeria, a regional petroleum giant, militants demanding a more equitable distribution of oil wealth have recently resumed attacks, a red flag to Monrovia resident George Moore, who says security is another key concern about the prospect of an oil-rich Liberia.
“We talk about countries that are responsible to produce oil and we find a lot of conflict there,” says Moore. “Oil fighters are responsible for this. These conflicts are the result of the production of oil in these countries. Because of this we find that things have been destabilized in a country when it comes to infrastructure and development.”
Liberia itself emerged from a brutal 14-year civil war in 2003 that was funded in part by natural-resource revenues; warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor traded logging concessions for guns and paid his soldiers in timber money.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has pledged to establish polices that would ensure oil revenues are for the “good of the country and the good of all people.”
Liberians, however, say they will wait and see.
Source: VOA News
