VZCZCXRO3201
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHMV #0745/01 1731307
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221307Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY MONROVIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8788
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MONROVIA 000745 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W PDAVIS, INR/AA BGRAVES, AF/EPS, EB 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON EINV EAID LI
SUBJECT: LIBERIAN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PASSES ACT RESTRICTING 
FOREIGN-OWNED CONSTRUCTION BIDS 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Liberia's House of Representatives passed the 
National Technical Committee (NTC) Act on June 19, and has sent it 
to the Senate for concurrence.  According to the Act, the NTC would 
have the exclusive administrative authority to supervise the award 
of all government related construction, engineering or architectural 
contracts, and would award all government-financed construction 
projects valued at US$1,000,000 or less to 100 percent 
Liberian-owned construction, engineering or architectural firms. 
NTC authority would not apply to bilateral reconstruction agreements 
or other foreign-funded construction projects.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) The Association of Liberian Construction Contractors 
initiated efforts to draft the National Technical Committee Act in 
early 2006. The association's president, Foday Kamara, worked with 
House Labor Committee Chairman, Representative Gbenimah Slopadoe 
(APD-Grand Kru County), to ensure that the act reached the floor of 
the House this year. After intensive lobbying, the act was 
unanimously passed in the House of Representatives with Bhofal 
Chambers (UP-Maryland County) being the only member of the House to 
oppose the act on the grounds that Liberian-owned firms were not yet 
reliably able to carry out large projects.  Representative Chambers 
also urged members of the House to take into consideration the 
implications of an act that would be seen as unfriendly to foreign 
investment in Liberia. 
 
¶3. (U) If it becomes law, the National Technical Committee would be 
led by the Minister of Public Works and assisted by the Minister of 
Finance, Director General of the Budget Bureau, head of the 
government ministry or agency responsible for implementation of a 
particular project and one member each from the Association of 
Liberian Construction Contractors and the Liberian Business 
Association.  The Committee will have the exclusive administrative 
authority to supervise the award of all construction, engineering or 
architectural contracts funded by the GOL or by loans or other forms 
of financial aid from internal GOL sources.  The Act stipulates that 
all construction projects financed solely by the government and 
valued at US$1,000,000 or less shall be awarded only to 100 percent 
Liberian-owned construction, engineering or architectural firms. 
Non Liberian-owned construction, engineering or architectural 
companies may be awarded such contracts only if they form a 
partnership with Liberian-owned construction companies wherein the 
Liberian partner holds a minimum 55 percent share.  The 
Liberian-owned limitation does not apply to bilateral reconstruction 
agreements and other foreign-funded construction projects, and all 
construction, engineering or architectural contracts valued in 
excess of US$1,000,000 shall be opened to competitive bidding for 
both Liberian and non-Liberian firms. 
 
¶4. (U) The Act also seeks to forbid Liberians from "fronting" 
non-Liberian firms that the Act says deprive the government of "just 
and legitimate revenue."  Liberians who serve as "fronts" for 
foreign-owned firms will be charged and prosecuted for "economic 
sabotage" against the state. Instead, the Act stipulates that 
non-Liberian citizens wishing to establish a resident domestic 
construction company in Liberia may only do so in partnership with a 
registered and accredited Liberian-owned construction, engineering 
or architectural company with proven experience in the construction 
industry.  In such a partnership, the Liberian partner(s) shall hold 
a majority ownership of not less than 55 percent of shares. 
Non-Liberian owned construction companies wishing to do business in 
Liberia shall be limited to those government financed projects 
valued at US$1,000,000 or above and shall be required to open a bank 
account in Liberia of not less than US$2,000,000.  Moreover, 
Liberian-owned construction companies must ensure that their 
workforce of technicians and other skilled workers is 70 percent 
Liberian citizen, 75 percent for management staff.  Non-Liberian 
merchants dealing in building materials will not be allowed to 
establish construction, engineering or architectural companies in 
Liberia. 
 
¶5. (SBU) COMMENT:  The National Technical Committee Act is another 
step in the "Liberianization" movement, driven by Liberian business 
associations and their allies in government.  It comes at a time 
when Liberian-owned construction and engineering firms do not yet 
have the capital, equipment, or technical capacity to carry out the 
numerous and relatively large construction and engineering projects 
the GOL has planned.  The Act could slow the country's much needed 
infrastructure reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts, and may 
impact moves by donors to examine direct budget support to the GOL. 
Although the act will likely face stiffer opposition in the Senate 
and with the President, similar "Liberianization" measures have 
drawn widespread support among the public.  Meanwhile, the 
establishment of a National Technical Committee would duplicate many 
of the functions of the Public Procurement, Contract and Concession 
Commission (PPCC), and corruption could become an issue in awarding 
contracts outside the PPCC Act. 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT CONT.: The unanimous passage of the act is a stark 
 
MONROVIA 00000745  002 OF 002 
 
 
reminder of the xenophobic and protectionist feelings among 
Liberians, and is part and parcel of ongoing efforts in a number of 
areas -- withholding work permits for foreign managers, protective 
legislation for Liberian workers, and refusal to honor duty-free 
privileges for international NGO's, among other indicators -- that 
hint at a problematic future for international business. Also, more 
dangerous for long term stability, those advocating for the Act and 
those organizations who will have decision-making power in the NTC 
are overwhelmingly from the coastal/educated/Americo elite. There is 
a real danger they are using "Liberianization" as a cover to enrich 
and entrench themselves in the construction sector to the exclusion 
of upcountry/indigenous Liberians, as well as to the exclusion of 
non-Liberians. END COMMENT. 
 
BOOTH