Liberia: Block 13 Smoothly Sailed Through as Chambers, Gray Went Missing in Action

Chambers continues to be a strong critic of the Executive

Many in the public were looking for Liberia’s oil Block 13 to hit a snag (hitch, delay) courtesy of stiff resistance promised by two legislators from the opposition Congress for Democratic Change, (CDC) to prevent its passage by any means possible after it landed on the floor of the House of Representatives for full ratification.

But Chambers and Gray decided to do some hitting of their own; so, as the Block 13 renegotiated deal hit the floor of the Lower House for ratification, the duo decided to hit the road.

But, in their hurry, they hit a wall and were forced to sit back down in chambers and watch their colleagues in action. Sidelined, they were forced to ‘pull a disappearing act’ sitting there in silence and not saying a word.

And so, the renegotiated oil block 13 deal Tuesday smoothly sailed through the House of Representatives, following an exceedingly overwhelming vote cast in favor of its passage. Unlike, the Senate which amended certain provisions in the agreement, the deal remained untouched in the House of Representatives.

The CDC representatives earlier had lost no time launching their campaign to block the passage of oil Block 13 by the House of Representatives. They claim the renegotiated deal was marred by errors and had demanded corrections by the Executive, before ratification.

So, what suddenly became of the Acarous Gray and Bhofal Chambers’ threat to block the passage of the oil block 13 once the renegotiated deal reached the Lower of House of the Legislature? Judging from their vow to ensure that the approval failed, many in the public were watching to see how it would all go down. Surely in view of all the promises, the deal would fail.

But the pair suddenly went speechless during Monday’s public hearing organized and hosted by the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill. They failed to attempt to prove their point at that public hearing---an opportunity to push through their argument that the deal was flawed (defective, faulty) ---gone up in smoke.

In fact, the duo had sat mute throughout the hearing.  Gray was only able to muster a single a question, with a last minute comment emanating from Chambers, after they became visible again.

Liberia’s Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) recently presented the renegotiated Production Sharing Contract (PSC) of oil block 13 between the Liberian Government and ExxonMobile/PLC to the Legislature for ratification. This followed the signing of the document by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who described the deal as extremely impressive and the best has ever Liberia had.

The deal finally slipped through the Senate last Thursday. All eyes were now on the Lower House where the two opposition legislators had vowed to oppose its passage.

At a recent news conference convened by Chambers and Gray in Monrovia, the duo guaranteed to ensure that the deal was ‘returned to sender’ for correction of errors they claimed they had come across in the renegotiated agreement.

Reports gathered by the Daily Observer have it that Chambers has since blamed Speaker Alex Tyler for ignoring him (Chambers) during the public hearing. “The Speaker failed to let me speak because of reasons best known to him.

“Perhaps our opposing views would have shifted the views of other colleagues that were indecisive about which way to proceed. I thought we would have done justice to the contract after entertaining the views of experts and those of the civil society. Without any amendment, the contract was ratified. I think it’s sad for us as a country,” Chambers said.

Fifty-eight members of the House of Representatives voted in favor of the contract, four abstained and none against. Those who abstained included: Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) representatives including Bhofal Chambers, Acarous M. Gray and Muna Pelham-Youngblood and Liberty Party Gabriel B. Smith.

Senators in the Upper House took into consideration Section 3.4 of the Oil Law under stock purchase which says the share equivalent to 10 percent must be available for purchase by Liberians or any such interested citizen. The renegotiated deal had allotted 5 percent, instead. Also, the royalty in the oil sector of the country which was negotiated to 10 percent was reduced to 5 percent.