/ 27 February 2007

Liberians waiting for peace dividend

Last week's donor conference in Washington was greeted as a triumph in Liberia, with more than $1-billion in debt forgiveness and pledges of aid. Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a former World Bank economist, is adept at getting what she wants on the international stage.

Last week’s donor conference in Washington was greeted as a triumph in Liberia, with more than $1-billion in debt forgiveness and pledges of aid. Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a former World Bank economist, is adept at getting what she wants on the international stage.

But while the promises made by United States President George W Bush and others go some way towards easing the $3,7-billion debt run up by Johnson-Sirleaf’s warlord predecessors Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor, Liberians are now demanding results.

Far from the corridors of power, big numbers and international finance mean little to Julius Boimah, a resident of the rundown suburb of Paynesville, Monrovia. “We are frustrated,” says the 43-year old father of four. “We hear about all this aid money but we don’t see it.”

Liberia was destroyed by a civil war that ended nearly four years ago. Of Liberia’s 3,4-million population, 200 000 were killed and 850 000 were displaced.

Today Liberia’s annual budget is a paltry $129-million. Most Liberians are unemployed and live on less than $1 a day. Although the economy grew by 7% in 2006, the GDP is only $664-million. In 2003 the United Nations Security Council imposed embargoes on two of Liberia’s major export earners: diamonds and timber, both of which were sold to fuel the conflict.

Two days in Washington were devoted to debt relief and aid discussions, the third day to private investment. US tyre manufacturer Firestone is, according to Liberia’s Deputy Minister for Labour Sedia Bangoura, “Liberia’s second-largest employer after the government”.

A deal finalised with global steel giant Arcelor Mittal in December last year is expected to create 3 000 jobs as part of a $1-billion investment. The minister adds that with timber concessions being allocated and Liberia at last compliant with the Kimberly diamond certification process, things are looking up.

Big problems remain, however, not least in the healthcare system, which is 80% run and financed by aid agencies. One of the few institutions supported by the government’s $11-million health budget is Redemption Hospital on Bushrod Island in Monrovia. In the laboratory the fridge for storing blood is broken, there is no X-ray machine in the X-ray room and doctors wash surgical gloves for re-use.

Patients are charged a small fee $2 to $3 for admission, $10 to $20 for an operation — but this is beyond the reach of most. As a result, wards are empty and most patients go to nearby donor-run clinics where treatment is free.

“The manpower is here but we have no equipment to work with and patients can’t afford to come,” says one medical worker. Instead people die of easily preventable illnesses such as diarrhoea, malaria and cholera, which contribute to keeping life expectancy to 41-years and infant mortality at 157 per 1 000.

Aid workers caution that unfulfilled expectations could reignite the conflict. Mengesha Rebede, head of the UN High Commission for Refugees, says the fact that Liberians have returned home “shows confidence in the government and in the international community, but if the foreign direct assistance is not forthcoming and people feel that promises are being broken, that could reignite the conflict”.