Our honourable ladies and gentlemen have barely begun their new term, when the holabaloo starts again. Why all the pride? You people are lawmakers, so please do just that.
Even considering the county developement funds that have largely been misused in the current form of management. Take heed of your own incompetence and let the funds be administered by someone who has no interest of lining their own pockets.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Corruption
Whatever you may call it, corruption, graft, kickback, stealing, coldwater, greasing, appears just about everywhere.
What is new, is that the media nowadays is free to report and investigate on it. This is a huge step in our country. What I would like to highlight is the smalltime corruption that is taking place.
In most societies, information is critical to curbing these practices. What I would like to focus on is fees, govenment fees.
Many government bodies do certain tasks for a fee that should go directly to the government coffer. What I have not seen here in Liberia is any pricelist for fees. (With some exceptions like the NPA)
Example:
You go to the Ministry of commerce to register a company. What does this cost? It depends on who you ask. But, why not put up a big signboard with the different fees for the different forms of companies. (This is free information that cannot be misinterpreted)
Immigration fees. Same thing. Put up a signboard with the regulated fees so that anyone entering the reception area imediately sees how much their business costs. Then you would not have the employees taking 300US dollars and giving customers a receipt for 50 US dollars.
What is new, is that the media nowadays is free to report and investigate on it. This is a huge step in our country. What I would like to highlight is the smalltime corruption that is taking place.
In most societies, information is critical to curbing these practices. What I would like to focus on is fees, govenment fees.
Many government bodies do certain tasks for a fee that should go directly to the government coffer. What I have not seen here in Liberia is any pricelist for fees. (With some exceptions like the NPA)
Example:
You go to the Ministry of commerce to register a company. What does this cost? It depends on who you ask. But, why not put up a big signboard with the different fees for the different forms of companies. (This is free information that cannot be misinterpreted)
Immigration fees. Same thing. Put up a signboard with the regulated fees so that anyone entering the reception area imediately sees how much their business costs. Then you would not have the employees taking 300US dollars and giving customers a receipt for 50 US dollars.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
"Lucrative positions"
Now that I am back, I have to comment on something that I have noticed a lot in various articles in our press during the past few years. Various Liberian journalists in their professional roles, tend to refer to the job as the managing director of the Liberian Petroleum Refining Company, as being lucrative. There are other instances where I have seen this too.
Some how, this stance, when reporting objectively does not make sense to me. What is lucrative about the job? Are they insinuating their own personal envy over whoever was appointed to this post? Are they suggesting that whoever is doing the job should indulge in lining their pockets, because that is what was done in the past?
I am not sure. What is your take on this?
Some how, this stance, when reporting objectively does not make sense to me. What is lucrative about the job? Are they insinuating their own personal envy over whoever was appointed to this post? Are they suggesting that whoever is doing the job should indulge in lining their pockets, because that is what was done in the past?
I am not sure. What is your take on this?
Friday, October 24, 2008
Eh my people
So much has transpired since I wrote last. A lot of good things have gone down, and many scandals have surfaced. As time passes by these things will gradually be resolved. This is normal in any emerging society.
However, one thing has caught my attention recently. This incident is so annoyingly typical of Liberian society, that it is one of the causes of the war in the first place. The Senate suspended its leader and he was recently reinstated by the Supreme Court of Liberia. But in a very Liberian manner, the acting leader of the Senate is now refusing to honor the ruling of the highest court in the land. This above-the-law mentality is really evidence of the level of ignorance in our society today.
I really could not give a flying f..k over who leads the Senate. Abide by the law and get on with your work, or step the f..k down so that someone with a brain and who cares for his country can step up and do the work instead.
Can you imagine that we are stuck with these selfish parasites for NINE YEARS!!!
However, one thing has caught my attention recently. This incident is so annoyingly typical of Liberian society, that it is one of the causes of the war in the first place. The Senate suspended its leader and he was recently reinstated by the Supreme Court of Liberia. But in a very Liberian manner, the acting leader of the Senate is now refusing to honor the ruling of the highest court in the land. This above-the-law mentality is really evidence of the level of ignorance in our society today.
I really could not give a flying f..k over who leads the Senate. Abide by the law and get on with your work, or step the f..k down so that someone with a brain and who cares for his country can step up and do the work instead.
Can you imagine that we are stuck with these selfish parasites for NINE YEARS!!!
Monday, June 02, 2008
Why can´t we ever do something correctly?
In true football spirit, Liberians love their game. When there is a game on, everyone rushes to go and see it onsite. Like anywhere else in the world, football gives a temporary release from everyday life.
Unfortunately, in the case of the friendly game between Liberia and Gambia at the national stadium, tragedy broke out leaving 8-10 people dead and unknown numbers injured. Why did this happen?
Someone forged tickets and sold these to an unsuspecting public. According to sources on site, these false tickets allowed the stadium to be overpacked already a few hours before the game. Stuffing in 40000 individuals in a stadium made for 33000 is a very shortsighted thing to do, but not in Liberia. It is commonplace in everything that we do.
Whoever is responsible should be prosecuted, both the forgers and the official in charge of the event.
May the souls of those who died rest in peace, and it is up to the rest of us to make sure that it never ever happens again.
Unfortunately, in the case of the friendly game between Liberia and Gambia at the national stadium, tragedy broke out leaving 8-10 people dead and unknown numbers injured. Why did this happen?
Someone forged tickets and sold these to an unsuspecting public. According to sources on site, these false tickets allowed the stadium to be overpacked already a few hours before the game. Stuffing in 40000 individuals in a stadium made for 33000 is a very shortsighted thing to do, but not in Liberia. It is commonplace in everything that we do.
Whoever is responsible should be prosecuted, both the forgers and the official in charge of the event.
May the souls of those who died rest in peace, and it is up to the rest of us to make sure that it never ever happens again.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Come rainy season, come mud
I do not know if anybody caught a recent news posting of a truck arrested in or near Ganta the other day. It, or rather its occupants, were accused of trying to smuggle rice to Guinea. All in all this was a straightforward story, but what hit me as amazing was the fact that the truck had a load of 700 bags of rice or roughly about USD 20000 worth.
So what, you would say. Well here is the issue.
That is 35 metric tonnes of rice plus the weight of the truck, say another 5 to 8 tonnes. Now, mind you, I have not seen the truck, but that is a hell of a lot of weight coming down on each tire. Put this on a newly grated, renovated gravel road, and those tires will make pretty deep ruts/tracks especially if there is moisture in the road. Very quickly, with the next rain, water will set in those tracks, causing the road to quickly start to muddle up, especially if more and similar loads pass the same way.
When trucks are manufactured, the producer always has to give the maximum payload for that particular vehicle. In most countries, this is also regulated by the maximum amount of tire/axel pressure that is generally allowed in traffic. Generally speaking, a 35 tonne load should have at least 5 or 6 axels of four tires. But in some places, even this is not enough for that kind of weight. The most common truck here usually has 3 axels to distribute the weight.
What I am getting at is that we need to start, if not already availiable, in the interest of our infrastructure, making viable traffic regulations and enforcing these rigourously. In cases like these, the truck owner is usually risking the longevity of his vehicle but that is not the point.
The point is that every rainy season, truckdrivers with grossly overloaded trucks damage our already thinstretched infrastructure. It must be frustrating for anyone repairing the road, and even more so for the general public using the road. I am not even going to get going about what this overloading does to the already worn bridges along the way.
So, this is a challenge to those responsible for maintaining our roads. Find a way to curb these ignorant practices by profit hungry demolishers.
The road you save may be your own.
So what, you would say. Well here is the issue.
That is 35 metric tonnes of rice plus the weight of the truck, say another 5 to 8 tonnes. Now, mind you, I have not seen the truck, but that is a hell of a lot of weight coming down on each tire. Put this on a newly grated, renovated gravel road, and those tires will make pretty deep ruts/tracks especially if there is moisture in the road. Very quickly, with the next rain, water will set in those tracks, causing the road to quickly start to muddle up, especially if more and similar loads pass the same way.
When trucks are manufactured, the producer always has to give the maximum payload for that particular vehicle. In most countries, this is also regulated by the maximum amount of tire/axel pressure that is generally allowed in traffic. Generally speaking, a 35 tonne load should have at least 5 or 6 axels of four tires. But in some places, even this is not enough for that kind of weight. The most common truck here usually has 3 axels to distribute the weight.
What I am getting at is that we need to start, if not already availiable, in the interest of our infrastructure, making viable traffic regulations and enforcing these rigourously. In cases like these, the truck owner is usually risking the longevity of his vehicle but that is not the point.
The point is that every rainy season, truckdrivers with grossly overloaded trucks damage our already thinstretched infrastructure. It must be frustrating for anyone repairing the road, and even more so for the general public using the road. I am not even going to get going about what this overloading does to the already worn bridges along the way.
So, this is a challenge to those responsible for maintaining our roads. Find a way to curb these ignorant practices by profit hungry demolishers.
The road you save may be your own.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Halleluja
Today I have sent for a gallon of the best palm wine in Grand Bassa. It is time to celebrate. Our port authority has recently dismissed two officials and a host of others allegedly involved in the auction of some "abandoned" containers. The good news is that the new deputy manager for administration at the port is going to be no other than Mrs. Mary Broh, who recently turned the Passport office from ridiculous to fabulous.
Mrs. Broh, we are looking forward to your work.
Mrs. Broh, we are looking forward to your work.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Reiteration
Grow your own food, don´t import it.
Produce your own products, don´t import them.
Export finished goods, not raw materials.
Utlilise local products, and promote local entrepreneurs.
If you look through my postings, you will find that this message has been repeated in various forms because I see this as one of the major challenges facing our country. Hopefully the rising price of rice will cause incentives for local farmers to start producing the sought after product.
With the known price of rice, it is easy for anyone to calculate their income from farming. Say for the sake of the calculation that an acre of rice yeilds about 5 tons of produce. This is about 100 bags of rice, a bit on the low side but any farmer can calculate that he should be able to produce revenue of USD 2500.00 from every acre in production.
Do not forget that we are just talking revenue here, costs have to be taken into consideration too, but just imagine the possibilty.
Wake up now.
Produce your own products, don´t import them.
Export finished goods, not raw materials.
Utlilise local products, and promote local entrepreneurs.
If you look through my postings, you will find that this message has been repeated in various forms because I see this as one of the major challenges facing our country. Hopefully the rising price of rice will cause incentives for local farmers to start producing the sought after product.
With the known price of rice, it is easy for anyone to calculate their income from farming. Say for the sake of the calculation that an acre of rice yeilds about 5 tons of produce. This is about 100 bags of rice, a bit on the low side but any farmer can calculate that he should be able to produce revenue of USD 2500.00 from every acre in production.
Do not forget that we are just talking revenue here, costs have to be taken into consideration too, but just imagine the possibilty.
Wake up now.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Them belly full, but we hungry
A pot has cooked but the yeild´s not enough. A hungry man is an angry man....
All over the world, higher prices of commodities are causing widespread unrest. People are rioting in Haiti, the Philipines, Burkina Faso and the list goes on. People are incorrectly/unfairly blaming their governments for the increase in goods that they depend on for day to day living. They want their government to do something about their woes yesterday already.
In our little country, we insist on importing a majority of the goods that we consume. Currently, the gas has to be imported because we cannot produce it. The price of oil currently fluctuates around a couple of dollars above 100 dollars per barrel. It used to be around 30 dollars a couple of odd years ago.
We have a tendency as a people to demand that our government should intervene in cases like this and set price ceilings. We have supposedly educated journalists, screaming on their front pages that the government must do something about this and go in and reduce the price of, for example, rice.
Let me inform you of some facts:
1. Price control is a thing of the past, unless you have a budget to subsidize the importer (which we don´t have).
2. You could impose price ceilings, with the effect that whoever is in the business of importing the commodity would be selling at a loss and refrain from importing it, causing a shortage. This shortage would cause the price of the goods to increase further as the basic laws of supply and demand. Demand is greater than supply of the goods causing momentary price hikes. No sensible person is in business to lose money.(Check out the empty shelves in Zimbabwe)
3. In "normal economies", when the price of goods increase as they have, producers of the said commodity usually jump at the opportunity to produce as much of it as possible and maximize their profit while doing so. This usually increases the supply of the good in question, and over time reduces the price of the good.
4. Liberia is not a normal economy. Everyone prefers to sit in the overcrowded capital and complain and play politics, instead of going and producing what is needed in terms of food. Unfortunately, this attitude is a remenance of the society created by returning settlers during the 1800s, always depending upon the outside world to supply supply the goods.
5. We have enough fertile land in this country. Our president has shown us what modern agricultural technology can yield in the terms of rice production just outside her yard. Is it her job to start rice farms to feed us now?
My people, the incentives are there. Plant your seed, and you will reap the harvest. Either that or you will have to eat cassava and edoe for the rest of you life. Sit down there and let foreigners come here and do it for you, and even more money will flow our of our country.
All over the world, higher prices of commodities are causing widespread unrest. People are rioting in Haiti, the Philipines, Burkina Faso and the list goes on. People are incorrectly/unfairly blaming their governments for the increase in goods that they depend on for day to day living. They want their government to do something about their woes yesterday already.
In our little country, we insist on importing a majority of the goods that we consume. Currently, the gas has to be imported because we cannot produce it. The price of oil currently fluctuates around a couple of dollars above 100 dollars per barrel. It used to be around 30 dollars a couple of odd years ago.
We have a tendency as a people to demand that our government should intervene in cases like this and set price ceilings. We have supposedly educated journalists, screaming on their front pages that the government must do something about this and go in and reduce the price of, for example, rice.
Let me inform you of some facts:
1. Price control is a thing of the past, unless you have a budget to subsidize the importer (which we don´t have).
2. You could impose price ceilings, with the effect that whoever is in the business of importing the commodity would be selling at a loss and refrain from importing it, causing a shortage. This shortage would cause the price of the goods to increase further as the basic laws of supply and demand. Demand is greater than supply of the goods causing momentary price hikes. No sensible person is in business to lose money.(Check out the empty shelves in Zimbabwe)
3. In "normal economies", when the price of goods increase as they have, producers of the said commodity usually jump at the opportunity to produce as much of it as possible and maximize their profit while doing so. This usually increases the supply of the good in question, and over time reduces the price of the good.
4. Liberia is not a normal economy. Everyone prefers to sit in the overcrowded capital and complain and play politics, instead of going and producing what is needed in terms of food. Unfortunately, this attitude is a remenance of the society created by returning settlers during the 1800s, always depending upon the outside world to supply supply the goods.
5. We have enough fertile land in this country. Our president has shown us what modern agricultural technology can yield in the terms of rice production just outside her yard. Is it her job to start rice farms to feed us now?
My people, the incentives are there. Plant your seed, and you will reap the harvest. Either that or you will have to eat cassava and edoe for the rest of you life. Sit down there and let foreigners come here and do it for you, and even more money will flow our of our country.
Monday, March 10, 2008
All the wrong ideas
Objection, your honour.
Read the following quotes made by the senator of Maryland county in the year 2008:
“The aim of joining an association or any political party is to reap the benefit at the end of the day and not to suffer for others who did not contribute anything towards the success to enjoy it.”
“Our partisans are really suffering; it is now time that we give them jobs so that they would be able to support their families. If we don’t put our feet on the ground to ensure that our people get job, the party stands to lose the next election,” the Maryland County Senator warned.
Can you believe this? This is the kind of backward thinking that undermines democracy anywhere in the world today.
If the gentleman went vote-fishing on electionday with promising people jobs if they voted for him, then your man has a very deranged idea about what democracy is.
Read the following quotes made by the senator of Maryland county in the year 2008:
“The aim of joining an association or any political party is to reap the benefit at the end of the day and not to suffer for others who did not contribute anything towards the success to enjoy it.”
“Our partisans are really suffering; it is now time that we give them jobs so that they would be able to support their families. If we don’t put our feet on the ground to ensure that our people get job, the party stands to lose the next election,” the Maryland County Senator warned.
Can you believe this? This is the kind of backward thinking that undermines democracy anywhere in the world today.
If the gentleman went vote-fishing on electionday with promising people jobs if they voted for him, then your man has a very deranged idea about what democracy is.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Poopoo and all get power
It is time for these zealots to step aside. When I was growing up, there was a saying "Poopoo and all get power". This saying has during all my years never been more appropriate to use about a bunch of imbeciles than now.
What kind of a country is going to move forward if a bunch of idiots is going to undermine every step that is taken.
Shame on you lawmakers, start moving forward instead of backsliding into the seventies and eighties. You people are not doing the job that you were elected to do, so either you step down and let someone else take your place who is willing to do the job or you step up and move forward.
For me it is a four hour drive to "show cause" in front of them, I am waiting for their summons.
Eotb.
Sumo
What kind of a country is going to move forward if a bunch of idiots is going to undermine every step that is taken.
Shame on you lawmakers, start moving forward instead of backsliding into the seventies and eighties. You people are not doing the job that you were elected to do, so either you step down and let someone else take your place who is willing to do the job or you step up and move forward.
For me it is a four hour drive to "show cause" in front of them, I am waiting for their summons.
Eotb.
Sumo
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
I have given up all hope
A few weeks ago, I visited our sandbox otherwise known as our legislature. Just having been renovated, the place looked sharp, outside and inside. It is a pity though that the majesty of the building does not reflect its inhabitants.
If it is not one thing, it is the other. Bla, bla, bla. Is this democracy at work? Then I am not sure that it is democracy that we need.
It just goes on and on;
•Fighting between the houses that each has to have its own generator
•Failure to provide funding for fuel
•Corruption charges left and right
•Commitees making faulty reports
•Squabble over spending on buses
•Fraudulous contempt charges against challangers
•Tug of wars over furniture
If you ask me, it is time to do away with this nonsense. Put your selfish ways to one side for once and put your heads together so that we finally can move forward. FOR GOODNESS SAKE. At least, start making some policies/laws for your country.
If it is not one thing, it is the other. Bla, bla, bla. Is this democracy at work? Then I am not sure that it is democracy that we need.
It just goes on and on;
•Fighting between the houses that each has to have its own generator
•Failure to provide funding for fuel
•Corruption charges left and right
•Commitees making faulty reports
•Squabble over spending on buses
•Fraudulous contempt charges against challangers
•Tug of wars over furniture
If you ask me, it is time to do away with this nonsense. Put your selfish ways to one side for once and put your heads together so that we finally can move forward. FOR GOODNESS SAKE. At least, start making some policies/laws for your country.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Those damned lists
Ever since the coup in 1980, as soon as trouble breaks out in our country, lists surface from nowhere. Lists of peoples names that were involved, that should be arrested.
This fenomenom allowed people to get their enemies, rivals, creditors names on a list of people that were allegedly involved in whatever was the uprising, and be subsequently arrested for whatever.
Our National Security Agency has allegedly compiled such a list again. Don´t they know that those days are over, when security personel took state matters into their own hands.
They treason trial going on right now is getteing more and more embarassing for every day that goes. Doesn´t anyone see that?
This fenomenom allowed people to get their enemies, rivals, creditors names on a list of people that were allegedly involved in whatever was the uprising, and be subsequently arrested for whatever.
Our National Security Agency has allegedly compiled such a list again. Don´t they know that those days are over, when security personel took state matters into their own hands.
They treason trial going on right now is getteing more and more embarassing for every day that goes. Doesn´t anyone see that?
Monday, November 26, 2007
Depreciation
Since our honourable assembley is in recess, I have had very few reasons to become angry recently. So instead of venting anger, maybe I can be a bit more constructive in my thoughts than usual.
As with anything in life, you have to sacrifice something in order to gain something else. It is one of the basic laws of economics. It is just that we as Liberians have to learn to abide by this.
Normally, in Liberia, when a building is erected, it usually stands as erected for the rest of its life. For some reason, we tend not to spend a cent on maintainence because we feel that we are smart and can therefore "save" or not waste funds. In reality, every penny not spent on maintainence is depreciation. Do we care? Apparently not. This worried me in the eighties when the Samuel Kanyon Doe stadium was built. The first thing that hit me that day I visited was "How long will these toilets flush?" I was just a boy, but for some reason I was wondering what kind of a maintainence budget the place had. But that is just me.
Today with the stadium renovated to brand new, I cannot help but wonder again. This is just one case. Now with major road projects initiated, I still wonder if anyone ever thought about budgeting funds for future maintainence of these. And if they have thought about it, will the funds really go towards their intended purpose.
I just have to say bridges, harbours, sewage systems, government buildings whatever. Sure, they will be rebuilt to standard. But what happens after that?
Can we change the way we have done things in the past?
As with anything in life, you have to sacrifice something in order to gain something else. It is one of the basic laws of economics. It is just that we as Liberians have to learn to abide by this.
Normally, in Liberia, when a building is erected, it usually stands as erected for the rest of its life. For some reason, we tend not to spend a cent on maintainence because we feel that we are smart and can therefore "save" or not waste funds. In reality, every penny not spent on maintainence is depreciation. Do we care? Apparently not. This worried me in the eighties when the Samuel Kanyon Doe stadium was built. The first thing that hit me that day I visited was "How long will these toilets flush?" I was just a boy, but for some reason I was wondering what kind of a maintainence budget the place had. But that is just me.
Today with the stadium renovated to brand new, I cannot help but wonder again. This is just one case. Now with major road projects initiated, I still wonder if anyone ever thought about budgeting funds for future maintainence of these. And if they have thought about it, will the funds really go towards their intended purpose.
I just have to say bridges, harbours, sewage systems, government buildings whatever. Sure, they will be rebuilt to standard. But what happens after that?
Can we change the way we have done things in the past?
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The cost of living gets so high...
... the rich and poor, they start to cry. This lyric from Bob Marleys "Them belly full" is a reality in Liberia.
In the old days, commodity prices were some how controlled by the government. How this worked I am not sure and I am not sure that I want to know. Today, everywhere you turn, someone is whining about the price of something and turning all blame for this, incorrectly, mind you on our government.
At the same time there are mixed signals coming from the Ministry of Commerce on this issue. There are some kind of regulations as to what a bag of butter rice should cost, what a bag of cement should cost, what a gallon of gas should cost. I am not going to take too much notice of this but let it rest at that.
What I do want to bring up is the fact that we in Liberia are entirely dependent on importing our most common commodities. This makes us incredibly dependent on the market prices of these commodities. Rice, gas, cement, cooking oil, fuel oil, beef and so on. Fellow Liberians, please note that the price of crude oil is nearing the 100 dollar mark per barrel. This has a huge impact on the whole of our society, locally and abroad. As everyone may have noticed, taxi fares have gone up. This is only one effect. The cost of generating electricity has also gone up, so that those in businesses that consume electricity have to adjust their prices for this increase - cold drinks, ice. As mentioned earlier, transportation costs have increased for those importing goods as well as farmers transporting produce from rural areas. In the end the price of most goods will have to be adjusted for this.
Worldwide, the price of grains (rice,wheat,corn) have increased with 25 to 30 percent. This will be noticed in the price of say flour, cornmeal, animal feed. And that is just how it is. Our government is powerless to do anything about this. Please realize this and save your breath for something more useful.
I am not even sure that if oil is found and produced off our shores that this will even effect the local price of gas in the short term.
I cannot say it enough, but we have to start breaking our dependency on imports from abroad and growing our own staples. But I almost forgot, no one wants to be a farmer nowadays. Everyone wants to wear a three piece suit and drive a SUV.
If you have ever flown abroad, you might have noticed that the more developed the country that you are flying over, the more you will find that every available space on the ground to be utilized for some sort of farming. Flying over our own country reveals that most of it is bush, and shows how far we have to go.
Tip: Go to your local market/supermarket, and see what is available and what is not. Choose a product that you think you could produce and do some research. Find out the price of it, how it is made, how it is packaged, who else would need it. When this basic research is done, you would have enough info to start testing on your own. Start finding out about which raw materials are needed, where to get these. From there you start find out what the raw materials cost, who sells them, what tools or machinery would be needed. Before you know it, you will have enough to make a basic business plan and a budget. If you cannot find the raw materials, hey, there is another business plan for your neighbor, your brother/sister/children/community.
Start with your own two hands and start producing whatever it is that you fell for in the first place. As you perfect your product, it will start to sell and generate income. Gradually, you will be able to get better tools or that machine that you once dreamt of. Eventually you will need help to produce at a quicker pace, wham you have employees/partners. Believe me, what seemed impossible at the start will change your life, and the best part is that anyone can do it. That is how it was done in the "developed" world and it should be easier, because nine times out of ten, some one has already done it.
In the old days, commodity prices were some how controlled by the government. How this worked I am not sure and I am not sure that I want to know. Today, everywhere you turn, someone is whining about the price of something and turning all blame for this, incorrectly, mind you on our government.
At the same time there are mixed signals coming from the Ministry of Commerce on this issue. There are some kind of regulations as to what a bag of butter rice should cost, what a bag of cement should cost, what a gallon of gas should cost. I am not going to take too much notice of this but let it rest at that.
What I do want to bring up is the fact that we in Liberia are entirely dependent on importing our most common commodities. This makes us incredibly dependent on the market prices of these commodities. Rice, gas, cement, cooking oil, fuel oil, beef and so on. Fellow Liberians, please note that the price of crude oil is nearing the 100 dollar mark per barrel. This has a huge impact on the whole of our society, locally and abroad. As everyone may have noticed, taxi fares have gone up. This is only one effect. The cost of generating electricity has also gone up, so that those in businesses that consume electricity have to adjust their prices for this increase - cold drinks, ice. As mentioned earlier, transportation costs have increased for those importing goods as well as farmers transporting produce from rural areas. In the end the price of most goods will have to be adjusted for this.
Worldwide, the price of grains (rice,wheat,corn) have increased with 25 to 30 percent. This will be noticed in the price of say flour, cornmeal, animal feed. And that is just how it is. Our government is powerless to do anything about this. Please realize this and save your breath for something more useful.
I am not even sure that if oil is found and produced off our shores that this will even effect the local price of gas in the short term.
I cannot say it enough, but we have to start breaking our dependency on imports from abroad and growing our own staples. But I almost forgot, no one wants to be a farmer nowadays. Everyone wants to wear a three piece suit and drive a SUV.
If you have ever flown abroad, you might have noticed that the more developed the country that you are flying over, the more you will find that every available space on the ground to be utilized for some sort of farming. Flying over our own country reveals that most of it is bush, and shows how far we have to go.
Tip: Go to your local market/supermarket, and see what is available and what is not. Choose a product that you think you could produce and do some research. Find out the price of it, how it is made, how it is packaged, who else would need it. When this basic research is done, you would have enough info to start testing on your own. Start finding out about which raw materials are needed, where to get these. From there you start find out what the raw materials cost, who sells them, what tools or machinery would be needed. Before you know it, you will have enough to make a basic business plan and a budget. If you cannot find the raw materials, hey, there is another business plan for your neighbor, your brother/sister/children/community.
Start with your own two hands and start producing whatever it is that you fell for in the first place. As you perfect your product, it will start to sell and generate income. Gradually, you will be able to get better tools or that machine that you once dreamt of. Eventually you will need help to produce at a quicker pace, wham you have employees/partners. Believe me, what seemed impossible at the start will change your life, and the best part is that anyone can do it. That is how it was done in the "developed" world and it should be easier, because nine times out of ten, some one has already done it.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Developement by production
Since the early days of settlement on these shores, the early settlers met an agrarian society with whom they started trading. During the first few years of the colony, almost everyone started trading goods in one way or the other.
Our problem today is that this mentality still persists. Everyone you meet wants to start a business. If you inquire enough, you will learn that their idea of a business is buying wholesale and selling retail. There is nothing wrong with this in particular, but on the whole, it creates a society full of traders basically adding value on already existing products.
In the long run, what we need are more producers, people producing goods with local produce and raw materials. In todays society, the real money is made by anybody importing goods into the country, and we know exactly who that is.
So, in order to start increasing our GNP, start producing something from scratch instead of trading. In time your product, if it meets up to standard will help to fill some of the voids today filled by imported goods.
Our problem today is that this mentality still persists. Everyone you meet wants to start a business. If you inquire enough, you will learn that their idea of a business is buying wholesale and selling retail. There is nothing wrong with this in particular, but on the whole, it creates a society full of traders basically adding value on already existing products.
In the long run, what we need are more producers, people producing goods with local produce and raw materials. In todays society, the real money is made by anybody importing goods into the country, and we know exactly who that is.
So, in order to start increasing our GNP, start producing something from scratch instead of trading. In time your product, if it meets up to standard will help to fill some of the voids today filled by imported goods.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Back to the dark ages
Here we go again.
Imagine the chief justice of Liberia summoning the editors of all the newspapers in the nation to humiliate and threaten them with 30 days jail, if when they refer to him do not do it in a special way according to his instructions. Who does Mr. Johnny Louise think that he is? God?
This is bad enough in this day and age, and what scares me even more is the fact that the same man summoned the editor of the Daily Observer Newspaper to question him on a cartoon that the paper carried on the subject.
It can also be noted that these incidents always take place when the president is out of the country.
Imagine the chief justice of Liberia summoning the editors of all the newspapers in the nation to humiliate and threaten them with 30 days jail, if when they refer to him do not do it in a special way according to his instructions. Who does Mr. Johnny Louise think that he is? God?
This is bad enough in this day and age, and what scares me even more is the fact that the same man summoned the editor of the Daily Observer Newspaper to question him on a cartoon that the paper carried on the subject.
It can also be noted that these incidents always take place when the president is out of the country.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Eh my people
Here we go again. The other day, our honorable legislators received a request from the Ministry of Finance to produce receipts and invoices for funds made available to them. The letter comes from the Debt Management and Expenditure division of the ministry and seems to be a routine letter requesting routine things.
What does our honorable assembly do? In this day and age, they are upset because the writer of the letter is a deputy minister. How dare he, who is only a deputy minister, write to us and request invoices from us. "Does he not know who we are?" is written in the undertone of the issue. "We are untouchable and under no one."
Please. The man is doing his job. If you have spent the money without the receipts to show for it, then say so. Do not go about beating your chests like some big gorilla in order to scare him. The only thing that the reaction creates is distrust. Show the receipts!
It does not get any better when you also hear that the supplier of fuel to the assembly has not been paid for 3 months. Of course they will not supply anymore until they get paid.
What does our honorable assembly do? In this day and age, they are upset because the writer of the letter is a deputy minister. How dare he, who is only a deputy minister, write to us and request invoices from us. "Does he not know who we are?" is written in the undertone of the issue. "We are untouchable and under no one."
Please. The man is doing his job. If you have spent the money without the receipts to show for it, then say so. Do not go about beating your chests like some big gorilla in order to scare him. The only thing that the reaction creates is distrust. Show the receipts!
It does not get any better when you also hear that the supplier of fuel to the assembly has not been paid for 3 months. Of course they will not supply anymore until they get paid.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Law business
I do not know how come we Liberians love "law business". Everywhere you turn, someone is a lawyer. I guess something went wrong back in the day (in the 50s, 60s and 70s). For some reason almost everyone seemed to have gone to school somewhere and studied the law, or if not that, political science, philosophy or some other useless profession for the future of a developing country. What happened to the entrepreneurs, the doctors, the engineers, the industrialists, the scientists.....the list just goes on.
What has a lawyer ever produced that has contributed to the development of our nation? A bunch of words. People cannot eat words. You cannot sell words. Just look at our society today. Everywhere you turn, someone is arguing about something. Everyone is politicizing everything. People can sit and invent hidden agendas in just about everything. Just look at the grumble about a "passport" in the media. It makes you sick.
Now that I have gotten that out of my system, let me clarify myself. If you are going to study the law, fine. I will not hold it against you, but please when you get your degree, seek a job in the judiciary or in any related business. Start your own law firm even.
What has a lawyer ever produced that has contributed to the development of our nation? A bunch of words. People cannot eat words. You cannot sell words. Just look at our society today. Everywhere you turn, someone is arguing about something. Everyone is politicizing everything. People can sit and invent hidden agendas in just about everything. Just look at the grumble about a "passport" in the media. It makes you sick.
Now that I have gotten that out of my system, let me clarify myself. If you are going to study the law, fine. I will not hold it against you, but please when you get your degree, seek a job in the judiciary or in any related business. Start your own law firm even.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Whopee, got you sweet!
I could not stop laughing the other day, it was just so typical of our nation, that I had to write this piece.
Our auditor-in-chief, who is going to be responsible for performing audits on all government entities in the future recently dismissed his entire staff of auditors in order to reformat the competence level at the commission. Right away, dismissed workers cried foul and ran to their buddies in congress, who in turn, issued an order to the said commission to reinstate these souls. They also summoned the a-i-c to"give reason why he should not be held in contempt".
Can you imagine this? Our lawmakers interfering in the business of a governmental agency.
It got even better when said auditor informed said congress that he was carrying out the work that they had approved about 3 million to in the budget that they had recently passed. He even pointed out that if said lawmakers had bothered to read what they had approved, the whole situation would not have arisen.
In the cause of the people, corruption will diminish. Just wait.
Our auditor-in-chief, who is going to be responsible for performing audits on all government entities in the future recently dismissed his entire staff of auditors in order to reformat the competence level at the commission. Right away, dismissed workers cried foul and ran to their buddies in congress, who in turn, issued an order to the said commission to reinstate these souls. They also summoned the a-i-c to"give reason why he should not be held in contempt".
Can you imagine this? Our lawmakers interfering in the business of a governmental agency.
It got even better when said auditor informed said congress that he was carrying out the work that they had approved about 3 million to in the budget that they had recently passed. He even pointed out that if said lawmakers had bothered to read what they had approved, the whole situation would not have arisen.
In the cause of the people, corruption will diminish. Just wait.
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