It is hardly believable that a huge steel manufacturing company like Sethi Steel Factory would operate in Liberia without a license and other requisite operational documents. Sethi also faces concerns over safety issues that its employees have protested against for time in memorial.
The glaring deficiencies came to public attention when an Oxygen explosion at the factory killed an employee on Monday, February 19, 2025, with reports of injuries, though the company says there was no injury besides the death of an employee, Saah Samukai.
Perhaps even more disappointing and disgusting about the incident is the Environmental Protection Agency’s disclosure that Sethi, which enjoys a monopoly on building materials such as steel, zinc, nails, and others, has been operating in the country without a license.
“This is a serious matter because a Liberian’s life has been taken away, so my team at the EPA has come to observe and find out exactly how the accident took place.
And we have gathered in our preliminary findings a few safety concerns; there are several things: some are good, and some are bad, and we must take the bad ones very seriously”, EPA Executive Director Dr. Emmanuel Urey Yarkpawolo told reporters last week.
But how come the EPA, under the watch of Dr. Emmanuel Urey Yarkpawolo, did not know that Sethi Steel Factory has been operating in the country without a license and safety gear for its workforce, most of whom are Liberians who do the physical labor-intensive aspect of the job?
We are learning now that it took Dr. Yarkpawolo and the EPA more than a year since he took office in 2024 to visit Sethi Steel Factor, which is less than an hour’s drive from central Monrovia to Japan Freeway in Gardersville, to discover that the company has been operating outside of Liberian law.
“The first thing, when we heard about the accident, our team came immediately and shut down the factory; another thing, we have observed Sethi Ferro has been operating without a license, and we are going through the investigation for stringent action,” he added.
The Government of Liberia has reportedly fined the company US$5,000 and shut it down for operating without a license and standard safety policies. However, it took the death of a fellow Liberian to have Dr. Yarkpawolo and his team at the EPA do their job of properly monitoring and enforcing required safety regulations.
We wonder how many companies out there across Liberia are having their way, violating the laws of the country, and endangering public lives, especially Liberians who work in those places just to earn a living at the expense of their lives.
We are hearing that the House of Representatives has summoned the Ministers of Labor, Commerce, Bureau of Concession, Environmental Protection Agency, and Serthi Ferro Fabrik Steel Factory to appear before it this Tuesday, 25 February, to address the oxygen explosion at the factory that led to the death of an employee.
The plenary made the decision last Thursday, 20 February, based on a communication from Rep. Ivar K. Jones of Electoral District 2, Margibi County.
In his communication, Rep. Jones cites Article 8 of the 1986 Constitution, which guarantees just and humane working conditions for all citizens. He stresses that the government must ensure that factories operating in Liberia adhere to strict safety standards.
“When people leave their homes in the morning to go to work, their families expect them to return safely. If safety measures are not enforced, and these investors continue to operate without regard for human life, then this is a concern for all of us”, he emphasized.
However, it is glaring that both the Legislature and the Executive Branch are paying lip service to safety and the enforcement of laws on the books, leaving the citizenry vulnerable. The two important branches of government are preoccupied with achieving their selfish desires to the detriment of the people they claim to serve.
