The Bong County office of the Liberia Agriculture Commodity Regulatory Agency (LACRA) Bong County branch appears to have been left in a deserted state, with the presence of the management, led by Director General Christopher D. Sankolo, seemingly absent.
During a tour or inspection of the facility by our reporter, it was found that the facility is overgrown with grass, the equipment for palm oil production is rusted, and the compound is unkempt and unwelcoming.
Despite receiving funding from the government, the local office seems to have been neglected by the LACRA management team. Local residents are reportedly making use of the abandoned compound for inappropriate activities due to the lack of security personnel. It is said that even the security personnel hired by the entity have allegedly abandoned their posts due to payment issues.
“The only security personnel who was hired by the entity has refused to continue to serve guard at the facility because of the alleged refusal of LACRA executives to pay him,” Abraham Kollie, a resident of the LPMC Road Community in Gbarnga, said.
Kollie recalled that during the heydays of the operation of LACRA, then known as LPMC, it supported local production of palm oil and other cash crops commodities in the County and Liberia by extension.
“This helped to put more money into the pockets of farmers at the time,” he said. “But we no longer see this and it is unfortunate. The place has been abandoned and has turned into a real bush.”
This abandonment has left local farmers and oil palm producers uncertain about their future prospects despite earlier positive engagements with LACRA officials.
Kollie, however disclosed that a few months ago, LACRA embarked on an assessment tour and galvanized some local farmers who had the sole desire of working with the entity but, on the contrary this vision appears to have died, leaving local farmers and local oil palm producers in a state of uncertainty.
“This is happening after they were given hope by LACRA heads over the creation of jobs in the County,” Kollie added.
Established in 2016, LACRA was created to promote and regulate the production, processing, and marketing of Agricultural Commodities, particularly cocoa, coffee, and oil palm. The agency’s authority to purchase various agricultural commodities in the Liberian market was granted under the amended Act.
Efforts to gather information from Christopher D. Sankolo, the head of LACRA, regarding the reported abandonment of the facilities, were unsuccessful.
