The_Open_Door_deel1

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outside the concession area. The consequences for the tribal
people who were still engaged in a subsistance-economy were
ignored in this case, as in other eases.
LIBING committed itself to clear and plant 1,000 acres wihtin
3 years after the effective date of the agreement, and after
that period to increase the acreage cleared and planted by
some 500 acres a year.
All lands in Parcel A and Parcel B not cleared and planted would
revert to the Government in case this rate of development would
not be maintained.
Land rental was fixed at 5 cents per acre per annum for uncleared
land and 10 cents per acre per annum for cleared and/or cultivated
land. Other obligations accepted by LIBINC were those of
maintaining an authorized representative with full power to act
within the republic, of training Liberians for various positions
in the company and of employing trained Liberian personnel as they
are available and required, of not importing unskilled labour if
not necessary, of encouraging Liberian private farmers to develop
high yield oil palm plantations, and of submitting routine reports
to the Government every year.
The Government had the right to cancel the agreement If LIBINC
failed to pay the rental, or failed to clear and plant 1,000 acres
within 3 years after the effective date of the agreement, had
suspended effective operations for a period of 1 year for reasons
other than force majeure, or violated other clauses of the
agreement and failed to correct those violations within six months
after the Government had pointed out the violation in writing. In
addition, the Government had the right to cancel the concession
with respect to particular tracts if the company failed to pay the
rental related to that tract of land. If, in ease of arbitration,
a third arbiter would have to be appointed because the two
arbiters appointed by the company and by the Government (one each)
could not reach agreement, the third person would be appointed by
the Chief Justice of Liberia..It was also of importance that the
Government guaranteed the concessionaire that within the Parcels
A and B, no other concession or right of any kind would be granted
to any third party and that it would defend and protect the
concession area for the sole and exclusive use of LIBINC.
The agreement did not provide the company with any right to cancel
the agreement though more Important shortcomings of it were the
absence of a provision regulating the transfer of the company's
assets in case of expiration or cancellation of the agreement, and
the omission of a provision allowing for a renegotiation of the
agreement before its expiration after 40 years.
In certain respects, however, this was a much better concession
agreement than the previous ones which had been concluded by the
Government of President Tubman. Marked improvements were the
granting of a concession area which was reasonable in size (but
would still prove to be too large), the insertion of an obligation
in the agreement to submit periodical reports to the Government,
the failure to do so giving the latter the right to cancel the
agreement, and the provisions relating to cancellation in general
and to arbitration. A major improvement was the absence of a
clause obliging the Government to assist the company in securing
an adequate labour force as found in the concession agreements