The_Open_Door_deel1

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But now, having accepted being subject to all Liberian laws, the
Company also accepted realty lease taxes, fees and charges of
general application such as motor vehicle registration fees,
drivers licenses fees, documentary stamp taxes, other generally
applied taxes, fees, charges, duties etc. (e.g. freight taxes,
harbour duties, customs duties), consular fees (which were set at
a flat fee of $ 240,000.00 per year), and a theoretical tax on
the interest paid on certain new loans, to mention some of the
fiscal obligations, the Company had been exempted from before
(58). The increase of the Government's revenue from LAMCO as a
result of these and other changes of the 1960 Mining Concession
Agreement was estimated at a little over $ 2 million per year
(59).
Despite these improvements the unresolved issues of the Review
such as the Company's liquidity problems, the contract with
S.E.B. to act as LAMCO's Financial Advisor, the Government's
exclusion from management decisions, and the Government's claim
on 50? of LAMCO's reserves built up at the expense of dividends
proved very unsatisfactory to certain Government officials.
They moreover regretted the royalty arrangement, and in early
1976, they approached the foreign investors in LAMCO with a view
to revising the agreement again (60). The foreign investors'
reaction - which was a somewhat bitter response to the
Government's "invitation" to review the agreement again - is less
interesting than the impatience demonstrated in this second
request. It may be indicative of the future treatment of foreign
investors in Liberia. There seems to be a growing economic
nationalism in Liberia, brought home by young Liberians who have
studied abroad and supported by some members of the older
generation who have become disillusioned with respect to the
benefits of foreign Investments for Liberia and Liberians. This
trend may even lead to the Closing of the Door.
After the "invitation" to participate in another review of the
Agreement the private investors in LAMCO successfully put
pressure on the Liberian Government to withdraw its proposal.
One of the means used to achieve this was the Company's
contemplated expansion programme. For, as the private investors
stated, if future buyers of (LAMCO) ore were to lose faith in
the Government this might affect future sales and, consequently,
the Company's income, and, again, the expansion programme
contemplated (61). The economic life of the mine, which produces
one of the world's highest grade of iron ore, is alleged to be
in serious danger. The mine's lifespan may not even reach beyond
1986, and unless new investments are made in the development of
new deposits Africa's Largest iron ore mine will be closed down
in the near future. The consequences of a closing down of LAMCO
to the Liberian Treasury, its economy and its society caused the
Government of President Tolbert to be careful not to frighten
the investors. Additional factors taken into account were the
precarious situation of the Mano River mine, the difficulties
with respect to the development of the iron ore deposits of the
Wologisi Mountains, and the approaching of the final date of the
closing down of L.M.C.