Displaying items by tag: Liberia Cement Corporation

Liberia: Chemical wastes being disposed off by the Liberian Cement Corporation or CEMENCO in the demolition of its former cement plant are allegedly posing a serious threat to human lives, residents of adjacent communities have complained.

CEMENCO, which is a subsidiary of HeidelbergCement, was established in Liberia in 1968 and was the only cement plant in the country.

The company's General Services Manager, James D Gibson, Jr., said that CEMENCO is primarily a grinding plant and not an integrated plant. He said that cement from its old plant was caked or baked cement, which has no asbestos and therefore, the current exercise possesses no health risk to communities and residents as being claimed.

Liberia: The Liberian government, through the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR) is preparing to take legal action against the Liberia Cement Corporation (Cemenco) for allegations of pollution from its operations in Monrovia.

"We have completed all medical examinations on dozens of residents in the Belema Community. Doctors have established that indeed the cement dust being produced by the company is responsible for their disability and lung infections," said INCHR Commissioner, James D Torh. He added that the INCHR was resolved to reap millions of dollars in damages for residents dating as far back as the time CEMENCO was established in 1968.

Liberia: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia has suspended tariffs on cement. The government cited that the move was in the interest of national reconstruction and development.

Under Executive Order No. 46, titled 'Re-Instituting the Suspension of the Protective Tariff on Cement,' the Liberian government has repealed a US$2 protective tariff per 50kg bag of Portland cement imposed under the Revenue Code of Liberia, tariff No. 25.23. The mandate added that the need still exists to encourage local industries to supply cement to the general public at reasonable prices.

Liberia currently has one cement grinding plant, the Liberia Cement Corporation, a subsidiary of HeidelbergCement which employs 63 people. In 2012 Nigerian cement producer Dangote announced plants to build a US$35m plant in the country.