The Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC) has ordered the immediate closure of several healthcare facilities owned and operated by concession companies in Liberia.
The named-non-compliant companies include, the Cavalla Rubber Corporation (CRC) in Pleebo, Maryland County, and Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL) in Butaw, Tarjouwon, and Kpanyan districts in Sinoe County.
The two concession companies, according to LMDC, were shot down due to their deliberate harmful medical practices antagonistic to the health of Liberians working in their employ.
The shutdown follows days of LMDC’s inspections, which revealed gross violations of national healthcare standards/protocols, negligence, and failure to meet core responsibilities prescribed under corporate social mineral development agreements.
Pleebo, Mary Land County:
According to a news release signed by LMDC communications director, James Emmanuel Cole, CRC’s facility in Pleebo, Mary Land County, was found to be operating without a licensed physician for a protracted period.
According to the LMDC inspection team, CRC’s facility in Pleebo had inadequate medical staffs, and lacked the minimum and/or basic medical equipment any clinic can provide in contemporary society. The site was also closed for poor sanitation and failure to properly manage pharmaceutical supplies.
Meanwhile, the three clinics operated by Golden Veroleum Liberia, in Sinoe, were described as “unsanitary and dangerously understaffed”, with no medical waste incinerators, improper disposal practices, and deficient drug inventory systems.
“These findings are not just administrative failures, they are direct threats to the lives of Liberians living in concession areas”, says Mr. Cole, Public Relations Officer at LMDC.
He stressed that both CRC and GVL have violated the social development provisions enshrined in their concession agreements indicating, they’ve abandoned their legal and moral obligations to the communities in which they operate.
Under Liberian law, concessionaires are required to provide essential services; such as healthcare, housing, education, and water/sanitation to their employees and dependents. However, local residents have continually raised concerns over deteriorating healthcare conditions, lack of staff and drugs, and broken infrastructure within the plantation camps.
“The situation on the ground is disgraceful and detrimental to health. How can a clinic operate without a single qualified doctor or proper drug storage? We’ve issued warnings before. Now we are enforcing closures, Cole continued.”
The LMDC through its Public Relations officer maintained that the level of wrongdoing on the part of the companies will not go unpunished under the watchful eyes of the LMDC.
“Concessionaires cannot be allowed to profit while exposing citizens to unsafe healthcare environments. We are urgently calling on the Committees on Health and Concessions at the Legislature, the National Bureau of Concessions, and other relevant government regulatory institutions to take immediate action,” Cole added.
The closures form part of LMDC’s ongoing nationwide health compliance initiative, which aims to assess and enforce minimum healthcare standards across all sectors, including public, private, and concession-operated facilities.
