Liberia: RPAL Ends National Congress

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The Analyst (Monrovia)

9 July 2008
Posted to the web 9 July 2008

J. Nathaniel Daygbor

Rubber Planters Association of Liberia (RPAL) has ended its national congress in Gbarnga, Bong County. The congress, which brought together rubber planters from the 15 sub-political divisions of the country, is the third of its kind in the history of the organization.

At the end of the congress, a new corps of offices was elected to run the affairs of the association. The new leadership takes over from the Keith Jubath administration, which ran the affairs of the entity since 2000, and they are expected to serve a two-year term.

Those elected include Roger Sherman, President and Emery Dennis, Vice President. According to the association by-laws, the executive committee will elect a secretary and treasurer.

Apart from electing new leadershi,, the congress saw the drafting of an eight-count resolution, taking into account important steps geared toward the improvement of the association.

The delegate agreed to include each farmer, as a subscription to the RPAL, pay the amount of US$2.00 per ton metric ton of rubber during each sale. It was also penned that the RPAL would continue to provide bud grafted stumps to its members at a reduced price.

Speaking at the ceremony, outgoing President Keith Jubath called on the new administration to tackle the issue of rubber theft, which according to is the number one problem facing farmers and plantation owners.

He attributed the increase of rubber theft to the unlimited buyers who he alleged ply the streets and every road corners without obtaining requisite document from relevant government agencies.

Jubath said new administration should be ready to deal with the issue of "tax collectors' refusal to issue official receipts to farmers when they pay their taxes, noting that this is uncalled for., but observers wondered he did not tackle or address the issues he is calling on his partners to deal with.

While calling on his successors to address the problems at bay within the association, he at the same time urged the government to put into place rightful mechanisms to curtail the ugly habits.

Also speaking at the close of the congress, the president-elect, Roger Sherman called for the support of every farmer to move the association forward, and stressed that in the absence of farmers' support, it would be difficult to achieve set goals and objectives of the RPAL.

Mr. Sherman who has been in the rubber business since the 70s said his administration would endeavor to take the association to the leeward counties to accommodate those who are lagging behind.

Meanwhile, Executive Director Simeon Woheel has disclosed the rapid decline of the rubber heritage of the country, and called for close attention. On the state of Liberia's rubber, he said it was regrettable that Liberia, which was leading producer of rubber, has become the least in the world.

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