MONROVIA – Nimba County District #7 Representative Musa Hassan Bility has raised strong concerns over a recent government decision to reduce petroleum storage fees from thirty-five cents ($0.35) to two cents ($0.02) per gallon, warning that the move could cripple Liberian-owned petroleum terminals and put thousands of jobs at risk.
In a press statement released Monday, Rep. Bility said the policy, communicated by the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC), introduces new “technical cost lines” that make LPRC the direct beneficiary of the cuts.
He described the action as a deliberate attempt to weaken Liberian ownership and centralize power in the hands of a few.
“The net effect of this policy is to effectively shut down Liberian-owned petroleum terminals,” Bility warned. “This decision not only threatens our energy security, but also undermines jobs and families, as terminal operators cannot remain in business under such conditions.”
The lawmaker emphasized that Liberian petroleum terminal operators have invested millions of dollars in infrastructure, technology, and workforce development over the past 15 years, contributing significantly to market stability and job creation.
He argued that the new policy disregards those investments and runs counter to the government’s responsibility to create an enabling environment for private sector growth.
“No responsible government would sacrifice its own citizens’ businesses under the pretense of price relief,” Bility stated. “The petroleum terminal business is one of the few sectors built and sustained exclusively by Liberians.”
Bility, who is also the owner of Srimex Oil and Gas Company, urged the government to immediately halt the policy and instead hold transparent consultations with petroleum terminal operators.
He maintained that reforms in the sector should strengthen local businesses and benefit the Liberian people, not advance narrow political interests.
Trokon S. Wrepue is a Liberian journalist with 9 years of experience in the practice of journalism. Over the years, Trokon has reported on women and children issues, investigated public and private sectors corruption, environmental challenges and other critical human interest stories. He is currently the Editor of News for OK FM, one of Liberia’s premier media institutions in Monrovia. Besides being a journalist, Trokon is also a Mandela Washington Fellow. In 2022, he travelled to California in the US where he studied leadership, culture and diversities at the California State University. In 2023, he travelled to Johannesburg in South Africa and attended the Mandela Washington Fellowship Symposium of Young African Leaders.
