The_Open_Door_deel1

The Port near Greenville
-103-
After having carried out preliminary surveys in 1953 and the
early part of 1954 the African Fruit Company envisaged the construction
of a port and a wharf at the Giriwakro Bay in the region
of the mouth of the Sinoe River (22) but on September 18,
1954 the Government of Liberia and the African Fruit Company entered
upon a Port Construction Agreement whereby it was decided
that the port and wharf would be constructed by the company at
the expense of the Government. The latter officially wanted
thise facilities to be available to others besides the African
Fruit Company and therefore agreed to bear the cost of its construction
(23).
In an Annual Report of the Department of the Treasury of the. late
1950's, however, it was plainly stated that the Government did so
merely "so as, among other things, to facilitate the exportation
of banana and other agricultural commodities from plantations of
the African 7ruit Company (,..)" (24),
Also the Port Construction Agreement itself leaves little doubt as
to who was to benefit most by this arrangement. In case the port
was to be enlarged the African Fruit Company (which was to and
effectively did employ a construction company to do the actual
construction work) had an option on the additional construction
works "so that the method of construction will proceed in a manner
which will not in any way affect the port operation of A7C
(Liberia), provided that the A7C would be willing to undertake the
said construction (,.,)" (25),
Furthermore, "A port management company will be organized at the
earliest convenience to operate that portion of the port to be
used for the shipment of bananas. A7C will be granted the
controlling interest in said management company." (26),
Besides assuming the cost of construction (including all costs of
preliminary surveys carried out by the African Fruit Company in
1953 and 1954) the Government undertook to compensate the private
owners of all land that had to be used in connection with the
construction of the port and to shift the town of Giriwakro
situated on the peninsula of the same name to a place outside the
peninsula. The African Fruit Company would enjoy exemption from
import-duties, and other local and general taxes on all material
imported for the construction of the port, but would no longer be
exempted from harbour and wharfage dues, originally granted in the
1952 Agreement. As regards labour, the same agreements,
commitments, and promises were made as in the Statement of
Understanding of 1952.
In case the African Fruit Company would be compelled or forced by
a situation to transfer its claims for principal and interest
against the Government,' it only had to give the Liberian
Government advance notice of this transfer, although this
transaction - a transfer of rights - was allowed only with a
wholly privately owned Company, Corporation or Syndicate.
•Ostensibly, the Tubman Administration had learned its lesson from
the Firestone Loan, repaid only two years earlier, and was afraid
again to lose souvereignty to a foreign power.
The Port Construction Agreement, which in general was favourable
to the African Fruit Company as a result of the latter's pre-