UNJLC LIBERIA
BULLETIN 15
18 November to 25 November 2003

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Contact details for all UNJLC offices are available on the UNJLC website.

CONTENTS

• 1. HIGHLIGHTS
• 2. SECURITY
• 3. AIR OPERATIONS
• 4. SEA PORT OPERATIONS
• 5. BORDER CROSSINGS, CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION
• 6. TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
• 7. LOGISTICS CO-ORDINATION
• 8. CIVIL-MILITARY COORDINATION
• 9. FUEL (Petrol, Diesel, Kerosene) / COMMODITY PRICES
• 10. LIBERIA UNJLC INTERNATIONAL STAFF
• 11. OTHER

1. HIGHLIGHTS

The Humanitarian Operations Centre (HOC) commenced its services as an Operations Centre on 19 November. The official opening ceremony will take place on 1 December. 

Electricity has been restored to parts of Monrovia for the first time in 10 years.

Details of a bus survey conducted by UNJLC are provided below.

2. SECURITY

WFP has imposed curfew hours for its staff from 24:00 hours to 04:00 hours. 

Reports have been received concerning the movement of weapons from LURD territory into Bushrod Island in Monrovia.  There has been an absence of LURD senior commanders and increased aggressiveness at LURD checkpoints at Po River and in the Kley Junction towards the military and civilians (NGOs). 

UNMIL, UNJLC and WFP visited Gbarnga, Nimba and Ganta to conduct airfield assessments. Instability and skirmishes with the rebel factions continue in Nimba County. 

On 20 November, about 800 women participated in a march to Monrovia's city hall to demand the swift disarmament of the fighters. 

Monrovia remains in UN Security Phase IV, while the rest of Liberia continues to be designated as Phase V.

3. AIR OPERATIONS

WFP Air Operations staff from Abidjan and Freetown visited Monrovia from 23 November to 25 November for a regional Air Review and Assessment.

Spriggs Payne Airfield has been temporarily closed to UN traffic due to pedestrians crossing the runway. The airport will re-open once the fencing of the perimeters is completed. Spriggs Payne is currently being used by UNMIL who have commenced refurbishment of the main terminal. Re-surfacing of the runway is also expected to start soon. WFP expects eventually to shift its air operations from Roberts International Airport, located 45 km southeast of Monrovia, to Spriggs Payne in downtown Monrovia.

UNMIL, UNJLC and WFP have started a series of airfield assessments within the country. Harper has been assessed. Zwedru, Voinjama, and other locations will also be visited in the near future. 

Data is being collected in order to produce a detailed planning map for Spriggs Payne Airfield. 

The transport from Monrovia to Freetown of 250 Sierra Leonean refugees for UNHCR continued.  About 30 refugees were returned to Sierra Leone last week via two flights.

An updated Passenger Request Form is available on the UNJLC website. 

Final details and data for use in the compilation of a comprehensive planning map of Roberts International Airport (RIA). This will take a form similar to that of the UNJLC Freeport of Monrovia planning map, downloadable from the UNJLC website.

Contacts: WFP West Africa Air Service contacts are as follows:

4. SEA PORT OPERATIONS

At the request of WFP, UNJLC located two warehousing facilities at Freeport Monrovia for the purpose of storing 11,000 MT of relief commodities that are expected to arrive soon. UNJLC met with the Lease Officer of the National Port Authority to discuss the leasing of these facilities and has provided the necessary contact details to WFP Logistics for further action.

Contacts for the Ghanaian Security contingent (UNMIL) at the Freeport are as follows:

 Commanding Officer - Lt Col James Adoinama: +377 47 530 657

 Operations Officer - Major Louman Gbetanu: +377 47 530 654

 Military Intelligence Officer - Capt Errigton Commil: +377 47 530 649

5. BORDER CROSSINGS, CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION

UNJLC met with the Minister of Commerce in order to discuss the current moves to harmonise the present Customs, Immigration and other systems with UN immunities and privileges. UNJLC explained that prior to the investiture of the Transitional Government, the UN family was exempted from the USD $ 25 purchase fee for Import Permit Declaration (IDP) forms whereas, since the takeover, the charge has been levied.  Although additional documentation will be required from UNDP to implement a permanent exemption, the Minister agreed with UNJLC to a two-week waiver of costs for the UN family. The waiver will last until 3 December 2003 at which time a permanent resolution to the issue can be sought. 

UNJLC and UNDP met with the Commissioner for Immigration on 24 November regarding the present levying of charges for application forms and airport visas for the UN. After discussion, it was agreed by the Commissioner that all Immigration charges relating to the UN would be removed.  This action will be formalised through the signing of a memorandum of understanding in the near future. 

UNJLC will be visiting the customs and immigration authorities at the border with Sierra Leone to discuss border-crossing issues and concerns of NGOs and UN agencies. 

The first draft of the UNJLC Customs and Immigration Guide is available on the website. A second draft will be posted shortly.

6. TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

An assessment of buses was requested by the IOM (International Organization on Migration). The survey revealed that buses are in short supply.  Potential investors from the transportation industry are apprehensive to undertake fresh investments because of uncertainty, risk and the low returns on their investments due to the high incidence of taxes. The following is a list of the operating buses that cover Montserrado and  Grand Bassa: 
 

Signature of contracts for the UNJLC road assessment project for Liberia will take place this week and the first results are expected back in the proceeding week. 

UNJLC/GTZ transport survey is available from the UNJLC office.  The survey is also accessible on the website.

7. LOGISTICS CO-ORDINATION

The second meeting of the Joint Logistics Working Group was held on 19 November 2003 at 10:00 a.m. in the WFP Conference room. The Civil Military Coordination Officer informed the participants of the opening of the Humanitarian Operations Centre and the services it will provide. The following entities are integrated and represented in the HOC: Logistics Coordination & Movement Control Centre (UNJLC); Civil-Military Coordination (CMCOORD/ UNMIL); NGO Liaison (UNJLC); Government Liaison (LRRRC); Humanitarian Information (HIC); and Security (UNSECOORD). 

The points of contact at the HOC are as follows: 

 General: Willy Peerens, Tel: +377 47 530 434, E-mail: willy.peerens@wfp.org

 Logistics Coordination & Movement Control: Mervat Shelbaya, Tel: +377 47 530 468 
                                                                 E-mail: Mervat.Shelbaya@wfp.org

 Civil-Military Coordination: Willy Peerens, Tel: +377 47 530 434,
                                                             E-mail: Willy.Peerens@wfp.org 
                                         Major Noel Duffy, Tel: +377 47 532 516

 Security: Arve Skog, Tel: +377 47 529 616, E-mail: arve.skog@undp.org

 Humanitarian Information: Paul Currion, Tel: +377 47 530 374, E-mail: hic-me-01@un.org

The HOC is located on the ground floor of the WFP building. These are the opening hours: Mon-Fri: 08:30 to 18:00. Sat: 10:00 to 15:00.

The official inauguration ceremony for the HOC will be on 1 December and the Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr. Abou Moussa, will preside.

8. CIVIL-MILITARY COORDINATION

The total strength of the UNMIL Force Headquarters is now 84 (out of 165), including a dedicated “Civil Military Cooperation" (CIMIC) section. Next to the 1st Brigade (4811 troops), 70 Military Observers are now deployed in the country. 

UNMIL is permanently represented in the HOC by a military CIMIC officer. This will ensure a constant dialogue and interaction between the humanitarian community and the military force deployed in the country, and will allow for any request for military assistance to be addressed efficiently. 

The planning schedule of military UNMIL missions will be made available in the Humanitarian Operations Centre (HOC). 

For the time being, UNMIL has only limited freedom of movement in the areas controlled by LURD. This might have an impact on the execution of missions by the humanitarian organisations in these areas. 

In order to improve the situation, UNMIL provides transportation for the distribution of food to LURD and MODEL forces (Gbarnga-Buchanan).

Twenty eight CIVPOL officers have arrived in Monrovia. By the end of month, the strength is to increase up to 77 officers.

UNMIL Emergency Response HOTLINES:

 Duty Officer HQ Sector 1:  +377 47 530 173
 Duty Officer HQ UNMIL :   +377 47 532 313

 UNMIL Force Commander - Lieutenant General Opande, Kenya.

 Sector 1 Commander - Brigadier General Festus Okonkwo, Nigeria. 

 Civil-Military Co-operations Officer - Major Duffy: +377 47 532516                                                                 

 UN Civil-Military Co-ordination - Willy Peerens: +377 47 530434

 WFP Civil-Military Liaison - Albert Fiawosime: +377 47 530209

 UNHCR Civil-Military Liaison - Harry Leefe: +377 47 530180

 UNJLC Civil-Military Liaison - Oleksandr Grebenyuk: +377 47 532378

9. FUEL (Petrol, Diesel, Kerosene) / COMMODITY PRICES

Duty-free fuel purchase for UN Agencies and NGOs is being conducted by Rosemarie De Souza, Operations Officer, UNDP. She can be contacted at +377 47 516 626. This service is being arranged with Gepco, LTD. 

A fuel consultant seconded to UNJLC arrived in Monrovia on 19 November. Mr. Iain Kinnear will conduct a strategic assessment of the fuel situation within Liberia. He can be contacted at +377 47 530 365. Mr. Kinnear has met with the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC), UNMIL and other UN agencies as part of his study. 

The exchange rate to the USD $ decreased from 43.00 on 18 November to LD $ 44 on 25 November.

10. LIBERIA UNJLC INTERNATIONAL STAFF

 David Pittfield: david.pittfield@wfp.org pittfield@hotmail.com Mobile: +377 47 530 093
 Peter Schaller: peter.schaller@wfp.org Mobile: +377 47 534 090
 Matthew Dee: matthew.dee@wfp.org, m_dee99@yahoo.com Mobile: +377 47 530 187
 Carole Harris: carole.harris@wfp.org Mobile: +377 47 530 092
 Victor Cole: victor.cole@wfp.org Mobile: +377 47 531 423
 Oleksandr Grebenyuk: oleksandr.grebenyuk@wfp.org Mobile: +377 47 532 378 
 Mervat Shelbaya: mervat.shelbaya@wfp.org Mobile: +377 47 534 468
 Iain Kinnear: Monrovia.guest10@wfp.org Mobile: +377 47 530 365
 Farzana Rasheed: farzana.rasheed@wfp.org Mobile: +377 47 531458

UNJLC Offices are located on the ground floor of the WFP building, UN Drive, Mamba Point, Monrovia.

UNJLC Fax: +871 763 467 061. UNJLC Tel: +871 763 467 060.

11. OTHER

The leader of Liberia's transitional government, Chairman Gyude Bryant, held talks with President Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast concerning security on the two countries' common border. The meeting was held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on 24 November. 

Monrovians celebrated the restoration of street lights in parts of the city for the first time in 10 years. The diesel-powered generator and fuel to run the electricity was provided by the European Union. Lighting has mainly been restored to Sinkor, the eastern suburb where the presidential palace, parliament buildings and judiciary are located.