Kartuah Applauds ArcelorMittal Gains -Cites Jobs, Training For Fenceline Communities

MONROVIA – Relations between mining companies and the communities that sit at their fences are rarely described in warm terms in Liberia, which is what makes the assessment offered this month in Leegbanla Village worth setting down in detail. A member of the Local Consultative Forum in Nimba County has publicly commended ArcelorMittal Liberia for employment, vocational training and community engagement initiatives that he says are reaching ordinary residents rather than stopping at the gate. He points to seven young people from his own community now in company programs, to stipends and meals provided to trainees, and to a new sub-liaison office that has brought the company physically nearer to those it affects, as THE ANALYST reports.

A member of the Local Consultative Forum in Nimba County has commended ArcelorMittal Liberia for the social and economic opportunities being extended to residents of the company’s fenceline communities through employment, vocational training and community engagement initiatives. Speaking on July 8, 2026, in Leegbanla Village, Electoral District #8, A. Laysegon Kartuah set out what he described as a measurable improvement in the way the company recruits and trains from the communities nearest its operations.

Among the benefits he listed were recruitment into processing training programs, the enrollment of young people at the ArcelorMittal Liberia Training Academy through the Learning Ability Battery assessment process, and increased access to employment and contract opportunities. The remarks were made before fellow community members at a session of the Forum, which serves as the standing channel between the company and its host communities.

Hiring Closer To Home

According to Kartuah, the company has significantly improved its approach to community hiring, ensuring that residents of host and fenceline communities benefit directly from its operations. He offered his own village as the illustration, disclosing that seven young people from the community, two of them his own sons, are currently benefiting from company development programs.

Some of those young people are undergoing Processing Training while others are enrolled at the company’s Vocational Training Centre. The distinction matters locally, as the two tracks lead toward different roles within the operation and different prospects beyond it.

Stipends And Meals For Trainees

Kartuah also praised the company’s investment in developing Liberian youth, noting that trainees receive meals and monthly stipends throughout the period of their training. He said this support reduces the financial burden carried by families while giving young people opportunities that many would otherwise never encounter.

Encouraging residents to appreciate and make good use of what is being offered, he emphasized that the company continues to strengthen its relationship with local communities through employment, skills development and engagement initiatives that go beyond its statutory obligations. His appeal was directed as much at parents as at the young people themselves.

Fewer Tensions At The Fence

The community leader further noted that these efforts have helped reduce tensions by ensuring that communities benefit directly from the company’s presence. Where benefits are visible and traceable to named individuals, he suggested, grievance loses much of its fuel.

He said the result has been more peaceful engagement and stronger relationships between the company and local residents. That assessment, coming from within the Local Consultative Forum rather than from the company, carries a weight that corporate statements on the same subject do not.

A Sub-Office In The District

Kartuah applauded the company for establishing a sub-liaison office in the district, describing it as an important step toward improving communication and collaboration between the company and surrounding communities. Distance, he indicated, had long been part of the problem.

“The presence of the sub-office in the district brings the company much closer to us. Having your officer, Melvin Ziamo, here has been a blessing. He is organized, accessible, and has built a very good working relationship with community members. I want to thank AML for the important steps it has taken in recent times to strengthen its relationship with our communities,” Kartuah said.