Okay let more chips fall--- The fight against Ebola is about to get very expensive and President Obamas first request for $88m USD for West Africa has been met with a slash of over fifty percent by House Republicans. Let this be a wake up call to all those who think some Robin Hood from the international community will step in and just take over. Lets all wake up from our dreams thats turning into nightmares! Here are things that Liberia must begin to do RIGHT NOW! 1) Sell an Asset--I disagree with anyone who thinks we shouldnt be negotiating oil blocks and other natural resources right now when from all indication we are cash strapped! 2) Cost--By some estimates, Liberia will need $30 to $40 million to adequately fight Ebola, and the cost is going up daily. Simply put, we dont have it and we should look and think of ways out of the box to get it, and rely less on the games that come with international aid. Right now its not the time to argue about past corruption, we will deal with that after Ebola. 3) Structured Financing--Under well defined structured financing arrangements, we need to begin to immediately raise cash utilizing assets we have even if it means an oil block. Absolutely and I mean absolutely, no one is going to foot this bill for us in its entirety. Just ask the Iraqis about the oil for food program. We have to find a way to cover running expenses of this as well as what will be needed to reboot the ecomonic devastation left behind. 4) Sovereign Fund-- The GOL with the backing of the legislature needs to obtain the services of a world class and experienced international firm versed in managing sovereign funds for countries, and establish a fund for Liberia with proceeds from any transaction. This can be done if we have the political will. 5) Transparency-- Hire an international renowned auditing firm to implement internal controls and to audit the fund--NOT the GAC and MOF! All aspects of the supply chain is to be audited, most especially remittances sent to the GOL for local expenditures relating to Ebola. 6) Cash infusion--This will immediately give the GOL the desperate cash leverage it needs to cover the costs associated with bringing in the best crisis control managers, virologist, epidemiologist; hell we can even help defray costs of the very CDC experts and others being promised to us under aid. 7) Stop dreaming--Waiting for aid that is too long coming, and subjected to the national politics of donors, will be very devastating. Bottomline folks, WE NEED TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE, and stop looking for handouts, it wont come, certainly not on time!
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 14:58:56 +0000
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