Grand Kru, Liberia; October 9, 2025 – Grand Kru County Well being Officer (CHO), Dr. Learwellie P. Craig II, has condemned and subsequently ordered closure of all Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL’s) well being services working inside its concession communities in Electoral District One, Grand Kru County.
Talking to journalists through cell phone on Wednesday from Grand Kru County, Dr. Craig disclosed that services constructed by GVL administration don’t align with government-prescribed well being protocols and requirements.
In response to him, the shutdown adopted an evaluation tour by the Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC) within the county. He defined that the closure was coincidental, as he had already been making ready a report back to the Minister of Well being relating to the situation of the services earlier than the LMDC’s go to.
“The sixty-five-year concession settlement signed with the Authorities of Liberia clearly obligates GVL to assemble trendy well being and faculty services for its staff and dependents, and people buildings ought to meet the identical requirements as government-run services throughout the nation,” Dr. Craig emphasised.
He accused GVL administration of violating this obligation, stating {that a} joint survey carried out by the County Well being Workforce and the Ministry of Well being revealed that the corporate’s well being posts and clinics have been substandard and failed to fulfill nationwide infrastructure and well being supply insurance policies.
“Are you able to think about what GVL calls a well being facility? There isn’t a emergency room, no ready space, and no registration division. Well being staff and sufferers all sit in a single single area,” he lamented.
Dr. Craig additional revealed that the services lack primary gear, mattresses, and medical provides. “GVL was working in cubicles as healthcare services,” he mentioned, describing the scenario as “unacceptable and unsafe.”
He disclosed that the evaluation additionally discovered one of many clinics working in a one-bedroom condo, which he described as a whole breach of nationwide well being coverage. Consequently, two GVL clinics have been instantly shut down by county well being officers.
Dr. Craig described the GVL clinics as “substandard” and “unfit to fulfill authorities well being necessities,” warning that permitting them to proceed operations would endanger the well being and well-being of staff and residents.
His feedback come amid a two-day go-slow motion staged by GVL staff, who’re protesting delays within the fee of dependents’ faculty charges, transportation allowances, and poor healthcare situations, amongst different grievances.
The protests prompted a high-level mediation mission to the county over the weekend, involving delegates from the Ministries of Well being, Training, Inside Affairs, and the Nationwide Bureau of Concessions.
In response to Dr. Craig, GVL’s clinics function in non-standard buildings that lack important medical provides, gear, and sanitary supplies needed for high quality healthcare supply. He in contrast one of many buildings to “a cellphone charging sales space,” underscoring the deplorable state of the corporate’s well being services.
In June 2025, the Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC) shut down three GVL-operated clinics in Sorroken, Wedabo, and Garraway Estates in Grand Kru County. The closures adopted findings that the services have been working in violation of nationwide healthcare laws, together with insufficient staffing, nonfunctional laboratories and supply rooms, and the absence of isolation items all of which severely restricted their skill to offer correct medical companies.
The GVL Administration has but to formally reply to the federal government’s newest closure of its well being services. Modifying by Jonathan Browne
