A 7-day workshop on �Empowering the media of Play and Active Watchdog Role over Mining Oil and Gas Revenue and Resources� has been launched in Monrovia, the capital of Liberian, by the USA Ambassador to Liberia, Her Excellency Deborah R. Malac, with the call on the media to report accurately on the sector.
She noted that �incomplete or inaccurate reporting of developments in these sensitive sectors can sometimes inadvertently inflame tensions and complicate reaching conciseness.�
The workshop, organized by the International Institute for ICT Journalist (Penplusbytes), in association with the National Black Programming Consortium, and funding from Humanity United, is to build the competence of the participants to report better in the sector.
Madam Malac said revenues from the oil, gas, and mineral sectors were notoriously difficult for governments to manage effectively, and therefor, urged the media to focus on the extractive industry to promote transparency.
The president of Penplusbytes, Kwami Ahiabenu II, in his opening remark, said �The 7-day workshop is designed to introduce practicing journalists to key issues surrounding oil, gas and mining, thereby helping them to develop the knowledge and skills to stimulate and feed public debates on how best to ensure that proceeds are used in the interests of their country and its citizens.
Mr. Ahiabenu added, �Our organization started working in the extractive sector in 2007 with the discovery of oil in Ghana, and since 2010, we have been working with Revenue Watch Institute to expand our work to Uganda and Tanzania. We can count Nigeria, Cameroun and Cote d�Ivoire as some of our key countries of experiencing in the oil and gas sector, and we are excited today, to add Liberia to our countries of focus.�
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