MONROVIA, May 1(LINA) -The National Investment Commission (NIC) has said it has no plan currently to evict squatters in the Monrovia Industrial Park in Gardnersville, specifically residents of Chicken Soup Factory.

NIC Chairman Michael Wotorson said there is nothing in the pipeline at the moment to evict the estimated 50,000 residents from the Monrovia Industrial Park, describing the media report alluding to the eviction as completely false and misleading.

According to the Liberia News Agency (LINA), the NIC Chairman made the
clarification Thursday during the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) regular weekly press briefing in Monrovia.

He, however, explained that about three years ago, the NIC entered into a lawsuit with a specific small group of individuals who, despite warnings by the Commission, insisted on erecting structures in a particular space in the park.

Narrating further, Wotorson said the NIC was in a dilemma when a certain company requested 15 acres of land to build a cell phone assembly plant that could employ about 500 persons.

According to him, when the Commission went to the park, it could not find the 15 acres of land because people are illegally occupying the place, blaming the situation on the protracted civil conflict that engulfed the country.

Wotorson said the 11,000 acres of land was made available to the NIC by the Government of Liberia in the1960s for the specific purpose of using it to attract industries and lock them in that space to enhance economic activities in the country.
LINA HVW/TSS/PTK