MONROVIA, LIBERIA-The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Augustine Ngafuan, has welcomed the Ministry of Labor’s Work Permit fee hike and calls for a consolidated plan to create more jobs for Liberians.

It can be recalled that the Ministry took a recent decision to increase the fee for an ordinary Liberian Work Permit from one thousand to three thousand US Dollars.

According to a release, the Minister of Labor Cooper Kruah announced the government’s decision to triple the fee for an ordinary Liberian Work Permit, outlining its positive impact on the industrial sector by disabling the influx of migrant workers and replacing them with the local Liberian workforce.

The release said Minister Ngafuan’s message was contained in a letter to Minister Kruah, indicating that the increment is a direct result of the government’s policy rather than the contractor’s performance, and that the associated revenue should be retained in full by the government.

The release further quotes Minister Ngafuan as clarifying that ‘ the rationale for this distinction is that, specific fee increase was not instituted to enhance contractor services, but instead developed and implemented through the Inter-agency policy efforts of the government.

Meanwhile, Labor Minister Kruah has assured Finance Minister Ngafuan that all content of the communication will be considered in the ongoing Labor Transformation Program, targeting the creation of more employment opportunities for Liberians in fulfillment of the government’s AAID program.