Local Liberian Vendors Want Arcelor-Mittal Dismiss its Head of Supply Chain Mr. Surrendra

By Democracy Watch News Desk

democracywatch2021@gmail.com

The government of the Republic of Zambia in January 2017, instructed Vendanta Resources, the owner of Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), Zambia’s largest integrated copper producer, to transfer its Chief Controller, Mr. Purohit Surrendra, an Indian national, from over mining activities out of Zambia.

According to the Zambia Daily Mail Limited, the action of the government of Zambia was triggered by the derogatory statements made against the authorities of the government when he, Mr. Surrendra, was asked to help the government sort out several debts owed to contractors and suppliers of goods and services for the mining firm he had worked with in Zambia before coming to Liberia.

The news report in Zambia quoted the Minister of Mines and Mineral Development, Mr. Yakima, as saying, “Mr. Surrendra had been using derogatory statements against the government and that KCM had been given two weeks to relocate him from Zambia.”

According to the Zambia news report in 2017, the Minister of Mines and Mineral Development gave the instruction following the company’s assurance to settle over US$200 million debt owed to contractors and suppliers.

Our high-placed sources informed this paper that upon Mr. Surrendra‘s forceful removal from Zambia, he was hired by ArcelorMittal to serve as Head of Supply Chain through the aid of a fellow close to the owner of the company, Mr. Mittal. But news reaching our paper has confirmed that Mr. Surrendra has duped several vendors in Zambia and is exhibiting the same ugly and disgusting conduct in Liberia with local Liberian vendors that led to the government of Zambia asking him to leave their country.

The Democracy Watch has gathered that Mr. Surrendra has used several local businesses or vendors as pawns – took their proposals intended to supply AML with some materials to enhance their work but sadly used all their information provided to nurse his corrupt undertakings.

“There are no Liberian businesses that have contracts with ArcelorMittal through Mr. Surrendra’s office right now. Even if you are qualified and meet all the requirements you’ll not have the contract to procure equipment or materials for AML. He’s somebody who takes all vendors’ information provided in their proposals and uses them privately without the vendors getting the contracts. For example, if you are supposed to provide solar lights for the surrounding communities, Mr. Surrendra will use us as the vendors, take our proposals, and goes shopping around somewhere else and using us vendors as pawns and allowing his Indiana nationals to win the bid where he Mr. Surrendra has 50 percent share in,” a vendor told the Democracy Watch.

Those local Liberian vendors that have been duped are currently calling on the Management of ArcelorMittal to dismiss the Indiana rascal and fraudster, Mr. Surrender, as he is not in the interest of Liberians and the very AML.

They vowed that if AML can’t take action in two weeks against her notoriously corrupt Head of Supply Chain, Mr. Surrendra, they would go on the rampage asking the government of Liberia to deport Mr. Surrendra as it was done by the authorities in Zambia when he exhibited this cruel conduct against local suppliers in Zambia.

“We believe that ArcelorMittal is in the best interest of our country and its people but people like Surrendra are the ones exhibiting these bad corporal practices that create a negative impression in the public domain that AML is working against the interest of our country and people when they aren’t,” a vendor told our reporter in Monrovia.

Below is the Zambian news link to Mr. Surrendra’s forceful deportation from Zambia.

State challenges KCM to move Surendra