MONROVIA, Liberia (Dec. 11, 2007) — Firestone Liberia, a subsidiary of Firestone Natural Rubber Co. L.L.C., is in the last stages of renegotiating its plantation concession agreement with the government of Liberia. Firestone had renegotiated the agreement with an interim government in 2005, but in 2006 newly elected President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf asked for further negotiations, a request that Firestone granted, according to the company.
Only a few items remain to be resolved, Firestone Liberia said in a prepared statement. Once the agreement is reached, it still must be approved by both the Firestone board of directors and the Liberian legislature, the company added. Since 1926, Firestone has operated the world's largest natural rubber plantation at Harbel, about 35 miles from Monrovia. Some 6,000 workers are employed at the 240-square-mile site.