---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 17:24:10 -0800
From: Charlotte Utting <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [wa-afr] Some Gambia and Senegal News



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From: [log in to unmask]
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 22:37:40 EST
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FOSG 2/21:  Some Gambia news

Gambia may soon lift ban on political parties

BANJUL, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh could soon allow
political parties he banned after a 1994 coup to function again, Foreign
Minister Sedat Jobe said on Tuesday.

The president has "given the green light to the Justice Department to work
out the modalities so those banned from politics can now be active," Jobe
told Reuters, adding that he was optimistic this would be done soon.

Among the banned parties was the People's Progressive Party (PPP), which had
ruled the former British colony from independence in 1965 until the 1994
coup.

Military ruler Jammeh was elected president in 1996.

Jobe made the comments while Don McKinnon, Secretary General of the
Commonwealth, a group made up largely of former British colonies, is on a
visit to the country. Jobe said McKinnon's visit demonstrated "the positive
relationship between Gambia and the Commonwealth."

However, since 1995 Gambia has been included on a list of countries whose
human rights record is monitored by a Commonwealth Members Action Group.

A Commonwealth secretariat spokeswoman in London said human rights issues
would probably come up during McKinnon's talks with officials but that this
was not the main purpose of the visit, which was to prepare a forthcoming
Commonwealth leaders meeting.

A senior Gambian government minister said McKinnon, who arrived on Monday
for
a three-day visit, had met officials to discuss good governance, respect for
human rights, the political situation in the country, equal access to the
state media for all political parties and the independence of the judiciary.

12:23 02-20-01
----------------
British Beekeepers Donate To Gambian Counterparts

Daily Observer (Banjul)February 21, 2001
Posted to the web February 21, 2001 Alieu Badara Ceesay
Banjul

Two UK beekeepers, Patricia and Robert Hurd, last week presented 27 pairs of
Wellington boots and veils donated by the Burton-on-Trent Beekeepers
Association and gloves donated by Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service to
the members of the Gambia Beekeepers and Foresters Cooperatives and the
Brikama Beekeepers Association.Speaking at a ceremony held at the Gambia
Beekeeping and Foresters Cooperative's main office at Tabokoto, the
cooperative's administrator, Momodou Ceesay, described the gesture as
timely,
noting that the equipment would help to increase the productivity of
beekeepers. He said that they had conducted training for the 15 villages,
adding that their activities were being hampered by financial
constraints.Patricia Hurd noted, "Beekeeping has several environmental and
economic benefits, among them the increase of pollination of plants and
flowers which raises the output of traditional farming crops."For his part,
Robert Hurd disclosed that a key recommendation of the Commonwealth
Secretariat-sponsored survey of Gambian beekeeping was for donors to
actively
support projects with new and exciting beekeepers and their association to
help them become self sustaining.

"There is a great potential for honey and wax production in The Gambia but
ongoing training and monitoring of beekeepers will be essential to ensure
that standards of production and hygiene are maintained. This will help
beekeepers to produce a good quality product that can be sold for premium
price in local markets and supermarkets," he noted.The need for protective
clothing for beekeepers was recognised during discussions last year between
Gambian beekeepers and Richard Jones, director of the UK based International
Bee Research Association (IBRA) during the Commonwealth
Secretariat-sponsored
survey of Gambian beekeeping.
---------------
Angry Youths Threaten Gambia's Fuel Wood Supply
(Daily Observer-2/21)

The supply of fuel wood for most urban Gambian households is being
threatened
by gangs of youths in the Senegalese border villages in the Kolda region.The
youths of Medina Yoro Fulla, the source of most of Gambia's fuel wood, have
threatened to take drastic action against Gambian wood dealers, accusing
them
of pulverising their forests. The irate youths accused local government
officials of colluding with the wood cutters and accepting bribes.A
spokesman
for the youths of Medina Yoro Fulla told the Senegalese press "we can no
longer tolerate our forest being cut to heat up Gambian pots. Each day,
trucks carrying fuel wood worth CFA 3 million leave our bush. It is
intolerable. We will soon put an end to this exploitation."The question on
the lips of people now is: can the affected Gambian households afford gas as
an environmentally-friendly alternative?
------------------
Senegalese Farmers Prefer Gambian Currency
(Dakar)February 20, 2001
Posted to the web February 20, 2001 Kolda, Senegal Senegalese farmers living
along the border with The Gambia find it more convenient use the country's
local currency, the dalasi, instead of the CFA Franc, the legal tender in
Senegal and seven others members and in member States of the West African
Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). The farmers say with the dalasi, they
could purchase much cheaper goods directly from Gambia without having to go
through the hassle of exchanging one currency for other, in the process of
which they lose money. The Gambian currency is thus used in almost every
commercial transactions in the area to the detriment of the CFA franc, the
Senegalese News Agency (APS-SEN) reported Monday.

"Here, we sell and buy in dalasis", said Mor Kebe, a farmer in the Medina
Yorofoulah administrative area of Kolda. The transactions include consumer
products such as sugar, tea, tomato, soap and fabrics. The local markets of
the villages situated at the border are stocked with food products imported
by The Gambia from English- speaking countries like (Nigeria, Great Britain,
United States) or Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand. For instance, one
kilo-tin of concentrated tomato which costs 1,500 CFA francs in The Gambia
sells at almost double at 2, 500 CFA francs in Senegalese territory. Also, a
50-kg bag of sugar which costs 14,000 francs in The Gambia, sells at between
20,000 and 22,000 francs in Senegal. The huge price differential has made
smuggling a lucrative business in the area, the agency said.

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