Excerpts from The Independent:

"Since credit buying of groundnuts is the order                 of the day
in many buying stations, farmers have      intensified the cross border
trade in groundnut           despite the Senegalese government's call for it
to be halted. In an interview with The Independent,             a farmer
from Njawara in Lower Baddibu said that             many farmers took their
crops for sale at the turn             of the new year without receiving
their money.            Another farmer from Kerr Pateh Koneh in Central
Baddibu was almost in tears as he explained that             they have hit a
dire financial strait, leaving               them unable to buy a ram for
their tobaski feast.

He asserted that although they are not citizens                of Senegal,
they have always been treated fairly                by the Senegalese who
pay them money whenever                their nuts are weighed. Ousainou
Drammeh said                 that they preferred the price being offered by
the Senegalese government, which according to                 them is better
than the groundnut price being               offered by The Gambia
Government. He claimed                  that farmers prefer selling their
nuts to local           Senegalese buyers at a price of 1, 400 CFA
per bag, which is less than that offered by                     the
government. 'Although the price is less,                farmers prefer it
because they automatically               receive their money,' he added.

Other farmers noted that despite the Senegalese           government's call
for a halt to the cross border          groundnut trade, they are always
ready to take              their crops to Senegal even if it will be based
on credit buying. Some angry farmers expressed             pessimism over
whether they would receive their               monies in time. However, when
this reporter                 visited some border villages of North Bank
Division last Thursday horse drawn carts                       could be seen
heavily laden with bags of                 groundnuts heading towards
Senegal.

Despite reports that money was sent to pay                  farmers, many
secco managers told The Independent               that hundreds of thousands
of Dallas's were                   being owed to farmers by their respective
buying stations. At Salikene a farmer                     complained that
about D300, 000 was owed                        to him two months but said
he has little                        hope of getting it back despite several
claims he made. At Daru Rilewan one farmer                  said 'we are
very disappointed that the                   government during President
Jammeh's meet                        the people said unlike last year
farmer's                  groundnut trade season everything will be
different".

Fafanding Minteh a 70-year-old farmer in                      Minteh Kunda
said his children were sent                         out of school for not
paying their school                    fees. "The only source for me is
groundnut                     which was credited without money. At Nuimi
farmers frustrated by the situation travelled                   many
kilometers to sell their nuts in Senegal                    at very bad
prices. A Senegalese businessman                    who refused to disclose
his name said "we buy              groundnut in The Gambia because we mean
business                 and we will not buy nuts in the Gambia at a high
price and get little profit"."

Comrades, I wonder what Tombong thinks about this
news.

Naphiyo,

Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh

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