Below is the FOROYAA Burning Issue of - Issue No 34. The topics in the
issue are:
1. The Rice And Bread Question
2. Focus On The Gambia's Economic Situation
3. Enlightenment Or Miseducation In Kanilai -
The Dangers Of Commercialization Of Cultural Heritage
4.Ferry Services - Many People In North Bank Pleased About New Ferry But
Worried About Terminal
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Editorial
NO: 34/2002 13 - 16 June, 2002
The Rice And Bread Question
Consumers in the Gambia lack protection because of the lack of consumers'
association to ensure quality of products and the matching of for value.
Today, fruits are no longer left to get ripe. Gas is utilised to make them
appear ripe. Consumers are not regularly informed what the implications are.
Recently FOROYAA received a report that a 100 lbs bag of rice is being sold
for D260 dalasis while a 50 kilo gram rice which is less than 50kgs is sold for
D219 dalasis.
It is therefore questionable where the difference lie. Does it mean that the 50
kilo gram bags are inferior in quality. Consumers are not told why the
difference exist. We have also heard people saying that they did not know
the difference between 100 lbs and 50 kilos. They see the bag as the same.
Consequently, they they think that they are buying a 50 kilo bag of better rice
at D260 dalasis only to consume the bag within a shorter period. In short
they are paying more money for less rice.
It goes without saying that the price of what is often called Adamza bread
has been increased from 3 dalasis to 4 dalasis while the bread that was
being sold at what we referred to as the modern bakeries have increased to 3
dalasis and
later reduced to D2.00. It is interesting that while the local bakeries who sell
what is often referred to as "Tapa lapa" have not increased their prices when
rice and bread are difficult for people to get access to in sufficient quantity
and of good quality poverty must increase and malnutrition must become
prevalent.
It is necessary for the country to have strong consumer association to
protect the people.
Today batteries do not last, plastic shoes get destroyed within a short period;
the same thing goes for candles. Clock get worn out very quickly after short
period of use. It appears that quality is dropping to equate the purse of the
poor. It is the people who must articulate their concerns. A people who are
kept ignorant and divided cannot be free and prosperous. Only a people who
are conscious of and can articulate their problems and are organised to solve
them can actually have power to be their own protectors.
This calls for a strong and independent consumer association to check the
quantity and quality of products sold to the consumers and ensure their
protection.
Focus On The Gambia's Economic Situation
We have been focusing on Gambia's economic situation in the Foroyaa
Newspaper.
In the last issue, we have dealt with privatization and its attendant problems.
We have also dealt with the underlying reasons behind disbursement.
We have analyze budget deficits and trade deficits and asserted that those
problems are still very much alive with our economy despite all the IMF
inspired Economic Recovery Programmes. We maintained that as long as
the budget deficits and trade deficits continued, there is no possibility for
economic growth for our country. We will continue to suffer especially the
ordinary citizens who live from hand to mouth. We have also spoken about
devaluations and the dalasi loosing value on a daily basis and said, that was
the reason why there cannot be any stability of prices of commodities both
imported as well as locally produced ones.
Now let us continue with our analysis.
There has been a lot of discussion on the economic situation and people
actually need answers. It is good to point out that our country is indebted to
the core and this is not a good sign of economic management.
Some people held the erroneous view that we should just go ahead and take
as many loans as possible and develop our country; others are also of the
view that we should take as many loans as possible as long as we put them
to good use. "So long as we put them into good use" is a very vague
statement, in my view. If we know that economics is a science which when
applied wrongly can create the opposite of what is intended, we must not
speak about it in vague terms. We cannot also be logical about it since we
know that not everything that is logical is scientific.
Now it is clear that loans are not gifts. They must be paid back by the
citizens of a country whose governments have taken them and in most
cases, they are paid with interests of two or even three kinds.
Now we also know that half of our annual national budget goes to repay debts
taken by our government and leaving a very minimal amount which has never
been enough for providing the services needed by the tax payers not to talk
about bringing development projects.
This means that the only way we can fill the gap if we really do not want to
kill our people is to take loans nationally and if that is not enough to take
loans internationally. This would tantamount to bankruptcy because it means
that we are spending more than we are producing. For example, in 1987, our
budget deficit was estimated to be 72 million dalasis and in 1992/93, it was
estimated to be 121 million dalasis, and up to now, the trend continues
unabated.
Now what good economic planners should do is to plan in such a way that
the borrowing can be minimized. Borrowing must be reduced to a minimum
since the burden on the budget is due to excessive borrowing. Excessive
borrowing, no matter how one utilizes it, if it cannot help one to repay the
loans taken, then that cannot be the solution to indebtedness. If we want to
reduce dependency on internal, especially external borrowing, then we must
take loans which we can utilize to make investments into our productive
sectors of our economy to bring about tangible financial returns which will of
course enable us to settle our debts without touching the tax money of the
people.
This advice have not been heeded by the first Republic and the second
Republic too seems to be over sighting it. But this is the only tangible
programme which can help us to balance our budget without which no
sustainable development can take place.
Let us say that we have a budget of 1300 million dalasis and out of this we
disbursed 480 million dalasis as debt repayment. This means that we are left
with an amount of 820 million dalasis. And we allocate amounts to our
service.
Sectors such as our departments of states like Health, Agriculture,
Communications and Information, Tourism, Education etc, it is not even
enough to do those services necessary for our survival.
Since it is not enough, it is therefore clear that we cannot bring about any
development project from our own budget, and those development projects
are vitally necessary for survival, for example, it is a must that we have good
roads for transportation of goods and services, it is also a must that we have
good health facilities and medicaments but if we feel that we can just take
loans, continuously to buy medicaments, loans that would accrue more
interest payments in later years and continue to feel that that can be a trend
to build a viable and sustained economy to sustain a healthy nation and a
clean environment then we are surely deluding ourselves.
We are deluding ourselves precisely we know that because what we are
building is not sustainable development but sustained bankruptcy. What do I
mean by that? This means that, we are bankrupt and we also create a
situation that would keep us in bankruptcy rather than create a situation that
would take us out of bankruptcy and still continue to believe that we are
developing.
What is likely to happen to us is that those who give us those loans will in
the final analysis not able to continue to give us those loans because we
would not be able to pay them back their loans or interests. We must be
aware that those giving us loans are doing so because they know that it will
accrue for them more money when it is paid. They are not doing so because
they love us or our country or our leaders but because it is business. Only
buffoons will think that those loans are gifts to us. Huge sums of monies
which goes to our debtors and that is mainly the reason why we have
endless budget deficits and lack of enough services for our people.
So if this trend becomes the norm, there will be a day our whole budget
would not be able to settle the debt due for payment and our lenders would
refuse to lend us and that is the time everything and I mean both the financial
system and the economic systems will collapse like a house of cards. This
was what had happened in Indonesia, Malaysia and recently in Argentina.
Our dalasi would be completely worthless, we can all see the trend. No one
would want to touch it which has already begun. Our commercial sector
would be in shambles both internationally and internally. Our banks would
collapse because no one would
want to save in them currency whose value cannot be predicted in any way. It
is total dependency on international lending institutions that causes such
eminent collapse of economies, even the ones deem to be stronger than our
economy. I hope this is food for thought for our economic planners at the
department of economic planning, if they are in fact planning anything.
Enlightenment Or Miseducation In Kanilai
The Dangers Of Commercialization
Of Cultural Heritage
When the Roots Festival emerged it attracted those Africans in the Diaspora
who wanted to know their past not with the objectives of living in it but to rely
on it to know who they are and rise up with identity and confidence to shape
a new future. The organizers started by organizing symposia to enable a
dialogue to take place with wide cross section of the African people in the
Gambia.
Many of the Africans in the US and Diaspora who had never visited the
continent see Africans fighting and killing each other on T.V. They hear
Africans talk about poverty, domination by Western financial institutions.
They see African leaders being dominated by other leaders in the US and
Europe. They wonder what is wrong with Africa. They have heard visitors
talking about African youths' struggle to make friends in order to be able to
escape poverty in Africa. Such people are wondering what is good about
Africa.
Now these people are given no orientation and driven pass poor Africans living
in huts to Kanilia and later through initiation ceremonies that children of the
elites in the Gambia no longer go through, ceremonies which provides no real
education but simply taking the person to mere rituals; mystification. Which
had not saved Africans from being enslaved in the first place or to resist
slavery and colonialisation.
Clearly what Cabral meant by "return to the source" is for Africans to
understand that at a given stage of their history they lived like all people by
using brains and hands to change their natural environment to ensure their
survival. It means a thorough understanding of how Africans were enslaved
and colonized and how such slavery and colonialism were combined. It is
necessary for them to understand the short comings of the first stage of
national liberation and highlight what has to be done to liberate the continent.
This is time and inspirations all African peoples need. Africa do not need any
mystification or rituals. They need enlightenment. "Roots" should lead to
enlightenment and not cultural mystification. This era requires the
demystification of all aspects of our lives so that the people will know their
true worth.
FOROYAA is fully confident that those who came from the Diaspora attend
the symposia organized to enlighten them will leave with more understanding
and greater love for Africa than those who were simply subjected to cultural
mystifications.
Enlightenment is the way to unity and organization of Africans everywhere to
liberate Africa.
Let us create an assuring of enlightenment for Africa to rise in the 21st
century.
Ferry Services
Many People In North Bank Pleased About New Ferry But Worried About
Terminal
FOROYAA has sounded the views of many people who rely on the Banjul
Barra ferries for their various transactions to find out how they see the new
ferry. All the people interviewed welcomed the ferry Johe. Some did so
without any reservation.
However the vast majority expressed the problem of a suitable terminal as a
major problem. They claim that without an appropriate docking area low tides
will make impossible for the ferry to dock at the present terminal.
In the past, attempts had been made to try to dredge the area near the wharf
at Barra. We have pointed out that government should seek expert advice
before engaging in any dredging exercise close to the wharf. It is observed
that an attempt to do so in the past only led to more sand deposits meaning
that such dredging had contributed to some form of beach erosion. What
needs to be studied is the area affected because of the dredging. This will
determine whether dredging the relocation of the wharf or to further extension
into the water further into the provide an answer. This needs urgent attention
and we hope the authorities will give this issue the urgency needed.
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Source: FOROYAA (Freedom) NO: 34/2002 13 - 16 June, 2002 ISSN: 0796-
08573
Address: FOROYAA, P.O.Box 2306, Serrekunda, The Gambia, West Africa
Telephone: (220) 393177 Fax: (220) 393177
Email address: [log in to unmask]
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