Thanks Mr. Sanneh for the added perspective. I also join you in expressing
my sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Sarr.
The main reason I would have wanted a more comprehensive break down of our
imports is to try to have a greater understanding of the shift, if any, in
our spending patterns as well as what impact some of our existing policies
may have on them. These observations of mine are purely from a layman’s
point of view.
If you take a good look at what the SOS says here:
“The most important component of the imports are "vehicles and accessories"
8.93%, "mineral fuels and lubricants" 6.9%, "Sugar and sugar
confectionery "6.2%, and "Cereals" mainly rice at 5.7%.”
I am still wondering what constitutes the bulk, I mean the remaining almost
70% of our imports especially when you consider the steady decline in our
re-export trade.
Again if you look at Nawec’s D300 million heavy fuel bill plus our imported
domestic fuel bill and the expected 7% rise in the transport sector, it
virtually wipes out our total export of D417 million.
Again we are told:
“The 'Meat, Poultry, Egg and Fish' sub-group went up by 29%. Two other
subgroups, namely, 'Beverages, Alcoholic Drinks' and 'Tobacco and Tobacco
Products' registered significant price increases of 20.3 and 21%
respectively. The subgroup that recorded the most significant change
was 'Transport and Communication', registering a percentage rise of 14,1
over the index for 2001.”
I may be wrong here, but I once heard that our livestock population is more
than our own population and yet our import of ‘meat, egg and fish’ seems to
be growing way above our economy despite our cries of hunger and poverty.
Don’t we have enough meat or fish for domestic use? Why export fish only to
import more of it? Why not increase tax on “Beverages, Alcoholic Drinks and
Tobacco” or the imported “meat, egg and fish” rather than increasing tax on
fuel which makes life much harder for everyone?
Again, if you look at our import of vehicles and accessories which, we are
told, amounts to 8.93% of total imports (approximately D260 million) is
quite huge for a poor country like ours. I believe government needs to pay
more attention to river transport. Perhaps this might help ease the
congestion on our roads.
Already a huge amount of money has been invested in building roads and
bridges through out the country. What I want know is whether it has had any
impact on import of vehicle spares, for example.
Finally, I do not know if this is good or bad, but our commercial banks
seem to be having a great time. Are all the profits they are reporting
derived from overdraft charges by poor civil servants? I believe the SOS
also needs to tell us how much these banks are contributing to the
development of the country in terms of loans to businesses.
Have a good day, Gassa.
> [ This e-mail is posted to Gambia|Post e-Gathering by "Sidi M Sanneh"
> <[log in to unmask]> ]
>
>
> Pa Modou,
>
> Before I start this post, I would like to express my sincere
> condolences to the family of Mr. Sarr, former Director of the
> Agricultural Services Department who passed away a few days ago.
> Since this post is mainly dealing with agric. issues, it is only
> fitting to pay tribute to one of those who has contributed his
> techincal and administrative skills to the development of one of the
> most important sectors of our economy. In doing so, I cannot help but
> point out that the sector allocation for agriculture - 3.1% recurrent
> and 9.4% development (combined agriculture and natural resources,
> fisheries and the environment)does not reflect the
> back-to-the-land mantra and the commonly expressed view that
> agriculture is the main stay of our economy. Anyway, enough of that
> for now.
>
> Thanks for your initial observations on the budget. The poor quality
> of the groundnut harvest is a direct result of poor quality of seeds-
> mainly retained by farmers from the previous harvest-and the late and
> uneven distribution of this year's rains. The reduced production is a
> combination of factors listed above, in addition to the all important
> and conscious decision of farmers to substitute the cash crop for
> grains - a purely economic decision on their part to avert the risks
> that your cousin narrated to you about farmers resorting to 'bana
> banas' and avoiding 'seccos'. Gambian farmers and their african
> counter-parts are smarter than we give them credit for. They will
> substitute one crop for another if and when necessary, particularly
> when their livelihood is threatened by lack of secure marketing outlet
> or where returns are higher. We are just beginning to see a more
> definite and permanent shift from ground-nuts to other crops that
> yield more returns for their labour.
>
> To stem the tide, if is worth stemming at all, would require, in my
> view, substantial investment in research in new and high-yielding
> variety of groundnut seeds. The present variety has been in use since
> the colonial period although some efforts have gone into the
> groundnut-seed research and miltiplication in the late 70s and
> throughout the 80s. Unfortunately, little can be shown for the huge
> sums spent on these efforts in the form of improved seeds and thus
> improved quality and yields. Those at NARI and former NARI staffers
> (Dr. Jeng)can contribute to this debate by filling us in on their
> research activities in variety seed mutiplication and distribution.
>
> Regarding the volume of imported rice, its retail price and the
> composite of our import bill. Remember that rice is not the daily diet
> of a majority of Gambians. We are all guilty of this misconception
> particularly us city folks. The majority of those in rural Gambia do
> not comsume rice on a daily basis and the rural population that
> consumes the commodity ususally substitute it for grain whenever it is
> in short supply and/or priced out their reach - a more often-than-not
> occurance; So, expect the price to be relatively high when volume is
> low - 5% of total import. The other 95% of the import bill is
> available. In some budget statements of past, some, if not all, are
> listed. Government may wish to revert to including a more exhaustive
> list in future budget statements which includes but not limited to
> petroleum products, building materials, cigaretts, other tobacco
> products, alcohol, motor vehicles and the like. These luxury items have
> been increasingly dominating the list of imports. Serious thought
> should given to the demand for these 'non-essential' items by
> increasing import duties and 'sin' taxes.
>
> Finally, the crop yield figures attributed to the CRD Agric.
> coordinator of 5,000 tonnes of rice per hecter seem high. This figure
> compares better than the highest yield ever recorded in the first
> years of the Jahally-Patcharr in the early 80s when the irrigation
> infrastructure, research and extension services were artificially
> sustained by heavy investment of ADB and other donor funds. We all
> know the story: as soon as the external funds dried up, neither
> government nor farmers could provide even gas oil to run and maintain
> the system, much more meet the salaries of international-recruited
> expatriate staff. In short, assuming that the coordinator's figures are
> correct, I am willing to go out on the limb to predict that in the long
> run the 5,000 tonnes per hector is an unsustainable figure.
>
> Sidi Sanneh
>
> Note: I saw BambaLaye's comments on the recently-introducted Cash
> Managaement System and Jabou's rejoinder- both raising pertinent issues
> which can be summaried in two words - fiscal discipline. This, in so
> many words, is Famara Jatta's central message in his 2003 budget
> statement as outlined in paragraphs 4 and 5 of Chapetr XV of the
> Budget. The big question is whether there is the political will to put
> the breaks on wanton, unprogrammed and reckless expenditure during
> these 'hard times'. Only time will tell.
>
> * Slight correction made in this version.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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