Dear Katim,

I have just returned to Abidjan after a prolonged absence (for both private
and official reasons), and shifting through my mail I cannot help but
notice your posting on the $500,000 "Emergency Relief" grant to The Gambia
and the additional commentaries from Joe Sambou and MRDGNY. For your
information, I was present when SoS Famara Jatta signed the Grant Agreement
in Valencia last week Wednesday.

If you will allow me, I wish to respond to the two issues you've raised
concerning the grant.

(i) The resources made available to The Gambia is AfDB's contribution to a
wider emergency relief effort by several donor agencies designed to address
some of the damage caused by the 1999 floods; the ef
fects of which are most
severe in Lower, Central and Upper Baddibus, Fulladu West, Sandu, Wuli and
Kantora affecting six thousand households. Wells have been contaminated,
dikes/causeways and agricultural infrastructure damaged and seeds and
seedlings washed away. The delay in the Bank's response is due to the fact
that the organisational structure and the overall set up of the Bank was
not designed to respond to emergencies that have recently befell The
Gambia, Mozambique, Kenya and Malawi. The frequency and magnitude of these
emergencies in the Continent forced us to respond to such human
catastrophies, out of necessity, without addressing the Bank's delivery
mechanism. In recognition of this flaw/shortcoming, all AfDB emergency
relief are "delivered" and managed by UN specialised agencies, in this
particular case by the UNDP in Banjul.

(ii) While I cannot speak for other international o
rganisations, I can
speak for the AfDB (until, at least the 30th June, 2001). I recall
responding to a query raised by a G-L contributor ( O.B.Sillah, I beleive )
about two years ago on the issue of the loan-servicing record of The
Gambia.  I confirmed then that The Gambia serviced and continue to service
its loans (since 1986) and has an exemplary record in this category. Please
note that AfDB statutes dictate that all Regional Member Countries (RMCs)
who are current in this department be accorded the right to access
resources under the existing resource allocation mechanism. Let me hasten
to add that there are other factors which are considered in extending
assistance such as governance-related criteria. Admittedly, the weights
attached to these criteria during the portfolio review process may not be
significant enough to tilt the scale in favour of withholding support. For
now at least, this is the pol
icy. This notwithstanding, the AfDB can and
has on numerous occasions taken issue with RMCs, including The Gambia, on
human rights, and other issues which research have shown to impede economic
development.

Finally, I wish to assure you that the issues you and others have raised as
share-holders are of equal concern to the AfDB. Those in position to
influence policy in international finance institutions such as the AfDB
should take sollace in the fact that members of civil society, NGOs,
taxpayers and individual citizen's concerns are having slow but positive
impact in the decision-making processes of multi-lateral financial
institutions (including WTO and other Trading Blocks)as witnessed in
Seattle, Washington DC, Prague, Quebec City and, as recently as last week,
Valencia.

Sidi Sanneh


From: "Katim S. Touray" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: The Gambia and r
elated-issues mailing list              <GAMBIA-
[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: $500,000 AfDB Grant for The Gambia
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 23:34:36 -0700

Hi folks,

I came across this press release at the African Development Bank Web site.
Two
issues come to my mind.  First, is there a typo in the release or do they
really mean
that the funds are "emergency relief" even though this is 2001, and the
floods
happened in 1999?

Two, what exactly is wrong with these international financial institutions
that go
around giving grants to the likes of President Jammeh's government?  This
is a guy
who is yet to explain exactly what happened to the proceeds from the sale
of Nigerian
crude oil deal that we only knew about when it landed in a London High
Court.
Publicly-available court records show that the proceeds from th
e sale of
the crude
oil were put in a Swiss bank account that President Jammeh was reported to
own.  This
President Jammeh guy has squandered $1 million (US) in two equal payments
to the same
Public Relations firm in the US, even though students shot in last year's
April
demonstrations continue to languish in The Gambia, after the government
failed to pay
for their medical treatment in Egypt.

And AfDB would turn around and say they are our development partners?  I
don't think
so.  They certainly are not being helpful to The Gambia by throwing money
at a
government that is demonstrably corrupt, inept, and above all, has no
respect for
human rights and the rule of law.  This grant, as far as I'm concerned, is
a huge
stain on the AfDB.

By the way, here's the link to the press release at the AfDB site.  The
release
itself follows the link.

H
ave a great week(end) and best wishes.

Katim

http://www.afdb.org/knowledge/pressreleases2001/adb_am2001_gb_emergency_29ma
y2001e.ht
m


Press Release [No. COMU///01]

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK: SIGNING OF A US $ 500,000 GRANT AGREEMENT FOR THE
FLOOD
VICTIMS IN GAMBIA

VALENCIA, 29 MAY 2001 - His Excellency Mr. Famara L. Jata, Gambia Secretary
of State
for Finance and Economic Affairs and Mr. Cyril Enweze, Vice-president,
Operations of
the African Development Bank Group (ADB) signed today a grant agreement of
500,000 US
$ for emergency relief to flood victims in Gambia.

The objective of the emergency operation is to assist the flood-affected
communities
of the Gambia to cope with the flood damages incurred during the rainy
season of
1999. It particularly seeks to rapidly rehabilitate the agriculture
infrastructure as

well as supply the agricultural inputs needed to produce food for the
victims of the
flood as well as provide safe drinking water. The project will involve
urgent repairs
of dykes and spillways in the lowlands of the worst affected areas. It will
also
involve the purchase of long floating rice seeds and other inputs as well
as the
rehabilitation of 35 and treatment of 116 wells.

Bank Group operations in Gambia started in 1971. To date, the Group has
committed a
total of US$ 195.26 million on 30 operations out of which about US$ 151.48
million
have been disbursed.


* 1 UC= 1,26579 $ EU au 1/05/01
* 1UA = US$ 1.26579 as at May 1st, 2001
Media Contact:
K. Saiki (225) 20 20 41 18 - Email: [log in to unmask]
Samba Chifwambwa - S. Chifwambwa @afdb.org
Technical Contact:
M. M. Sabri [log in to unmask]
Tel (225)20 20 54 39 - Fax (225) 20 20 59 01

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