Gambia-L: The e-mail below, as usual, came from a source in the heart of the Yahya Jammeh's government. Ebrima Ceesay ____________________________________________________________________ Ebrima, It's been some days since I last sent you anything; in actual fact, I had some urgent things to sort out, but I am now okay. So from now on you'll hear from more regularly. By the way, I was at the Kairaba Beach Hotel, just the other day, and was shown from a distance Ndey Jobarteh of Gambia-L, but I never had the chance to talk to her about her Gambian trip. Anyway, if all goes well, I'll introduce myself to the List one fine day. Ebrima, having said that, frankly, we have a Government of pathological liars running The Gambia. They consider Gambians stupid, unworthy of being told the truth. Why? Ebrima, Yayha Jammeh and his cohorts have ruined the economy. The economy, which was once, awash with re-exported goods to the sub-region, has all but dried up. The Jammeh regime has driven away genuine businessmen straight into the arms of Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Senegal. These Governments - Guinea Bissau, Senegal and Cape Verde - have gleefully received these new investors with open arms and are making every effort to make them feel welcome and their investment safe. The Gambia’s loss is our neighbours’ gains. Ebrima, the state of the economy can easily be accessed through the IMF and World Bank web sites. What these goons, led Jammeh, fail to realise is that we are now in the Information Age. So, no Government can provide false information to the governed nowadays. Check the web pages of the International Finance Institutions and you can access just about any information on the Gambian economy. This leads me to Foroyaa’s posting on The Gambia’s external debt situation and the subsequent commentaries from Katim and others. But before I say a word or two on Katim’s suggestion concerning contacting Debt Relief International (DRI) in London, I want to give a quick run down on some of the figures which Foroyaa is rightfully disputing, which Government must retract and provide the people with the correct figures. The regime's habitual misleading of the people is repugnant. It reminds me of the BIVAC case when Yahya Jammeh and Nfamara Jatta deliberately misled the businessmen by announcing that with effect from the 4th May 2000, all payments to BIVAC will be made payable in dalasi. However, when Ardie Sarge went to pay the following day, he was told that he must pay in US dollars. Ebrima, the Government was forced to retract its earlier statement. We are fed-up with these lies from the regime. Ebrima, The Gambia’s debt is estimated at US$425million. This is approximately equivalent to over 5 billion dalasi using Foroyaa’s rate of conversion. And this amount, according to the IMF, does not even include the dubious loans of US$35million and another US$30million dollars, both contracted by Yahya Jammeh from the Taiwanese Government. The sad story, Ebrima, is that these two loans were contracted on commercial terms of about 11% per annum, 2-3 year grace period and 10 years to repay the entire loan. In contrast, the US$425million was on concessional terms meaning 0.75% fee, 5-10 years grace period and up to 50 years to repay the loan. The figure that Foroyaa is referring to is the US$425million. If you add the "known" commercial loans that "these people" have committed to generations of Gambians yet unborn, we are looking at a figure of US$500million: a third of the entire external debt contracted within the last six years that Jammeh seized power. We all know where the US$70million from the Taiwanese has gone - mostly in the pockets of Jammeh and his select corrupt friends and business associates. We have started paying for it. Also, you will recall when the Civil Aviation Authority was complaining about experiencing difficulties in meeting its daily operational requirements, including salaries because of the huge amount of money they have to pay Government ( about 4 million dalasi) every month to service the Taiwanese debt. Well, Ebrima, that is the tip of the iceberg. At least, through landing fees etc, the GCAA can collect some revenue but what of the Arch 22, Bwiam and Farafenni Hospitals. Can the user fees charged generate enough revenue to service that portion of the loan? Hell, NO. The Government treasury would have to pay through its nose; that means you and me and through other fraudulent schemes concocted by Jammeh and his Finance Minister. Ebrima, don't you notice that the regime is silent on the debt service charge on the Taiwanese loans. I cannot help you on this one, Ebrima. Since 1986, the Government has not contracted commercial loans until Jammeh seized power in 1994 and started taking commercial loans from the Taiwanese. Thank God, the US Government has demanded Taipei to stop approving loans of this nature to The Gambia. When was the last time you heard Yahya speak of "Allah’s Bank"? Katim’s suggestions for concerned Gambians to contact DRI - although a very good idea - will not bear fruit because they were engaged to help Gambia qualify for debt relief under the Debt write-off programme. Their approach would strictly be businesslike. The Gambia is their client and I do not think that they will do anything that will jeopardise their chances of success. You may try, but I can assure that you will not go very far with that approach. We should target the IMF, Word Bank by outlining all our concerns: the unacceptable level of corruption starting with Jammeh himself. The Bretton Woods Institutions will ultimately decide eligibility for debt relief. And any debt relief coming Gambia’s way with the current Government at the helm will go into Yayha’s pocket, pure and simple. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------