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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------