Thank you Malik and Katim for sharing your views about the 2002 budget. When I realised that despite all that is contained in the budget speech nobody seemed to want to discuss it I perhaps copying it in parts from the statehouse website and putting it on the L piecemeal will generate some interest. Unfortunately it did not attract the debate I expected. That is why after posting the bulk of it I decided to stop putting them on the L. In my opinion, a National budget is a very important document that needs to be thoroughly debated for all to have an idea of where we are heading. This is particularly so because of the calibre of people we usually elect to our national assemblies and who are supposed to debate the merit or lack of it when presented to them by our SOS. Unfortunately most of us whine and whinge about the calibre of people we elect to our National Assembly while we, the so-called intellectuals, hardly risk standing for elections. Since these are our individual choices, and we are entitled to make those choices, the least we can do on the L is to debate it as if we were the elected NAMs. This could perhaps provide other insights to our budgetary process that may guide those who prepare them in the future. Having said, I would like to comment on some aspects of the budget. On the whole I am more optimistic than both of you. On the whole, I was particularly pleased to know that while the average GDP growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is about 3.5 % that of The Gambia is about 4.8 %. This means that at least there has been some steady growth albeit less than 1 % above our population growth. Other areas of interest also were the statistics concerning the access to school, health and clean drinking water. The provision of housing for very low-income civil servants such as drivers, messengers and teachers was also something that I liked. The high rent in the Greater Banjul Area (GBA) coupled with the expensive fears means that this category of civil servants can barely have surplus money to maintain their children in school and are most likely to marry off their daughters at an early age. Investment in fish processing and preservation needs to be commended. Unfortunately not many Gambians, with the means to make the necessary investment in medium to large-scale fishing or marketing of fish products, are not doing so. Most Gambian business would rather invest their money on import and retail of finished products from abroad. We also make very nice salted peanuts and peanut butter but nobody is packaging them to enable their export to other countries. Instead we import salted peanuts and peanut butter. An Indian company has started producing peanut, which is in high demand in England, but other than them nobody is in that area of business on a big scale. I fully remember the large number of people employed at Denton Bridge producing groundnut oil as well as groundnut shell boards. These light industries have since died. I hope government imposes huge taxes on imported peanut butter and salted peanuts in particular. There is no need for us to import Gerteh saaf (Mariba) and Deggeh (Tia Deggor). The construction of road networks and bridges linking the producer areas to the consumer areas is also a step in the right direction. Rural telecommunications development is also proceeding at a very fast pace and can be a major catalyst for investment in the rural areas. Another area of interest is the reclaiming of agricultural land, the construction of dykes and waterways for our rice farmers as well as the construction watering holes in areas where there aren’t many swamps to provide water for livestock. I can remember the many confrontations that used to take place in the Kuntaur area between cattle herders, whose cattle sometimes stray into rice fields, and rice farmers. There have also been some scale projects in Niamina and Niani for the preservation of dairy products and the production of yoghurt. I am trying to get information about what impact the micro-finance institutions operating in the provinces have on the lives of the ordinary people who are supposed to benefit from them. Millions of small loans have be disbursed to women farmers and communities but I have no idea whether these loans are being repaid and whether the coverage area has increased significantly since its launch a few years ago. The rural electrification project, which I applaud for many reasons, will however only benefit us if Gambians are prepared to invest in small-scale industries that can provide employment for the beneficiaries. At the moment, most of our tailors, welders, barbers, etc. are mostly foreigners. I hope when the project is completed, government will formulate policies that will encourage investment in the provinces. The recent announcement of the revamping of river transport and the Banjul shipyard are steps in the right direction. I will stop here for now, lest it becomes too long. Have a good day, Gassa. _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>