Mr. Sidibeh, thanks for your response. "Gambians need access to US markets more so than assistance. That is how we can develop and also sustain that development". Yes, that is exactly what I said and mean. Currently, we may not have mineral resources that can be exploited because the cost would not justify the product, but we certainly have other natural resources galor: Fisheries, Agriculture (not only peanuts), etc. Not only do we need to sell the unprocessed product, we also to need to process (add value) to the raw materials to earn more foreign exchange. It is this assistance business that why Africa is burden with debt. Currently, even the rice we eat is imported, when we could have cultivated enough rice for home consumption and to sell abroad. On the issue of being "touchy feely", please be in the habit of critical analysis when given information as opposed to just saying yes to every that's presented. I did say that the normalization of relations could be good for Gambia if the opportunities are used to benefit Gambia and not the president and his cronies. So, where in this have I said that I am unhappy about the normalization of relations, which you hinting? I hope this explains my position. Let me know if you need more clarification. Thanks for your input. Chi Jaama Joe Sambou >From: Edi Sidibeh <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Another Milestone reached - from The Gambia Daily Observer. >Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 16:57:37 +0000 > Mr. Sidibeh, thanks for your response. "Gambians need access to US markets more so than assistance. That is how we can develop and also sustain that development". Yes, that is exactly what I said and mean. Currently, we may not have mineral resources that can be exploited because the cost would not justify the product, but we certainly have other natural resources galor: Fisheries, Agriculture (not only peanuts), etc. Not only do we need to sell the unprocessed product, we also to need to process (add value) to the raw materials to earn more foreign exchange. It is this assistance business that why Africa is burden with debt. Currently, even the rice we eat is imported, when we could have cultivated enough rice for home consumption and to sell abroad. I hope this explains my position. Let me know if you need more clarification. Thanks for your input. Chi Jaama Joe Sambou >From: Edi Sidibeh <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Another Milestone reached - from The Gambia Daily Observer. >Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 16:57:37 +0000 > _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.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 To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~