Yus, Africell/ACCESS, front men back home? These companies have the imprint of our three "business/front men" all over them. The ripping-off will happen alright but the loot stays in the pockets of Ya, Am, & Ta. Soffie -----Original Message----- From: Yusupha C. Jow [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Sunday, April 14, 2002 10:04 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Internet use for rural development in The Gambia. Gassa: Before you run around pleading ignorance, the ITU has definitely launched developmental wireless programs in Somalia. This is an excerpt for a paper they published explaining some of the project in Somalia: "Somalia Provision of basic telecommunications and informatics services in Galkayo (Mudug) Province through the introduction of a pilot community telecentre, with terminal equipment as above. This would be connected to the national/international network through a small/medium capacity satellite earth station (Arabsat or Intelsat DAMA) with associated wireless access system (cellular radio or MARS) for initially some 10 to 30 individual subscr ibers and five payphones. A local exchange is also needed. Estimated project cost US$350 000 to 430 000. This proposal was presented by Somalia Trading Company on behalf of the regional authorities." This is just a bit of background info I want you to see before I start debunking the misconceptions you are spreading here. But the truth is our country lost out big time in this aspect because of the 1994 overthrow of the legally elected Jawara regime. Although, you conveniently sidestepped this issue, it is the truth. Instead, of benefiting from this project in 1994, we now have a situation where foreign firms and personnel have to oversee such development. This means companies like Africell in collaboration with front men back home can rip the our citizens off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~