Momodou, Thanks for this input. I agree with you fully. Sound planning and organization is a necessary prerequisite for oil exploration and production. Norway did it right, but it took them 20-25 years of planning, studies, organization and hard work before production started. During this period, even though multinational corporations were necessarily invoved, the state had the upper hand in virtually all major decisions. Solid investments were made on training Norwegian nationals in all fields of oil prodution and trade. They made sure that corruption never had a solid footing in this venture. The resource belonged to the nation and this was made clear to all Norwegians and foreign investors alike right from the beginning. This made it work for them, and we have a lot to learn from them. As soon as documentation of exploitable quantities is on the table, training programmes in all oil related fields should be outlined and implemented. By the time production is ready to commence, we would have been assured of highly trained manpower who would be in a position to participate fully and monitor the activities of foreign companies. I agree with you one hundred percent that our backyard should be swept clean and is in order. Investors should feel secure to put in their money and resources in The Gambia. The Senegal-Cassamance problem should be brrought to an end in a manner which will assure lasting peace. Otherwise investors will not feel secure. Environmental impact assessment is also necessary. But the impact of oil production on the environment is very much related to the type of production technology. The negative impacts on the terrestrial and aquatic enviroments are those to receive most attention. If we should resort to and accept old and archaic technologies, just because they are cheaper, (the NAWEC generators are an example) then we are doomed to fail, resulting in destruction for the generations to come. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Momodou Camara" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: 29 June, 2002 1:07 AM Subject: Re: Gambian oil prospects (4/5) > On 28 Jun 2002 at 0:13, Dr. Alhaji S. Jeng wrote: > > > Folks, > > > > I am a Gambian, a patriotic one at that. If I had the means The Gambia would be > > the most well-off country in the world, catering well for its citizens. BUT if > > oil for the Gambia turns out to be similar to what oil is for Nigeria, then I > > pray to God Almighty that economically large quantities are not found at all. > > Our small Gambia would then be much better off without. > > > > Dr. Jeng > > > > Alhaji, > If this is true then I think it should be a big boost for the whole Gambian > National economy. I share the same opinion with you. It is very important that > Gambians debate this thoroughly especially our politicians and put very sound > policies in place in the interest of the whole nation and not just the interest > of a few. > Nigeria is a good example of how things could go wrong even though they are an > oil producing nation. We could learn a lot from countries like Norway that was > a poor country only a few years ago and now one of the richest countries in the > whole world. It is very important that there are guarantees that Gambians are > trained in various fields of Engineering, oil management and the upgrading of > the Technical schools and Institutions by the interested oil companies so that > the most part of the future work force are Gambians and not outsiders. > > > Feet dragging by those in responsible positions should not take place just > because they wants to squeeze a bribe and delay whole processes if they can't > have have for their pockets. > > During the 1970s, Denmark used to offer up to 20 scholarships to The Gambia > government every year but people (potential students) were never informed, > probably because those who were sitting with the information did not have > children or nephews and nieces who were old enough to be sent at that time. > Since they did not send anyone, the Danes then just diverted all their > attention to Eastern Africa (Kenya and Tanzania). > > It should also be the interest of The Gambia that there is peace in Cassamance > because I think companies would find it more attractive to invest only if there > is peace in our backyard. > The issue of releasing all political detainees is also a factor that has to be > taken care of because there can't be reconciliation and thereby security if > people are detained just because of political opinions or personal grudges. > > Environmental impact assessment is also a very important factor as mentioned by > Abdou Sanneh. > > These are my few bututs! > > Good night and have a good weekend. > > Momodou Camara > > ******************************************************* > http://home3.inet.tele.dk/mcamara > http://www.gambia.dk > > **"Start by doing what's necessary, then what's > possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible"*** > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > 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] > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~