>From: Matarr Amadou Sallah <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Boom or Doomed >Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2002 06:42:26 +0200 > >Saiks >Ebou sowe(lupi) was in the gambia for some months trying to establish his >business. As you know he is a proffessional welder trained here in Norway >and have his workshop at Bundung. When i met him in the Gambia he was going >round from place to place marketing his products which includes dust bins >which i am sure is far more cheaper and better in quality than the ones >ordered outside the country. >I really dont know when we will start seeing the efforts made by our young >and talented Gambians and start encouraging them. > >Just a short contribution >Matarr > > >>From: saikss <[log in to unmask]> >>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list >><[log in to unmask]> >>To: [log in to unmask] >>Subject: Re: Boom or Doomed >>Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 00:34:09 +0200 >> >>Jungle, >> >>Sorry for responding late. Your silence over some of the issues I raised >>seems >>to confirm that you see my points. If Tariq Musa ordered dust-bins from >>out >>side the country to be bought by government authorities whiles we have a >>Sankung Sillah is not a serious approach to national development. If we >>can >>order containers for collecting rubbish whiles we have small industries, >>who >>are struggle to survive daily and could produce the same type or even >>something better is also not a serious approach to national development. >>This >>has been my point of take off. I am not saying that communication net work >>should not be extended to the rural arrears, my problem is that we have >>other >>urgent development issues than that. Remember the great majority of our >>farmers are still using hoe and living in huts, drikking from well water >>and >>the majority of them could not provide a decent three daily meals. If you >>are >>to invest a $10million project on behave of these people then one must be >>very >>conscious as to what is intended to achieve. The amount of people who will >>be >>able to afford telephone in the rural areas is very limited, likewise a >>television, the State might end up subsidising for these services. >>Get me right here; I am not saying that we don't need well-constructed >>roads. >>This we need as much as efficient electricity supply. The issue is, do we >>actually need to spend so much in the construction of these roads? What I >>am >>saying is that, we don't need a four lane highway inside Serre Kunda, no >>matter what service these roads will perform, they will not pay off, the >>only >>way out will be to increase road tax and this again will have to affect >>the >>comsumers. We need roads but we need roads that we can afford, you don't >>take >>big loans to build a road capacity that you don't need and when poverty is >>in >>the increase. >>The APRC regime declared the dead of the 1st republic without been able to >>liberate her self from the shadows of the 1st republic. For example, You >>don't >>just go on building hospitals because the 1.republic did not do so, it is >>much >>more better to have a well thought health programme and with that you >>might >>know if you even need a new hospital and where. Or else it will just be as >>it >>is, hospitals without drugs or simple necessary equipment. Just take Serre >>kunda as example, perhaps one of the dirties towns in this world, how many >>people are going to suffer and died from maleria in that town this year, >>only >>God knows. Every bloody day when you visit the outpatient at the royal >>Victoria hospital, you are almost convince that there is an emergency >>situation in the country because of the amount of people queuing there. >>Take the building of schools, they are very many now and you hardly visit >>a >>compound in that country without meeting a half educated school drop out >>or >>some one struggling to pay his/her school fees. You don't call this >>national >>development, there is much to that. A poor country like Cuba used not more >>than two years to bring illiteracy to one of the lowest in the world. When >>Sankara took over Burkina Faso, the country was more than poor, but theses >>people with the little resources they had, brought illiteracy to one of >>the >>lowest in the history of the country. Jungle, the amount of loan and grant >>accumulated in the name of the country since the APRC came to power is >>enough >>to do 10 times more than what this government achieved.A serious >>government >>faced with this serious poverty will never buy a jet fighter, even if free >>they will return it back, let alone a president with a private plane, >>private >>zoo, two homes etc. It is only self-sacrifice that will be able to bring >>us >>to >>our dreams of a better Gambia. Go bring all the world industries in the >>Gambia, if the objectives are not for freedom, there will always be >>poverty, >>just look at Nigeria with all the wealth and industries of that country. >> >>For Freedom >>Saiks >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >===== Original Message From The Gambia and related-issues mailing list >><[log in to unmask]> ===== >> >Saiks, >> > >> >You have raised many varied and interesting points on which I shall do >>my >> >best to shed some more light. First of all, let me tell you that I know >> >poverty to my finger tips and that my knowledge of poverty is from a >>very >> >close encounter. I did not read about it. I have lived in it. You see >>Saiks, >> >I was born into what you can term a relaticely well-off family and grew >>up >> >seeing what wealth and generousity can do. I also lived through a period >>of >> >living a life of deprivation and seeing how some people repay kindness >>and >> >generousity when you no longer have what yiu used to have. >> > >> >As a kid growing up in Kuntaur (CRD), I have witnessed how dozens of my >> >relatives and friends of my family from the Baddibus, Bakau, Serekunda >>and >> >Banjul would regularly visit or come for holidays. i have also witnessed >>how >> >some would even spend the whole trade season with us. I saw how my late >> >father cared for dozens of them out of relationship and kindness. I have >> >also seen how, within a space of about eight years, he lost almost >> >everything. First, it was a major burglary that left us almost >>penniless, >> >then a fire that gutted our entire compound, closely followed by the >> >devastating devastating drought of the 70s and the departure of the >>first >> >Taiwanese mission from The Gambia, when we switched recognisation from >> >Taiwan to China. Saiks, my Dad was a rice and groundnut farmer as well >>as >>a >> >businessman. Seeing how some folks repaid the generousity of my late Dad >>(He >> >died in 1979) gave me first-hand lessons on wealth, friendship, poverty >>and >> >of dignity. >> > >> >Having said that, let me now turn to the $10 million rural development >> >project that we beginning to implement in the northern half of the >>country. >> >The project involses the laying of about 350 Kms of fibre-optic cable >>from >> >Basse to Barra and completing the loop to Banjul using a digital >>microwave >> >link. The main purpose of doing this is to first of all provide the >> >necessary security for the South Bank fibre in case there is a major >> >catastrophe with it. You know that fibre, not only carries rural >>traffic, >> >but also national TV and radio broadcasts as well. Secondly, it allows >>us >>to >> >develop telecommunications on the North bank to the same level as that >>on >> >the south bank of The river Gambia. >> > >> >I had mentioned sometime back that, access to information particularly >>in >> >rural areas, is one way of fighting poverty. If our poor rural folks, >>need >> >only travel a few Kilometres and have access to a phone to speak to >>their >> >loved ones far away in the Greater Banjul rather than travelling dozens >>of >> >kilometres just to make that call, you are saving them both time and >>money. >> >If a poor farmer in Karantaba can call Banjul from Karantaba to inform >>his >> >child that he/she badly needs money rather than borrowing money and >> >travelling all the way to Banjul, only to learn that his/her kid has >>been >> >trasnferred to say Kiang or some other place, you would be saving >>him/her >> >and his/her child anguish, time, money and effort. >> > >> >Thirdly, if we agree that education and health are important >>pre-requisites >> >for development in this day and age, and that in both cases the exchange >>of >> >information has a big role to play, then the need to bring that to our >>rural >> >folks is an absolute neccessity. Before you ask me how it would be >>powered >> >when there is no electricity in the rural areas, let me tell you that >>they >> >are normally solar-powered. The rural electrification project, announced >> >earlier, would also come in very handy later. >> > >> >Fourthly Saiks, we all know that most of the rural folks who leave >>behind >> >their families and come to the GBA do so to find work. If you can >>provide >> >electricity and access to communications in some of these rural areas, >>there >> >exists a good chance that some light industries may be located there and >> >provide much needed employment. The Kuntaur groundnut mill provided jobs >>for >> >thousands of people in the area until the former inept government moved >>it >> >to Kaur. The result? Kuntaur is now almost a ghost town. The tug boats >>and >> >barges that used to employ people and transport goods very cheaply up >>and >> >down the river all disappeared. In those days, nobody dreamt of leaving >> >Kuntaur for Banjul, Bakau or Serekunda. >> > >> >Coming to the roads being constructed, I do not know of any that has not >> >been very long overdue. At a time when we are embarking on the Banjul >> >Gateway project which establishes a trade free zone within the airport >>with >> >the possibility of having several industries there, then the need for >>the >> >dual carriageway linking it to Serekunda makes a lot of sense to me. >>Linking >> >the same airport with the other economic zones of the country such as >>Kerr >> >Serigne, Bijilo, Tanje, Sanyang, Kartong, Gunjur etc, also makes a lot >>of >> >sense to me. >> > >> >Finally saiks, you seem to think that some of the investments in >> >infrastructure being undertaken are somehow not priority projects. If >>that >> >is your view, you cannot be more wrong. When potential investors come to >>a >> >country and find that most of the essential infrastructures such as good >> >roads, reliable electricity, good communications facilities, peace and >> >security, a reasonably developed human resource base and of course good >> >governance exist, they more likely to consider investing in that country >> >than when they are not available. You see Saiks, a friend of mine in the >> >tourism industry told a few days ago, that two tourists came to The >>Gambia >> >for the first time two years ago and were so smitten with the country >>that >> >they came back again this year. The changes they saw impressed them so >>much >> >that they decided to start up something here. During their stay, they >> >established that potatoes consumed in Gambia, though imported from >>mainly >> >Holland are actually grown in South Africa. >> > >> >After their return, they came back again after a few weeks but this time >> >with some agronomists. You see, these two tourists happen to be major >> >potatoe farmers. Anyway having established that our soil is indeed very >>good >> >for potatoe farming, they sought and got allocated land for farming >>potatoes >> >for local consumption and export to the sub-region. >> > >> >For a start, they would sink boreholes for irrigation and are likely to >> >start in ernest early next year. They plan to employ a little over 1,000 >> >(Over one thousand) full-time farm workers in the first year and hope to >> >employ as much as six thousand within five years. This would have >> >significant impact on the lives of the tens of thousands of people who >> >depend on those workers. >> > >> >As to whether mordernising the air has had much impact on tourist >>arrivals, >> >I do not know. Two things I do know however, are that the constraint we >>have >> >in tourist arrivals are mainly due to the limited number of available >>beds >> >as well as the quality of our product, amongst others. Improve on these, >>a >> >friend told me, and we can double the number arrivals within five years. >> > >> >another thing I do know is that the number of aircraft landings and >> >take-offs have more than trebbled during the past five years. At the >>moment >> >no less than three dozen flights a week take-off from Banjul >>International >> >Airport for various destinations. The recent decision of Afrinat >> >International Airlines to use The Gambia as its hub into West Africa and >> >operating three weekly flights to Newyork from Banjul is a case in >>point. >>I >> >am sure when they start plying this route the number of flights from the >> >sub-region would drastically increase. This means more jobs for Gambians >>as >> >well as more revenue for the GCAA. Like I keep saying, "There is a time >>in >> >the life of every problem when it is big enough to see, yet small enough >>to >> >solve (Mike Levitt)". we are surely getting there!!!! >> > >> >Have a good day, Gassa. >> > >> > >> >_________________________________________________________________ >> >Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. >> >http://www.hotmail.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] >> > >> >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> >>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> >>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] >> >>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > > > >_________________________________________________________________ >MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: >http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >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] > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _________________________________________________________________ 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] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~