BY PA NDERRY M'BAI The much talked about "oil discovery" in The Gambia is now buried in the Atlantic ocean, as there is no indications that the said oil will be mined under dictator Yahya Jammeh's rule. WE DONT WANT A REPEAT OF THE THE NIGERIAN CRUDE OIL GIFT. A WORD OF CAUTION!!!! Jammeh's repeated promises that mining will start before year end in 2004 had never been fulfilled. We are now in 2005-heading to 2006. The Banjul oil is all about political propaganda spear headed by Yahya Jammeh and his cohorts. From the day one, we knew that that the desperate president was using the so called "oil discovery" to fool Gambian voters. He even got the guts to appear before a National Television to demonstrate a mini disc purportedly featuring the sites where the oil was discovered. Mr.President, what happened to the said oil mini disc? Did you throw it in the Atlantic ocean? Stop messing with Gambians. We are too intelligent to be fooled. Mining oil requires money and resources, which your government lacked. At the moment there are no funds to attract "serious miners." Our treasury which should finance such economic ventures, had been squandered by your very self and some people in government. Millions of dalasis are still unaccounted for at the Central Bank. While your regime is faced with growing inflation and unemployment rate, more poverty stricken citizens are dying on daily bases due hunger related problems. Diseases such as malaria and HIV/aids are on the rise. There is urgent need to tackle these problems now to avoid further deaths. Knowing Jammeh's bad historic records on crude oil deals, Gambians and friends of The Gambia are sceptical about the president's sincerity in making the Gambia an oil exporting nation. Firstly, they cited the late "Abacha and the current Nigerian president Obasanjo's crude oil gifts to the Gambia". Funds amounting to millions of US dollars, meant for economic advancement for The Gambia, later landed in Swiss private bank accounts and Ruling APRC election projects. The interesting thing about Jammeh is that he behave as if he owns The Gambia and her people. He collects economic funds in the name of The Gambia, without informing the National Assembly and his cabinet. Such funds are not easily accountable, since people giving out the funds never bothered to involve our rubber stamp National Assembly. Reading the Daily Observer today, Jammeh was quoted shortly after his arrival from his Brazilian trip as saying"any oil exploration deal with any company will have to be in conformity with the Gambia Petroleum Policy, which stipulates amongst other things that the larger share of oil exploration revenue goes to the people of The Gambia." Mr.President, if your statement is to go by, then we challenge you to explain the whereabouts of the crude oil funds derived from the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1996 and 2003. You are good at hiding under the name of impoverished nation The Gambia to pursue your own economic interest. The Brazilian government and any other government interested in helping The Gambia to mine the said oil should be mindful about any moves by the current administration to use the "oil discovery" to enrich themselves. We don't want funds to be collected in the name of The Gambia to mine oil without making any serious efforts in that direction. The Nigerian crude oil deal should serve as a wake up call for Gambians and the World at large. What we have in The Gambia today is a regime interested in enriching themselves over night. From the president to the last man in his cabinet are running private businesses. They used Gambian entrepreneurs as under-covers to perpetrate their shady business schemes. As far we are concerned here at "AllGambian" the oil discovery is not a knew thing. It was part of the deposed PPP's administration plans to attract potential miners. For some reasons, some misguided soldiers hiding in the name of tackling corruption halted the program in 1994, when Jammeh and his fellow coupists toppled the Jawara era. The records are there to speak for itself. A civilian regime under Jawara will better manage any oil for The Gambia better than the APRC government. Today our nation is at cross roads. While we are being hunted by economic and political uncertainties, Jammeh is telling the world that he is ready do whatever it takes to continue to rule The Gambia. Even though, he is not delivering the goods as a head of state he believes that he is the right person to rule The Gambia. Politics of oil should be set aside for now. Gambians want to see an end to the current economic and political uncertainties hitting the West Africa country. We want Yahya Jammeh to tell us where he put monies he collected from the Taiwanese government in the name of campaigning for them at the United Nations. We are also demanding an explanation from Yahya about his Moroccan hotel resorts. The Gambia with a population of less than four million people, our country is still faced with electricity and water crisis. Taiwanese funds to purchase new generators for The Gambia were diverted by the government to buy run out generators. These generators are currently grounded for mechanical problems. People living in the Greater Banjul Area are living without light. Private and public institutions are closing down due to lack of electricity. The only place enjoying 24 hours uninterrupted electricity and water supply today in The Gambia is Kanilai, president Jammeh's home village. The unfair distribution of the national cake, which he Yahya Jammeh had been talking about on the side of the PPP administration was nothing but lies and deception. We are witnessing the worst today. He appointed his own people in key government positions. Jammeh openly practice tribalism and nepotism. He's on record for having said that the "Mandingka tribe" will not rule The Gambia in the next thousand years. This statement is not only an insult to the Mandingkas but also to entire Gambians. Politics of tribalism started to come into play under Jammeh's rule and not the PPP regime. The few Mandingkas who allowed to be used by Jammeh are today reduced as laughing stock. What happened to the likes of Baba K Jobe, Momodou Bojang, Lang Conteh and the rest.? The same people were campaigning for Jammeh-asking there fellow tribe men to support the 'kanilai mansa" Now that things have fallen apart Jammeh want to blame Mandingkas for his own predicament. Forgetting that he Jammeh, derives his political support mainly from the Mandingkas, Fulla and Wolof groupings, he is today discriminating against these tribes. We are against tribalism in all it forms. But the reality is that tribalism do exist in The Gambia. Back to the much talked about oil discovery, we are asking Jammeh to stop day dreaming. We need a realistic, dedicated and honest president and not the types of Yahya Jammeh bent on exploiting our impoverished nation. Our position is that Yahya Jammeh is not capable of mining oil for The Gambia. We call it yet "another attempt by Jammeh to explore new means to exploit Gambians in the name of so called oil discovery." Time will tell. We rest our case. _________________________________________________________________ FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar - get it now! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/ いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい 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 Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい