Do  anyone has any information about the Amnesty for Immmigrant. If so i
would be very grateful to read it. A friend of mine just call me and he said
that Amnesty has been granted and the President has signed it.Please help if
you can.Thanks


>From: "Jeng, Beran" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: FWD:Gambian Dalasi In Crisis While On The Verge of Being Rejected
>Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 15:40:47 -0500
>
>Gambian Dalasi In Crisis While On The Verge of Being Rejected
>
>
>The Independent (Banjul)
>
>January 2, 2001
>
>Banjul
>
>The Gambian currency the dalasi has fallen sharply against other foreign
>currencies in recent months, prompting several businessmen in the country
>to
>prefer using other currencies in their business transactions. The situation
>is
>said to be felt more in the rural areas.
>
>Inhabitants in the border villages of North Bank Division said they have
>been
>alarmed by the dalasi's downward spiral whose value they said continue to
>drop.
>At the end of June last year, the Gambian currency was D11.32 to the US
>dollar
>and D18.06 to the British pound.
>
>It experienced some further drops in the last quarter of 1999 - a trend
>which
>continued into 2000.
>
>Towards the close of this year the dollar and the pound rose up further,
>exchanging at D14.35 and D21.09 respectively. Other currencies like the
>French
>Fanc and the CFA have also rallied significantly against the local
>currency.
>
>In the black market the picture doesn't seem to be assuring either. One
>dollar
>is equivalent to D15 while one pound is exchanged at D22.
>
>CFA500 make up for D10 while the French Franc is at D201.
>
>Local businessmen have expressed disquiet that the Dalasi is in danger of
>being
>rejected by foreign businessmen wanting to invest in the country but found
>its
>depreciating value a disincentive.
>
>In a round-up tour of the border villages in the North Bank Division,
>people
>there told The Independent that they have observed with "helpless shame" as
>the
>CFA Franc was being preferred to the dalasi. They asserted that on several
>occasions, businessmen especially foreigners rejected the Gambian currency
>in
>favour of the CFA Franc.
>
>They revealed that this happened particularly during weekly market days
>(lumos).
>
>Those who preferred other currencies said they were driven towards those
>currencies by the "ailing and declining" Dalasi.
>
>A middle-aged businesswoman who wished to remain anonymous claimed that
>many
>counterfeit versions of the Dalasi have swarmed the market, dampening
>confidence
>to deal with the local currency. Alhagie Amadou Sargh a resident of Tawa in
>Lower Baddibu told The Independent that a Mauritanian businessman in their
>village caused a stir when he refused to accept the Dalasi in exchange for
>items
>he was selling.
>
>Mr. Sargh said he made an inquiry of whether it was proper to reject the
>dalasi
>within Gambian territory but was "advised to report the matter to the
>police at
>Kerewan". According to Sargh the only currency the Mauritanian businessman
>accepted was the CFA Franc.
>
>Amat Joof a resident of Dimbuga said the rejection of the Dalasi in their
>area
>has brought serious difficulties to the people who depend on it to bargain
>for
>food and other essential items. He claimed that most of the rejections were
>from
>Mauritanian businessmen in the area.
>
>He pointed out that his daughter-in-law nearly fought with a businessman
>after
>he rejected her local currency notes.
>
>A middle-aged man who also preferred anonymity asserted that the Dalasi's
>rejection could not at this stage remain unnoticed by the police. "I blame
>the
>Alkalolu and the police, who are aware of the situation" he noted.
>
>"The police should be brought to the picture" he suggested. "If this trend
>should continue into the next year our currency would just be a trash" said
>another businessman who trades between the urban and rural areas.
>
>The Kerewan police could not be reached for comment. However, an insider at
>the
>Central Bank confirmed that the Dalasi is in more trouble of a downward
>slide
>and acknowledged that it is faring badly against the CFA Franc.
>
>Although he said he did not know the reason for the currency's decline, but
>he
>would not rule out instances of counterfeiting as one cause.
>
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