Suntou,
 
I appreciate your voice and encouraging words. I encourage you to join me  in 
whatever way you can give notice that we the citizens must be indemnified in  
the matter Carnegie Minerals V. Yahya & Co.
 
Thank you for you.
Haruna.
 
In a message dated 2/26/2008 1:12:58 A.M. Mountain Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

masoud, your  take on the whole issue is commendable. keep up the good 
work.it will reassure  potential investors to our beautiful country that ,the 
citizens care about how  foreigners get treated. abarakah baki . 

Haruna Darbo  <[log in to unmask]> wrote:   Thank you Victoria for your  
article in the comments and analysis section of 
City A.M. It is  interesting that the squalor of Gambian prisons is only now 
becoming a  concern to the citizens of UK and the investment world. I have 
always held  the belief and value that it is only a matter of time when 
injustice 
in  Tananarive will unduly affect justice in Wales. It will have been  
instructive for Carnegie to take spectacular delinquencies into account  and 
insist on 
amelioration of squalor prior to worsening it by aiding and  abetting such.

We the Gambian citizens, and indeed some other African  citizens have always 
been aware of the decrepitude and delinquencies in  Gambia and we have before 
now yelled as loud as we could to warn of the  corrosive character of 
indifference and general malaise. Be that as it  may, I wish to share some 
ideas with 
Mr. Hopkins that may in my view,  bring more perspective to Carnegie's 
diminished fortunes. 

[A tale  of uranium smuggling claims and squalid African prison cells] 
Victoria  Bates.

I refer Mr. Hopkins to a speech made by Yahya Jammeh, possibly  in Hopkins' 
presence, where Yahya boasted about the discovery of  commercially viable 
minerals. Yahya had intimated to the gathering that  Gambia will therefore be 
a 
superpower. Now you don't get to be a  superpower whatever that means by the 
mere 
presence and of Rutile,  Zirconium, and Ilmenite. What Yahya was alluding to 
was Uranium even  though Yahya does not understand fission and fusion theory. 
Yahya went  further to advise that he did not make the discovery public prior 
because  he had wished to upgrade national security commensurate with a 
nation 
with  Uranium deposits. It was funny and incredible to me then, and it still 
is  to me today. I was terribly disappointed however to realise that Mr.  
Hopkins and Carnegie did not take that to be aberrant commentary  especially 
given 
that they have not discovered uranium in any appreciable  quantity or 
quality. 
Never mind precedence in Alimenta V. Gambia. Yahya  also went on to invoke 
colonial exploitation referring to Titans earlier  operations and the 
distasteful 
commerce in slaves. I can only deduce that  Carnegie and Mr. Hopkins were 
only interested in the mechanics of  extraction and shareholder dividends. 
And 
not the people. So please  forgive me if I do not do cartwheels over this 
title 
and Carnegie's  newfound philanthropy.

[But this isn't a Graham Greene novel, it's real  life.] Victoria Bates.

In Gambia, the surreal is real.

[Alan  Hopkins, boss of miner Carnegie talks to Victoria Bates:
THE managing  director of mining firm Carnegie Minerals, Alan Hopkins, has 
had a  challenging week. However, his worries have been nothing compared to 
the  
ordeal his manager in the Gambia, Charlie Northfield, has endured.  
Northfield 
was arrested on 15 February and only released from a squalid  prison on 
Friday afternoon after being bailed for $450,000 (£225,000).]  Victoria 
Bates.

We are relieved and pleased that Charlie Northfield is  now free. It would 
have been more pleasing if he were released sooner and  sans bail. I would 
not 
count on a speedy trial any time soon.

"The  47-year-old father of three from Plymouth had spent a week in shocking  
conditions, sharing a cell with seven inmates but without power or hope of  
getting in telephone contact with his family.] Victoria Bates.

The  seven inmates still endure the squalor that entities like Carnegie aid 
and  abet.

[Northfield, his Australia-based employer Carnegie and partner  firm Astron 
are accused of illegal mining and of smuggling material,  including uranium, 
out 
of the country. Hopkins says: “All we can say  from our side is that the 
allegations are completely unfounded — it’s  all an incredible 
misunderstanding.“
] 

Incredible and  incredulous. To us, the citizens of Gambia, the argument over 
mineral  smuggling and its veracity is not terribly significant amid murder,  
maiming, and general decrepitude. Especially when partners thereto  squabble 
over insignificant farthing.

[We were just desperate to  get our guy out. Charlie was in a really 
vulnerable position. He’s in  mobile contact with us now and is just glad 
to be out. 
It wasn’t  something he’d wish on anyone.”] Hopkins.

We share your relief that  Charlie is now free and hopefully free to rejoin 
his lovely family in the  UK.

[IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL
The saga began a month ago, when the  Gambian government told Carnegie to 
cease operations and Carnegie withdrew  its personnel from the country.] 
Victoria.

I think the cessation was  ordered by Yahya Jammeh through a personal 
representative. I can assure  you it was not court order emanating from the 
judiciary 
as should have  been the case under normal arrangement. Here, we renew our 
request for a  copy of the MINING LICENSE. Not the exploration lease.

[Then two of the  Gambia’s top officials visited Britain on 4 February and 
the company was  assured that the Gambia wanted operations to be restarted.] 

The two  "Top" government officials presumably are the Attorney General and 
the  secretary of state for foreign affairs. Peculiar. And Carnegie was so  
eager to resume purely extractive operations, ides of Alimenta V. Gambia  
were a 
distant consideration. Fall-Guy; Charlie Northfield.

[It was  told the safety of its employees was not at risk.]

Indeed. And Alimenta  was not given similar assurances when Yahya realised 
persons in detention  are more valuable than real asset in extortions. 
Incredible 
Carnegie. I am  informed that Carnegie has a comprehensive analysis operation 
which  valuates her investments regularly.

[Northfield returned to start  planning the restarting of operations. He was 
arrested shortly afterwards.  Given the circumstances, it’s hard to ignore 
the 
possible implications  for foreign investment in the Gambia. After the “
groundnut incident”  of 1999 — when the Gambian government was forced to 
pay Swiss 
company  Alimenta $11.4m (£6m) after seizing the firm’s processing plants 
as a  
result of allegations that it had been involved in money laundering —  
firms 
are reluctant to move operations there and Carnegie’s recent  problems wonâ
€™t 
exactly boost the country’s reputation.]  Hopkins.

I see Alimenta V. Gambia is only now valuable. In historic  hindsight. I am 
so terribly disappointed at Carnegie I'm on the brink  being insolent. But I 
will yield for sobriety.

[NEW  RESERVES
“It’s hard to speculate on the longer-term implications for  the 
Gambia, but 
if you have an agreement with a government then both sides  have to actually 
follow that agreement.] Hopkins.

IF YOU HAVE AN  AGREEMENT WITH A GOVERNMENT. All indications are that Hopkins 
and Carnegie  were dealing with Yahya Jammeh and that they wished it to 
remain so. We  renew our request for the mining license which should be in 
the 
public  domain all along. If I were Yahya, I would have afforded myself the  
services of a TNC. But because the License/Agreement was between Carnegie  
and 
Yahya, that was not a valuable consideration. The Department of  Physical 
Planning, 
Geology, and Environment were only surrogates. Their  activity must not be 
seen as participating government entities. I am sure  that could easily be 
established in any court of law. The era of the  Millenium pre-supposes that 
thievery, enslavement, and deceit will be  extremely difficult to conceal.

[If you don’t do that, there’s no  firm base to operate on,” says 
Hopkins.]

A GOVERNMENT nonetheless. If  you convince yourself that you are dealing with 
a government, it is easy  to overlook stark decrepitude I suppose.

[Financially speaking, the  loss of Carnegie’s Gambian project won’t 
have a 
great impact on the  company, as the joint venture was funded primarily by 
Australia-listed  Astron. However, says Hopkins, the fiasco will be a setback 
for 
the  development of the regional mining project he has planned for the 
African  
west coast. company has been drilling and has found new reserves and  Hopkins 
wants eventually to turn the project into something much bigger.  “Our 
project in the Gambia was a stepping- stone,” he says. “There  were 
deposits there 
which had been known about for 50 years but they were  small and not such 
good 
quality.] 

The impression that the Gambia  deposits were very small and not of such good 
quality is at variance with  the impression Carnegie communicated to Yahya 
and Carnegie and Astron's  shareholders. In fact, there was jubilation about 
the 
quality of the  deposits and its proximity to the more expansive Senegalese 
deposits for  value in economies of scale.

[We’d been in the country for a few  years when we looked across and 
realised 
that what’s in the Gambia  should also be over the border in Senegal. So, 
we 
entered into an  agreement with the government and the project’s still 
going 
strong.  Senegal is a much bigger country, so our targets are potentially on 
a 
much  larger scale.”] Hopkins.

I hope Carnegie/Astron learns from the  Gambian experience and ammend their 
disposition vis-a-vis Senegal. There,  it is the government you are dealing 
with 
as you must have realised. You  must be up-front with value-yield and insist 
on propriety or else you  close shop. In this era of international commerce, 
propriety and good  governance are the most important bases for investment. 
Who 
am I to advise  Carnegie/Astron? A Gambian citizen.

[Hopkins, who’s been in the  mining industry for almost 30 years, is 
confident that the resources  sector will prove resilient, despite current 
turmoil.] 
Victoria  Bates.

The resiliency of the resources sector is directly proportional  to 
investment security.

[POSITIVE AMBASSADORS
“We’re  certainly seeing a lot of demand from buyers in the big 
developing  
countries like India and China,” he says. “In relation to the stock  
markets, 
they’ve obviously fallen everywhere.” 
Carnegie is, as  Hopkins puts it, a “production story”. While many of 
its 
competitors  are simply exploring, the company has moved into production but 
needs a  higher profile. “The problem is, we’re below the radar,” he 
says. “Our  
target is now to step up onto a larger scale in various countries.  London’
s a 
big market and you’ve got to be a certain size to get a  full evaluation 
of 
where you are.”] Victoria Bates.

I presume  this was a speech for the shareholders of Mr. Hopkins.

[He’s hoping  that the company will be driven forward by its new 
undertakings, including  the project in Senegal and another venture which 
Carnegie has 
been working  on for five months but whose location is being kept under 
wraps.  “We
’re not far away on it,” he says. “We can’t say yet where it  is.â€
] 

WE CANT SAY YET WHERE IT IS. I suppose the competitive nature  of the mining 
industry precludes corporate citizenry. I hope the citizens  of that nation 
are 
informed and regularly.

[Short-term, Hopkins’s  top priority is throwing out the “ludicrous” 
Gambian 
charges against  the company and Charlie Northfield, but Carnegie’s ordeal 
there does not  seem to have put him off expanding into other countries. “
] 

Hopkins  still doesn't get it does he? I think he means the ludicrous charges 
of  Yahya Jammeh.

[Somebody asked me this morning whether I regretted going  to the Gambia,” 
he 
says.
“But it’s funny — although we  obviously have a lot of concerns 
about what’
s happened, we achieved a  lot there.]

OK.

[We created about 140 local jobs and fully  trained up our workers.] Hopkins.

Someone had to mine the beach sand.  It will have been uneconomic to import 
miners from Britain, China, or  Australia for such mundane activity. And they 
must be trained to do their  job. This is not philanthropy considering the 
140 
persons are a captive  labour pool with very little or no alternative for 
survival.

[They  didn’t even have shoes,] Hopkins.

I am confident if they could have  produced more volume without shoes, 
Carnegie will be more than happy have  them mine barefoot.

[and we gave them protective work gear.]  Hopkins.

I am pleased Carnegie complies with some labour standards for  the safety of 
their productive inputs.

[We gave them inoculations  for their health.] Hopkins.

Indeed. Slaves were fed while en-route in  ships. Some however went on hunger 
strike for conscience  sakes.

[“And if the local primary school needed a building, we’d  send our men 
up 
for the day and work on it for them for nothing. We even  sponsored the local 
footie team. We really were positive ambassadors, and  I’m proud of that.â€
 By 
Victoria Bates]

If I were Hopkins, I  will cease with this cockamayme story about good 
corporate citizen and  positive ambassadors. Those qualifiers are for the 
citizens 
to determine.  Not Carnegie and Astron to advertise. It just rings hollow for 
some  reason. I take this opportunity to renew our request for the mining  
license. 


This is Haruna. I just hope someone will tell the  truth for once without 
regard of consequences or perceptions thereof. I am  very disappointed. 
Citizen 
goodwill is slowly being  eroded.




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**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.      
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2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)

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