First, I would like to express gratitude to Mr. Jassey-Conteh and Mr. Kebba
Jallow for the efforts they made to go to Rust and represent the oppressed
Gambians. Your actions are commendable. Thank you very much.
Still on the topic of the budget, today I want to talk about our energy
sector, since news from Banjul is reporting that the latest victim of Yaya's
nihilist policies is the managing director of NAWEC. Apparently, Alagie
Conteh (former MD of NAWEC) has been disgraced, called a thief and sacked by
Yaya. Alagie Conteh (I hope no relations to Jassey-Conteh) has been blamed
for all the failings of this inept government regarding the generating of
electricity. According to Yaya, Conteh was caught red-handed taking bribes
from suppliers. I say, Conteh got what he deserves. We should never feel
sorry for these imbeciles when Yaya gets rid of them and drag their names in
the mud.
The same newspaper reports mentioned that Yaya will try to rethread by
appointing Batchi Baldeh as the next MD. Although the paper mentioned a
Batch Baldeh, I think they meant Batchi because I do not know of any former
MD of NAWEC (or its predecessor) called Batch Baldeh. Well, if the paper
really meant Batchi, I want to take this opportunity to appeal to Batchi not
to associate himself again with these losers. Yaya will just abuse him again
and end up disgracing him again. And this time around, it might be
impossible for him to restore his reputation. Yaya and his cohorts cannot be
relied upon to deliver on the job that needs to be done in this industry.
Even the genius of a Batchi Baldeh cannot help us. The problems we have in
this sector are very fundamental and require a lot of funds Gambia does not
have.
That brings us to the question of just how our illegal government intends to
tackle the problems posed in this industry. Batchi et al should ask
themselves whether they are confident Yaya has what it takes to raise the
funds needed in this sector and allocate those funds efficiently. Ten year
old kids know that Yaya does not have the wherewithal to solve our energy
problems. The only thing he knows, is to fire MDs and heap all the blame on
them. My suspicion is that the real reason Yaya is getting rid of Conteh is
that Yaya knows that he (Yaya) cannot deliver on the promises he made last
year about electrifying the country. That is why Conteh was sacked. If it is
true that Conteh saw a bribe, I can bet my last penny that Yaya also saw
some action. If taking bribes is now a 'fireable' offense, then Gambians
should get rid of Yaya and all his officials. All of them are crooks. There
is documented proof that Yaya took bribes from Taiwan.
To also assist Batchi or the next rethread that is going to be asked to head
NAWEC, I will reproduce some of the utterances from Famara Jatta regarding
this sector. In the budget speech, Jatta stated that "in 2001 we plan to
electrify the remaining part of Manjai kunda, Fagi Kunda, Wellingara and the
Sinchus if all pledged funding are redeemed."
This is an encrypted way of saying that nothing will and can be done unless
we get loans and grants from other countries. One should also ask oneself
whether it makes sense to expand the network when you cannot even guarantee
electricity to our main hospital in the country. One should also ponder
about the wisdom of taking electricity to Kanilai (a remote village in the
middle of nowhere economic activity goes on), and forcing major economic
centers like hotels to spend millions of dalasis buying fuel for their own
generators.
Getting the money is one thing. Putting the money into good use, is another
thing. As we established yesterday, this government depend on donors to fund
90% of their programs. If we have a country that cannot do anything for
itself without begging other nations, the leaders of that country have to be
very smart people with impeccable reputations. We do not need uncouth
nonentities that are clue-less about world affairs. We do not need vermin
like Yaya alienating the powerful countries that can help us. Even people
like Famara Jatta that should know better bought into the nonsense Yaya
engages in. In his speech Jatta acknowledged rogue nations like Taiwan
because of their private bribes to Yaya, but failed to mention the U.S.
anywhere. I guess the work done by the Peacecorps does not count. It is
foolhardy to try and snub the U.S. because a moron like Yaya is the one
giving the marching orders. The role of Jatta et al should be to remove such
illogical ideas from Yaya's little brain.
Gambians should understand the economic reality of our country. If we do
that, we will then know that Yaya and his gang can only make us grow poorer.
They do not have the required reputation to attract adequate grants to the
country. They do not have the wherewithal to draw up good proposals and
negotiate favorable loans for our country. Finally, they do not have the
intelligence to plan and implement projects that will make us more
self-sufficient. In short, we are doomed under Yaya and his cohorts.
Going back to NAWEC, here is how Famara Jatta plans to develop the sector:
"In our drive to ensure development in all the divisions, a Rural
Electrification Programme is to commence in the coming fiscal year. This
programme is to be co-finance by the IDB, ADB, and BADEA. The IDB loan of
D96.56m was signed in November 2000 at the IDB annual meeting in Beirut and
negotiations are completed with the ADB for a loan of D47.8m. The BADEA
loan of D96m is expected to be presented to its Board in the first quarter
of year 2001. The implementation of this programme will result in the
electrification of major rural communities."
All he can talk about are loans. We need more creative solutions than that.
I will not be the one that will offer Yaya and his cohorts a way out of this
conundrum. A legitimate government with the interest of ordinary Gambians at
heart, can solve our electricity problems in less than a year. There are
very simple solutions to our electricity, water and transport problems. The
difficulty arises when you have incompetent government ministers that are
scared to take good ideas to a moron like Yaya.
If Batchi had a good minister and a good president, he would be able to
solve our problems. There are a lot of Batchis in The Gambia and outside the
Gambia who can do an equally competent job. But as demonstrated by Batchi's
earlier stint at the GUC (or whatever it was called), no matter how smart
you are, if you have nincompoops at the helm, nothing gets done.
That is the bottom-line. Our leaders cannot take us anywhere. Any
professional that thinks that taking up a job in this regime is a good idea,
is deluding him or her self. The only thing we can do, is fight against this
government and ensure that we replace them with leaders that can take the
country forward. A government that depends on loans and grants, should at
least be nice to its citizens and the countries that can help them in a
meaningful way. You do not cut the hand that feeds you.
KB
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