These are the types of stories the ghastly, inept and corrupt regime in BJL wants to keep out of the spotlight; hence the authoritarian Media Bill, which has just been rubber-stamped by APRC lackeys in the APRC Assembly. They are in for a shocker: in the age of the "death of distance", the internet, and 24 hours newswire, only a fool would imagine that you can keep the lid tightly shut on damaging information forever - the longest they can keep information out is, well, 24 hours. After that, the cat is out the bag... ____________________________________ D12.5 Million Still Owed to Farmers The Independent (Banjul) May 6, 2002 Posted to the web May 6, 2002 SB Camara Banjul Reports monitored by The Independent suggest that over D12 million is still being owed to Gambian farmers, representing what has been described as an outstanding balance for the purchase of groundnut through out the country. Reports say D12.5 million is the sum left unpaid by Premier Agro Oils Gambia Ltd. According to sources, from the beginning of the trade season to the 28th February, 45,460 metric tones of the groundnut produce was valued at D120, 460,909.55. The Independent has been informed that half of the outstanding balance of D25 million was paid last week, but D12.5 million is still outstanding as the amount owed. According to reports, Premier Agro Oils and groundnut stakeholders, agreed at 35,000 metric tones, but due to the frequency with which the produce is delivered at seccos, the quantity was raised to 62,000 metric tones by the end of February. This was confirmed by a highly placed source. According to the arrangement this is 27 times more than that covered by the initial agreement between stakeholders, according to the sources, which sent the buyers into financial uncertainty. Sources said although a huge amount of money was invested in the buying of the produce, the exclusive amount of capital needed to buy all the produce countrywide has still not been made available. In an earlier interview with The Independent, the general manager of the Federation of Agricultural Co-operative Societies Ansumana Makalo said since the dissolution of The Gambia Co-operative Union in 1998, F.A.C.S had since that period supported its mandate in the marketing of 95 percent of the commercial crop of the entire country during the past two years. FACS is responsible for co-coordinating the production and marketing efforts of its constituted 58 co-operative producers and marketing societies with 120,000 members countrywide. According to Mr Makalo, the financing of the market is a key problem to the groundnut sector because it involves a large sum of capital, hence its liberalization. Clarifying the widely complained credit buying Makalo said it was due to the surplus nature of the produce in the country, against the less availability of financial support for its purchase. At the peak of the season, he said, the frequency with which nuts are sent to seccos is rather high than the availability of cash. He however gave assurances that stakeholders will always be firmly committed to business and are conscious of the domestic responsibilities farmers have. Reports revealed that Premier Agro Oils Company is the only company expressing interest in the purchase of the number one commercial produce of The Gambia. All efforts made to reach the general manager of commercial operations of Agro Oils Modou Dibba proved futile, as he was said to be engaged. But sources close to him said the remaining half of the outstanding balance would be made available to the farmers next week, to complete the payment. _________________________________________________________________ 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] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~