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Dembish
Gambia
284 Posts |
 Posted - 01 May 2006 : 21:28:35
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A source from the the Gambia Journal,Guys please analyse it sensibly, if really there is oil or not,For I have already concluded that its another big lies of Jammeh.Gambia: Washington Lobbyist Told Jammeh That There is No Oil in the Gambia
The Gambia Journal (Banjul)
ANALYSIS
April 30, 2006
Posted to the web May 1, 2006
Mbaye B. Sarr & Mohammed L. Sillah
Late December 2003 President Jammeh told Gambians that he had found a pleasant surprise for Gambians and that the country would soon become one of the richest in the world. Though he did not make his message definitively plain, he left many with the belief that it has been discovered that the country was sitting on some vast deposits of one or the other form of precious metals.
To keep up the suspense, the Gambian leader told his eager subjects that he would not say more until June 2004. This plunged Gambia into a protracted morbid excitement that left its people in the grips of rabid anticipation. The economy, already in stagnation, had been in the throes of near catastrophic decline. The dalasi in 2002 had lost half its value and prices of basic goods and services had sky-rocketed to levels beyond the reach of the average citizen. Hard times were setting in and there was no light in the tunnel of the near future. President Jammeh then heralded a new policy he called "Operat ion No Compromise." The view of the policy was that the fall of the Gambian dalasi was due to speculation and mindless profiteering by businessmen and not due to Government Economic Policies. The ruling party militants, escorted by armed security officials, raided markets and other business centers to force down prices, seizing goods and arresting reluctant business people. Stores were raided to stop suspected hoarding meant to keep up prices but the decline kept on being persistent.
Perhaps it was because of this that President Jammeh decided to spin up this trick to make citizens persevere in the face of the hardships in anticipation of a brighter future. When June came and mass excitement was at its height, President Jammeh revealed that The Gambia was sitting in vast deposits of high quality oil even more, in terms of both quantity and quality, than Kuwait was sitting on. He said that production would start before the end of that same year and that it was left to Gambians to do away with their disreputable work-shyness, make use of the opportunities and enrich them. If they did not and instead let foreigners to exploit the resources, then they would have no one to blame but themselves. Oil fever took over the Gambian psyche with full force. "Do not sell your landed properties, I advise you, as you may be selling oil wells mistaking them for residential or agricultural estates", he told Gambians. To reinforce the point President Jammeh took out a CD di sk and wagging it in the air as he would the Holy Koran in other circumstances. Gambians waited and waited until they started forgetting about the oil saga, in the characteristic short memory of illiterate populations. The talk of oil started to wane, and the only oil people then talked of, was that of cooking oil whose price was escalating. Skeptics then were joking, "There was the fish, chicken and beef ready, but there was no Yahya Jammeh-oil to fry them in." The skeptics' joke was confirmed by a statement made to Jammeh by his Washington Lobbyist Richard T. Hines when he visited Banjul in June/July 2004. Mr. R.T. Hines clearly told Jammeh that there is no oil in the Gambia. In fact he told the US Embassy that he thought he had upset Jammeh by making that statement.
December 2004 came and went but there was still no sign of any move towards oil exploitation as the President had promised six months earlier. No oil platforms, no construction of offices for oil companies and no clear evidence of even the existence of any oil.
Nothing was said of the oil again all throughout the year 2005. But then in January 2006, or there about, a before that Mr. Ousman Jammeh, now carry the hitherto unknown official designation "Petroleum Commissioner", announced that the Gambia Government had made a breakthrough in its efforts to identify a reliable and suitable partner for petroleum exploration. Government, Mr. Jammeh said, after much difficult negotiations, has signed an agreement with a Canadian oil company called the Buried Hill Energy Ltd. A relapse of the oil fever returned, but this time in a much smaller feat. Some were able to make difference between the previously used word "exploitation" from Mr. Jammeh's "exploration." The Gambia Journal has ever since being trying to Goggle the name of this company and to try to track it down. It is only recently that we were able to come across information on this little-known company.
The time it took to unravel the nature of the mysterious Buried Hill Company, itself alone tells of the Company's dubious nature. Little is known about the Calgary based company that was founded about two years ago It turned out that Mr. Haines, the Company's Chief Executive and owner who was said to have visited The Gambia in January, is said to specialized in dealing with tyrants of rogue states like the Gambia. Mr. Haines, who has been in the oil business for many years, was once a President of the now defunct Gulf stream Resources. He has been known to have hired the services of a law firm that has been using former Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien to meet various corrupt heads of states to open up doors for the company. Someone in the know told the Gambia Journal that "Buried Hill Energy is one of those small companies who hire big names (door-openers, so to say), to get into countries and sign contracts with Heads of States, then use those contracts to raise funds ." He added, "It is an old trick with lots of people in the oil business who do not have enough funds to develop projects on their own."
After the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Mr. Haines in January 2006, the "petroleum commissioner", Ousman Jammeh told the press that it will provide "the atmosphere for Buried Hill Energy to come and invest lots of millions in The Gambia to explore the Country's petroleum resources." Our source however stressed that the company is "a joke" and has no such funds and capacity. Mr. Jammeh had also told reporters that the Gambian President had been always waiting for the right company and that they thought they had found one in the Buried Hill Energy. Dilating further Mr. Jammeh said he is glad that oil exploration in the country has aroused the interest of oil companies. Information from our source however dismissed this as "pie-in-the-sky dream of President Jammeh." To substantiate his position our source said if Buried Hill Energy was a serious company and was not desperate enough, it would not have ventured into contested areas, as shown in a 2005 article whose copy is shown below:
Source: AllAfrica.com
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There is no egg without a chicken, and no chicken without egg. |
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jambo
3300 Posts |
Posted - 02 May 2006 : 08:49:32
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| so there is no oil in Gambia interesting, what happens to land prices now, a lot a of people paid high money because they thught they would get rich!! |
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truevoiceof bakau
United Kingdom
12 Posts |
Posted - 02 May 2006 : 20:48:49
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| this is true jammeh at work to get the vote of the people like he done last time around with the old generators and said no more power problem |
kachikally |
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taalibeh
Gambia
336 Posts |
Posted - 02 May 2006 : 21:31:33
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It is possible that there is no oil deposits of signigicant amount in the country. Ever since the emergence of this wild dream there has never been a well renoune independent verifier of the claim.
All the talk of this oil is predominantly coming out from within ie the government. In auditing, there is a notion that information obtained from an independent external source is more credible than information obtained from within an audit client.
Considering the scarcity of this resource it will appear very strange of course if there is really huge amount of oil deposits while the global oil corporations are ignoring it. Furthermore, jammeh's excitement over this issue would not have allowed him to wait any longer before signing genuine contracts to explore it.
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Taalibeh |
Edited by - taalibeh on 02 May 2006 21:32:42 |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 02 May 2006 : 22:16:24
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I had my doubts. My guess is there is ofcourse oil but not economic to drill. There were small deposits which is not anything new and that was why it was abandoned. May be the deposits have now increased to warrant a change of decision.
I sincerely hope there is oil in the gambia so that we can improve agriculture and provide electricity which will enhance the productive base of the country.
We should diversify the economy and not depend entirely on a resouces that will be depeleted sooner than later and then threaten our very existence. |
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” |
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Momodou
Denmark
11828 Posts |
Posted - 02 May 2006 : 23:03:42
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Some years ago I forwarded some articles to Gambia-L from an oil magazine Upsteram. By making a search on The Gambia at http://www.upstreamonline.com you will get the following headlines but one has to subscribe to be able to read them. Perhaps some of you might be able to get the hard copies.
Plan eyes regional initiative 10.03.2006 HARDCOPY
Gambia National Petroleum Company chief executive Siaka Camara and Petroleum Commissioner Ousmane Jammeh are considering proposals for a regional initiative to pull together exploration and production data to spur upstream investment in north-west Africa.
Buried Hill tries to unearth deal 03.03.2006 HARDCOPY
Buried Hill of Canada is bidding to win an exploration and production licence from the Gambia National Petroleum Company to target a large offshore structure near the Gambia-Senegal boundary.
Gambia in spotlight with launch of state company 01.07.2005 HARDCOPY
The Gambia is poised to position itself back on the oilman's itinerary this year by establishing a national oil company and launching its first licensing round for several years, writes Barry Morgan.
Philippines pays peanuts for oil block off Gambia 01.07.2005 HARDCOPY
Talk about getting something for peanuts.
Gambia says thanks for the peanuts 23.06.2005 LIVE
Gambia has offered to give the Philippines one of the offshore exploration blocks in its current licensing round as a thank you for giving the West African nation a variety of peanut which has become its main export crop.
Gambia offers aid to the Philippines 22.06.2005 LIVE
The Gambian government has offered to help the Philippines with its oil exploration efforts in thanks for aid given “ during its earlier years struggling as a nation”, said President Gloria Arroyo.
Gambia gets into the game 01.12.2004 LIVE
Gambia, eager to get off the sidelines of Western African energy exploration, opened six offshore blocks for bidding today, hopeful companies will explore its Atlantic coastline.
Dakar a beacon of hope for West Africa 29.05.2004 HARDCOPY
ONCE the brightest jewel in the former colonial territory of French West Africa, Dakar now shines as a beacon of industrial activity and political freedom in a sub-region riven with ethnic strife and military dictatorship,
Buried Hill's 3D delivery 21.05.2004 HARDCOPY
CALGARY-based Buried Hill Energy has completed interpretation of a 500 square-kilometre 3D survey carried out off the Gambia this spring and has presented the results to Banjul, writes Barry Morgan.
Senegal's deep-water winners waiting in wings 08.05.2004 HARDCOPY
Senegal is closing in on awards of fresh deep-water acreage with state oil company Petrosen saying that decisions should be made public before the end of next month, writes Barry Morgan#. |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 02 May 2006 : 23:09:49
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| Thanks for the above. My guess is the oil issue might die after the elections. This is not an easy business and if there were really economical deposits, by now we would have seen the movements on the ground. |
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” |
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sss
USA
82 Posts |
Posted - 02 May 2006 : 23:37:55
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| U KNOW WHAT. GAMBIANS SHOULD BE SAYING TO JAMMEH'MR. PRESIDENT, TULLO LAY'( MR .PRESIDENT WHERE IS THE OIL? EVER SINCE I HEARD THE STORY ,I KNEW IT WAS JUST POLITICS.DIDN'T JAMMEH PROMISED RURAL ELECTRITIFICATION.HE SAID IN ONE YEAR,ALL OF THE VILLAGES WILL LIGHT UP BUT IS NOW MORE FOUR YEARS SINCE HE SAID THAT.GAMBIANS,WE ARE SO UNINFORMED THAT PRESIDENT CAN COME TIME FROM TIME TO SAY STUPID THINGS LIKE THIS.THE VILLAGERS CAN'T PAID FOR ELECTRICITY,EVEN THOSE IN THE CITY CAN'T PAY NAWEC HIGH BILLS.THE PROBLEM OF GAMBIA IS THAT WE ARE SO SO UNINFORMED. |
THE MESSENGER OF GOD(peace and blessing be always upon him)SAID,"WHOEVER WALKS WITH A TYRANT IN SUPPORT OF HIM,WHILE AWARE OF HIS TYRANNY,HAS ABANDONED ISLAM."At-Tabarani
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taalibeh
Gambia
336 Posts |
Posted - 02 May 2006 : 23:42:06
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Thank you Konds. That is the case. I think there is oil deposit every where in the world, but the issue is; is the revenue worth the cost of trying to drill it.
You see yaya thinks the world corporate body thinks like him. Did you read him in his last speech adamantly prophesisng about the oil revenue as him weapon to develop the Gambia and the whole of Africa for that matter. Day dreamer. |
Taalibeh |
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taalibeh
Gambia
336 Posts |
Posted - 02 May 2006 : 23:51:25
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sss
Dont make it pleasant. The botton line is we are stupid. A lot of people still believe jammeh's mad dreams. The whole world have abandone him now except Taiwan who are still dangling for their own egocentric goals.
The West in particular realised long ago that there is some thing wrong with this guy.
He says Gambia is a super power. I tell you what, I takes one chicky US military private to beam one satellite camera on kanilai and enjoy him in his bedroom with the madam. He should talk to his friend in Tripoli. |
Taalibeh |
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sss
USA
82 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2006 : 00:15:47
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| U RIGHT,AM BEING PLEASANT.LETS LOOK AT THE STUPID VISON 2020.IS GOING TO COME WHILE WE ARE IN THE SAME STATE WE HAVE BEING. IS JUST STUPID.2020 IS AROUND CORNER,WE SAYING ALL THAT STUFF WHEN WE HAVEN'T EVEN BEGIN.SOME OF WHAT U SAYING NEED 20 YEARS TO BE REALISED.MAY HE' JAMMEH ' WILL JUST BEFORE MIDNIGHT TO 2020 WAVED HIS MAGIC SWORD AND EVERYTHING WILL BE AS THE VISION. |
THE MESSENGER OF GOD(peace and blessing be always upon him)SAID,"WHOEVER WALKS WITH A TYRANT IN SUPPORT OF HIM,WHILE AWARE OF HIS TYRANNY,HAS ABANDONED ISLAM."At-Tabarani
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taalibeh
Gambia
336 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2006 : 00:42:04
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sss
I love the entertainment mate. Welcome to bantaba where we all try to ease up after a hectic days walkout. Please keep coming, I love the fun. |
Taalibeh |
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sss
USA
82 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2006 : 01:12:13
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| JAMMEH IS SUCH A SHAM.PROMISING THE PHILIPINES OIL WHEN U DONT EVEN HAVE ANY.THOSE PEOPLE JUST LAUGH AT HIM.SAYING IT IS FAVOUR FOR PROVIDING US WITH GROUNDNUT SEEDS.HE IS SO WACKY."MR PRESIDENT, TULLO LAY" |
THE MESSENGER OF GOD(peace and blessing be always upon him)SAID,"WHOEVER WALKS WITH A TYRANT IN SUPPORT OF HIM,WHILE AWARE OF HIS TYRANNY,HAS ABANDONED ISLAM."At-Tabarani
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taalibeh
Gambia
336 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2006 : 01:20:34
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sss
What had been the reactions of the Phillipines towards this promise? They knew the guy is out of his senses. Jammeh does not know how this world perceive him. He thinks he is the most sound person but people outside laugh at him.
He is hysteric and hypa. He jumps to anything that comes to his mind. Boy we have a colossal problem at hand. The Gambia has the lowest IQ president in the world. I am sure that those the accompany him on his international travels do have a lot of drama to enjoy.
It is my guess how he interacts with his family at home. |
Taalibeh |
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sss
USA
82 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2006 : 01:24:11
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| TAALIBEH,I DONT THINK HE IS STUPID.I THINK HE IS INTELLIGENT BUT GREEDY AND INSINCERE THAT RESULT IN STUPIDITY SOMETIMES |
THE MESSENGER OF GOD(peace and blessing be always upon him)SAID,"WHOEVER WALKS WITH A TYRANT IN SUPPORT OF HIM,WHILE AWARE OF HIS TYRANNY,HAS ABANDONED ISLAM."At-Tabarani
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Sister Omega
United Kingdom
2085 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2006 : 01:27:34
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Just wondering I first heard the oil speculation in 1992 from a source very close to the former President Jawara does this mean that Jawara was lying too? If Jammeh is so stupid why is that he has achieved so much in 12 years than his predecessor in 30? Who had little vision compared to his peers in other ECOWAS states. Just imagine if he had invested in education Gambia would by now have generations of skilled Human Resources investing in the country and in other countries in the region.
So even if people think 2020 vision is unrealistic, it is important that a leader has a vision of his/her country. If a leader has no vision then all he or she does is to lead the people into darkness, and make them contented in their ignorance. This is a form of severe control. Once one is educated people start to think for themselves, and once this door has been open it cannot be closed. So I suppose what is now taking place in Gambia is an awakening of the people to quote JF Kennedy "Think not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Because in a globalised world if a country can't do for themselves then other people will come in and do it for them.
Just like the example of the Nigerian Investor investing in Gambia balance and checks need to be put into place that these investors actually provide employment amongst the local Gambian population to provide employment and paid training opportunities to reduce unemployment amongst the youth. (S Ba.Copyright 2006)
Peace
Sister Omega |
Peace
Sister Omega |
Edited by - Sister Omega on 03 May 2006 01:54:55 |
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