(March 19, 2005) A non-binding resolution passed by Nigeria’s House of Representatives last week to halt payments on the country’s $35 billion external debt has provoked some strong responses.
The verdict: to hell with our creditors?
(March 17, 2005) Lagos: When President Olusegun Obasanjo last week received the House of Representatives leadership 24 hours after passing a resolution asking him to stop forthwith further debt service payments, the action was so uncharacteristic that I suspected there might be more to it.
Pinochet report welcomed in Chile
(March 17, 2005) The scale of the alleged fraud is greater than previously disclosed.
External debt is more political than economic
(March 16, 2005) All Nigerians must get behind the president’s campaign for debt cancellation.
Transparency International says construction most vulnerable to corruption
(March 16, 2005) A new report says construction, more than any other segment of a nation’s economy, is prone to corruption. Global graft watchdog Transparency International in its Global Corruption Report says that corruption is often so bad it "plunders the economy . . . and ravages the environment.
All affected families entitled to rehabilitation
(March 16, 2005) The Supreme Court Tuesday came to the rescue of thousands of people displaced by the Sardar Sarovar dam, saying even temporarily affected families were eligible for rehabilitation.
Goverment must implement Procurement Act to check corruption: Ghana
(March 16, 2005) The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) has called on the country’s government to implement legislation that will allow it to subject ministers and public officials to greater degrees of scrutiny, particularly in regard to construction contracts.
Villagers protest Nam Theun 2 dam project
(March 15, 2005) An independent energy analyst claims electricity from Nam Theun 2 would be 14% more expensive than that produced from alternative, renewable energy sources.
Protesters urge World Bank to stop Nam Theun 2 project
(March 15, 2005) By supporting Nam Theun 2, the World Bank might repeat the same mistake it made at Pak Mool, which generated neither benefits to the local people nor sufficient electricity to Thailand’s power system, say protesters.
Lao power may not be the best buy
(March 15, 2005) Thailand has a number of energy options which negate the need for importing hydroelectricity from Laos.
Pinochet evades 17 million dollars in taxes
(March 15, 2005) Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet failed to pay more than 17 million dollars in back taxes to the Chilean Internal Revenue Service (IRS) since 1980, judicial sources revealed Tuesday.
Nam Theun 2 Dam, Lao PDR
(March 15, 2005) Lao power may not be the best buy.
Thai citizens urge World Bank to stop supporting Nam Theun 2 dam
(March 14, 2005) “The World Bank has never shown us any real commitment to take project impacts seriously and get involved in problem solving afterwards, at the very least, to provide all parties with important lessons to avoid the same mistakes elsewhere.”
Letter to the World Bank from citizens groups and NGOs
(March 14, 2005) “We believe that not only does this project fail to meet the World Bank’s environmental and social standards, the World Bank’s decision framework for the Nam Theun 2 Dam has not yet been fulfilled.”
Farmers urge World Bank to drop Lao dam
(March 14, 2005) Conservationists have blasted the World Bank for failing to complete a wildlife assessment of the Nakai plateau watershed, site of the proposed dam, and for tying conservation funds to the project.
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