---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "John Ashworth" <[email protected]> Date: 18 Aug 2016 11:44 Subject: [sudans-john-ashworth] Foreign land lease in Sudan 'won’t benefit ordinary people’ To: "Group" <[email protected]> Cc:
1. ‘Saudi land lease in eastern Sudan won’t benefit ordinary people’ August 17 - 2016 KASSALA STATE Radio Dabanga The native administration leaders in Sudan’s Kassala state have rejected the lease of tracts of land around the Setit (Seteet) dam project on the border of Kassala and El Gedaref to Saudi investors for 99 years. In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Mohammed El Hassan El Iheimir, one of the native administration leaders in Kassala state and head of the Unified Unionist Party, said that “the land around the Setit project and El Gash delta is deserved by the people of the state. It is the only area where there is easy, regular and cheap irrigation fit for cultivation during the drought.” El Iheimir stressed that the areas around Beja have experienced hunger, disease, and poverty, but “the successive Governors of Kassala state have all ignored this”. He appealed to the stakeholders to stand against the lease decision. “The money will go into the pockets of the corrupt Governors of the National Congress Party; it will not be seen by the people as a reality on the ground.” Flood He described the current humanitarian and health situation in Kassala state as “dire”, following extensive loss of life and damage to property and livestock in the recent floods. “People suffer death from starvation and deterioration of services. Patients die in the road between Khartoum and Kassala because of the deterioration in the health services. The disaster caused by the rains includes an outbreak of mosquitoes, flies and malaria. He stressed that the Kassala state government and federal government have not made any efforts to provide aid to those affected. “We hear of the movements of the state government in the media, without seeing anything on the ground. The convoys that moved relief for the affected localities of Kassala were provided by native administration leaders and other entities. https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/saudi- land-lease-in-eastern-sudan-won-t-benefit-ordinary-people END1 2. Chinese companies to grow one million feddans of cotton in Sudan August 17, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Speaker of Gazira state Legislative Council disclosed the Sudanese government and Chinese companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) allowing the latter to grow one million feddans of cotton in Sudan. The feddan is a unit of area equivalent to 1.038 acres (0.42 ha). Last May, Sudan’s Minister of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity, Mutaz Musa, pointed out that the ministry is implementing 155 electricity projects with china at a cost of 10 billion dollars. He said that his government will fund the $10 billion projects from multiple sources, adding that the five-year plan includes power plants and dams. On Wednesday, speaker of the Gazira state Legislative Council Jalal Min Allah Gibril said the Chinese companies would cultivate 450,000 feddans in his state besides building textile and ready-made clothing factories. In 2013, the then Sudan’s minister of agriculture Abdel Halim al-Mutafi, announced that his government signed an agricultural cooperation agreement with Beijing which gives Chinese companies several options to operate in Sudan. Last June, Sudan’s National Assembly unanimously approved a legal framework agreement that gives Saudi Arabia the right to cultivate one million feddans of land in Upper Atbara and Setait project for 99 years. Once hoped to be the breadbasket of the Arab world, Sudan’s agricultural sector has continued to deteriorate over the years mainly as a result of negligence, drought, mismanagement, high taxes and the overall economic climate. Sudanese farmers often complain about the high costs of imported materials such as fertilizers. Many of them were sent to jail as their debt piled up. Several ambitious plans enacted to bring life to the sector have failed to materialize and critics say the government forfeited a golden opportunity during the oil boom to boost agriculture. Foreign investors also complain about lack of infrastructure and unfriendly laws which they say deters them from putting money in Sudan’s vast farmlands. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article59954 END2 ______________________ John Ashworth [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +44 787 976 8030 (UK mobile) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) Skype: jashworth1 PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. 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