· June, 2006

Stories about Development from June, 2006

China: Those left behind

  30 June 2006

Seen on Andrés Gentry's eponymous blog is a short but wrenching video looking at those left behind in China's mad rush towards development, including video shot by the villagers themselves of those being forcefully evicted and defending themselves from armed attacks by the police.

Lesotho: Damn Dams

  29 June 2006

Sotho publishes a commentary on “Damn Dams”…..”Two of the project’s five proposed dams, the recently completed 182-metre Katse Dam (the tallest in Africa) and the proposed 145-metre Mohale Dam, have already been funded by the World Bank. The latter is expected to “flood some of the most fertile land in...

Trinidad & Tobago: Anti-smelter lobby gets interesting offer

  28 June 2006

Attillah Springer at the Rights Action Group T&T blog discusses the interesting offer of pro bono legal assistance made by former Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj to the community of Chatham/Cap de Ville and environs. Members of the community have organised a loby against the building of an aluminum smelter...

Mongolia: 800 Years

Luke Distelhorst reports on Mongolia's efforts to boost tourism for the 800 year anniversary of Chinggis Khan's founding of the Mongolian state, and he notes that the country is not attracting uniformly positive reviews.

Syrian Blogsphere in a Week

To start off with a rather hot topic, it's politics, with Ammar Abdulhamid asking THE question… How Secure Is the Assads Regime, Really? To many observers of Syrian affairs, especially in the aftermath of the vaguely-worded report by Brammertz and in view of the growing alliance with Iran, the Assads...

Kenya: The future is not what it used to be

  21 June 2006

In a lengthy post, Rombo muses on her own relative career success and the lack of employment opportunities for Kenyan university graduates, including some of her former classmates. “What happens to all the people for whom the future is not what it used to be?” she asks. “Where do they...

China: Internet access in Tibet

  21 June 2006

Virtual China has a guest blogger today, Kathrine Hoersted, who brings us a post looking at the young Tibetan woman with whom she lived during her graduate research in a small village in Tibet, and how despite severely limited internet access there the two have managed to keep in touch.

Lesotho: Why Africa is so poor

  20 June 2006

Sotho has an excellent post on “Why Africa is so Poor“……………..”Africa is waking up, however, and I hope it does so in my lifetime. The present state of affairs has lasted long enough. It is time to swing things around. I urge you to visit Timbuktu Chronicles if you want...

Macau: Faster than a speeding bullet

  20 June 2006

Simon World reminds us that the world's fastest growing economy is in little Macau. Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 18.8 percent in real terms in the first quarter of this year, as compared with the same period of 2005, official figures showed.

Caribbean: BLP role in CSME

  19 June 2006

The Barbados Labour Party blog gives its political leader — and Prime Minister of Barbados — Owen Arthur a pat on the back for the role he has played in the development of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).

Haiti: Telecom Wars

  18 June 2006

Digicel billboard, Martinique. By blogger Greg at InternetRapide.com. Jamaica-based Caribbean telecom giant Digicel has a presence in over a dozen countries in the region. Digicel officially launched operations on the Haitian market in May to much resistance from local private telecoms Haitel and Comcel but bloggers and other web commentators...

Haiti: Banking in 1946

  17 June 2006

From Haiti, Marcel Salnave of Parlons Peu posts an article written by his father, also Marcel Salnave, in 1946 on the Haitian banking system. Excerpt (Fr): “Banks have become very demanding and ask for each loan a guaranty that surpasses the amount borrowed. Banks in Haiti … have completely suppressed...

Mongolia: Protest Claims Life

Yan notes that a protester in Mongolia has died after a confrontation with security forces. The protest was over mining issues and Yan says that the ongoing public debate over mining in Mongolia could stand to be more civil.

Kazakhstan: Kazcosmos Guest Workers

Leila of neweurasia translates a Russian language post about Kazakhstan's entry into the space industry. The country has launched two of its own satellites from its launching facilities at Baikonur and now it has plans to woo foreign aerospace professionals to work in Kazakhstan.

Bahamas: Sustainable tourism

  15 June 2006

The Bahamian tourism industry is almost 200 years old, writes Nicolette Bethel, but that longevity may in fact work against its becoming a sustainable enterprise. “It’s not sustainable because it doesn’t place the uniqueness of The Bahamas — our landscapes, our culture, our selves — at the centre of the...

Africa: Micro credit plus

  15 June 2006

Africa Unchained points to a report on the importance of providiing access to credit for micro-entrepreneurs particularly women the majority of whom are stuck at micro level and unable to expand.