· July, 2006

Stories about Development from July, 2006

Nigeria: Missing Lagos

  31 July 2006

“Lagos,” writes Jangbalajugbu, “is a city that habours the hardworking as well as the lazy. The sane and insane. It is a city with different kinds of people from the rich, educated, wealthy, brilliant & intelligent to the dejected, the accursed, the incorrigible, the hopeless, the dead but breathing-walking corpses,...

The unshackling of Bangladesh

  31 July 2006

Tasneem Khalil reports that Bangladesh is the cover theme for August 2006 issue of Himal Southasian, South Asia's first and only regional magazine. The magazine's introspective comment: "Bangladesh is set to become a powerful member of the world community, once it deals with its difficult issues of mal governance and confrontational politics".

African innovation: hi-tech roads

  28 July 2006

African Architecture & Design writes: With soaring global temperatures, “bitumen based roads seem not to be as durable because of their low melting points, although concrete is a better alternative to bitumen/asphalt, it is however more expensive to construct with.”

Trinidad & Tobago: FTAA

  28 July 2006

With the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) practically a “dead duck”, Jeremy Taylor suggests that Trinidad & Tobago remove the sign at the airport proclaiming the country “the natural home of the FTAA secretariat”.

Liberia: Firestone under fire

  27 July 2006

In honor of Liberian independence day, Black Looks highlights a campaign to persuade U.S. tyre maker Firestone to clean up its operations in Liberia, spearheaded by the Friends of the Earth.

Singapore: Looking for Contributions

  26 July 2006

Singapore's new groupblog is calling for it's readers to contribute articles. “As those among the readers who have been perusing the blog might surmise, Singapore Angle strives to be an online forum for promoting civil and reasoned discussions of Singapore affairs and other related issues of interest. To that end,...

Liberia: Lights on in Monrovia

  26 July 2006

Yebo Gogo takes note of the restoration of street lighting in the Liberian capital of Monrovia for the first time in more than a decade, under the watchful eye of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. “Rebuilding the nation's shattered infrastructure is the first step to rebuilding Liberia. So far, Johnson Sirleaf's...

Bahamas: Consequences of foreign investment

  26 July 2006

Bahama Pundit's Nicolette Bethel worries about the consequences of “development” funded by foreign investment. “While it may have been wise a decade ago to invite all and sundry to consider The Bahamas as a good place to do business … foreign investment cannot remain an end in itself.”

Sri Lanka: Trade Unions and Development

  26 July 2006

Land Like No Other discusses trade unions in Sri LankaS, and if the comparison with developed countries accurately presents the case of trade unions and development. “Privatization is not a devil as these labour unions trying to emphasize. All they worry is, that they can't misuse the properties of these...

Nigeria: Fear of science

  25 July 2006

Of all the science-related fears Chippla has encountered, none seems greater than the fear of mathematics, he writes, among other musings on the discovery of the cause of malaria and Nigeria's Diaspora Day.

Sierra Leone: Economist's tale

  25 July 2006

R.E. Ekosso reviews, and even approves of, The Economist's Tale, written by World Bank consultant Peter Griffiths after a recent research trip to Sierra Leone. “This book”, says Griffiths in his introduction, “shows that it is individuals who cause poverty, underdevelopment and famine, by their actions, by their failure to...

Barbados: Against the water park

  25 July 2006

Barbados Free Press tackles the question of the water park that's been proposed for the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary near the island's south coast, posting a commentary from “Travel Guy”, a Canadian reader with Barbadian roots, and reporting on a controversy involving the proposed engineering firm.

Guyana: Pothole challenge

  25 July 2006

“Dear Car Manufacturers Abroad, I challenge you to come and test you cars in Real Life Conditions…. Some potholes so deep you can’t call them potholes, you got to call them cauldron holes.” Guyana-Gyal writes an open letter complaining about the state of the roads.

China: disappearing

  24 July 2006

Jeremy Goldkorn from Danwei writes about the disappearing of Beijing and Shanghai because of urban renewal.

African countries need technocrats

  24 July 2006

Africa Unchained points to a passage in George Ayittey's book by the same name, which runs: “We need TECHNOCRATS to fix our broken, dysfunctional institutions. REPAIRMEN or plumbers who will unclog the gutters or the system. CUTLASSES to chop down all the dead wood.”

Nepal: Development and Democracy

  24 July 2006

United We Blog! takes a closer look at development and democracy. “Nepal does not fall within any specific model when we only look at the theoretical background. Reforms, leading to liberalization, had already been initiated in some sectors (especially in financial sector) before advent of democracy in 1990.”

Jamaica: Reggae aesthetics

  24 July 2006

Jamaican writer Geoffrey Philp thinks about the role of “reggae aesthetics” in the post-colonial Caribbean, and posts a podcast of his poem “version break”.