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From: samuel Igbu (ypfdjbc@gmail.com)
Date: Wed May 11 2011 - 18:24:00 EDT
His Excellency President Isaias Afwerki conducted an extensive interview
with national media
outlets that was also transmitted live via websites alenalki.com,
eastafro.com and hornofafrica.
com regarding Eritrean integrated development and plan, political, security
and diplomatic issues, as
well as regional and international developments, especially the prevailing
situation in North
Africa and the Middle East and their prospects. First part of the
interview follows. Our first question will be on local issues. During one of
your interviews you said “Giving
priority to the less privileged members of the society, providing equal
opportunities to all,
establishing inclusive political system and through that ensuring
political stability, national harmony, economic and social progress and
guarantee social
justice and cultural progress are our nonfl exible priceless objectives that
we struggled for long.” Your
Excellency, during the 20 years of independence all government institutions
and the Front have been
striving to realize the objective you mentioned. Give us your insight on the
national objectives with
their measurements to develop the foundations for developing a nation and
nationhood.
It is wise to think and ask the objective of our long years of struggle.
What was our end goal? We could not deviate from the basic
objectives and values under any condition. Generations come and go but the
bases would not change. When we talk about independence
it is not only waving fl ags. This is an issue often being raised. Societies
could be displaced because of natural or historical phenomena
or because of man made activities. The country belongs equally to all. If we
believe that all citizens of the country are equal then it
would be meaningless if some get better services and others not, some to
progress and others to remain behind, some getting the
opportunity of education, training and skills and others to remain behind,
some getting better health services and others denied. I say
this not for the sake of talking. If the country belongs to all it has to
belong to all by all standard.
This way of thinking did not emerge within these last twenty years; it is
not something invented
within these twenty years. Within,these twenty years we worked hard without
losing our sense of direction to ensure that this country belongs to all.
However, working to ensure that the country belongs
to all is not an easy task. It is easy to make it for the few privileged. It
is easy to build skyscraper buildings for showy reasons. One can do every
glittering thing in
one city while in the villages and remote areas people are denied the basic
things for living. With this situation no one could claim the
country belongs equally to all. So it is not an easy task to realize this
aspiration in real terms. It is not an easy task to realize equal level of
development in all surroundings
and regions. The measurement of development within these twenty years should
be made on the basis of equitable distribution of resources sector by sector
and region by region.
In this country we have three development zones, namely the Eastern
Escarpment with the coast line, the Highlands with similar characteristics
and climate and the
Western lowlands. Hence, when we talk about equal distribution,of
infrastructure, health services, education, agriculture and all
developmental programs we should think in terms of these three zones. There
should be equal distribution
and opportunity. If we look to equal distribution in terms of transportation
and communication facilities, electricity distribution, provision of clean
water is a
challenging task that could take some time. This is if the task is executed
and implemented in a measurable way. For example we could talk about roads.
We could
talk about all dirty and asphalt roads. How many asphalt roads we should
build replacing the dirty roads to satisfy the demands of the inhabitants?
This is what we call ideal. If our goal is to
build such roads we should plan on how many roads, the distance, the service
they will provide to the society and their impact on the development of the
economy of
the country. We could perceive this topic on three dimensions. The impact
the development of one sector could have on the second and third sectors.
Let us say we have 20
sectors, economic sectors or social,services, we should look at
the,practical feature and distribution
and plan their implementation on yearly basis. We should also monitor their
implementation in
the said developmental zones. The progress we made within these twenty years
should be measured
with this standard. Currently symposiums are being conducted by different
line ministries and local
administrations. And ministers, administrators and concerned officials are
presenting detailed facts about the achievements they
gained within the last twenty years. The sum of all the presentations should
give us the over all deep and analytical picture. Within this
perspective we could conclude without exaggeration that we didn’t achieve
10% of what we
aspire to reach. It is very important to appraise the synergy that it will
take to reach to our set goal. What
impact would the developmental programs will have on the lives of the people
which we believe should have equal opportunities. The implementation of the
programs
is very intricate that inquire time, energy and resources. The programs we
tried to implement within the last 20 years with all the challenged we had
are good
indicators for we are on the right track. 10% of achievement within twenty
years is a lot. Building a nation means nurturing culture. The concepts we
often raise such
as national harmony, tolerance, responsibility, and helping one another are
values that should be nurtured within the society. These values are not
something which
emerged within the last twenty years. The foundation was there. To build the
wall and roof on the existing foundation takes time. Looking to what we have
achieved
so far in terms of time we are on track.
Different economic speculators are heard including Eritrea with those
countries expected to register
fast economic development growth in the year 2011. How do you evaluate the
speculation? What would it look like comparing
with our long and short term development programs vis-ŕvis regional and
international measurements?
I would say talking about development, nation building and economic progress
has
become fashion these days. It has become common for economists
to speculate development based
on inflation, GDP. On my part I
think the speculation arises from
the direction we are pursuing.
You might have natural resources,
opportunities, there could exist
accidental economic development
here and there. But sustainability
is determining factor. The
economic development should
serve generations to come. The
foundation that we establish
should be solid that stand fi rm
to challenges. Such speculation
could be based on the sustainable
economic, social, cultural and
other development endeavors
that are changing the lives of the
population. The speculation could
not be compared with that of “Wall
Street” and “Stock Market” that
fl uctuates hour by hour and day by
day. In this country we are putting
in place an economic foundation
that serves for posterity, not for the
sake of boasting but practical.
As I tried to explain, our economic
development is not vertical; but
an economic development with
equitable distribution and growth.
So the speculation could be based
from this reality. If we are going to
claim over whole GDP growth of
7% or 9% like that of China, we
should ask has it sustainability? Is
it sustainable? Could it sustainably
register 9% every year? This has
to be taken into consideration.
You should also comprehend its
measurement and distribution.
The global economic recession
and economic crisis is the result
of unsustainable economic
development. When we come to our situation, with the uncovering of natural
resources and basically with the foundation we put in place the speculation
that is being made is below the standard. The synergy
of the economic development goes parallel with the strength of the
foundation that is put in place. If the foundation is weak the aspired
economic development could not
be realized. And it could not have sustainability. It has to register steady
development; from 2% to 2.5% and so on. We are well aware on how the
attitude was of those
who are speculating to date. Before two-three years the attempts to curb the
economy were countless. What makes our economy more real is because it is
home grown and being achieved free from
external support and dependency. Generally speaking if we are going to talk
about qualitative aspect of the economy we could only talk whether the
speculation is below or congruent with the standard.
-- Sincerely *YPFDJ British Columbia Chapter* YPFDJ Goal and Purpose- Our goal is to build a strong, conscious and patriotic youth movement.
Our purpose is:
- To raise the awareness and level of organisation of Eritrean youth to serve our nation - To reassert the identity, patriotism and unity of Eritrean youth - To promote the participation of Eritrean Youth in the national reconstruction of Eritrea as well as guarding the sovereignty of Eritrea - To enhance the position and influence of Eritrean Youth in their respective countries of residence.
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