How big is the problem of electronic waste, and can it be tackled?

By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
Wednesday, 24 February 2010

Why are we asking this now?
Because yesterday the UN issued a new report on electronic waste, highlighting the danger from “rocketing” sales of mobile phones, PCs and electronic appliances, in the developing countries especially.
What danger is that?
Modern electronic devices might look clean, sleek and spotless on the outside, but inside they contain a lot of materials used in manufacture which are potentially hazardous to human health. Typical ones are PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic, used as an insulator with internal cabling, and brominated flame retardants, chemicals used to laminate printed circuit boards to prevent them catching fire.
Most of these substances can be disposed of safely, but considerable investment in waste-handling infrastructure is needed to do so, and in the past, many countries, especially the US, have declined to make the investment and instead taken the “out of sight, out of mind” attitude, and simply shipped their e-waste abroad, usually to developing nations such as China and India. There, instead of being properly processed, appliances are either dumped in unmanaged landfills or broken up for scrap in unofficial recycling facilities – not infrequently by children.
But why break up dangerous waste?
Electronic goods don’t just contain hazardous substances – they contain valuable substances as well. A device such as a laptop may contain as many as 60 different elements – many valuable, some dangerous, some both. To poor people in the developing countries, there can be real money in a discarded computer or mobile phone. Copper wire is just the start of it. Mobiles and PCs are now estimated to take up three per cent of the gold and silver mined worldwide each year, 13 per cent of the palladium and 15 per cent of the cobalt, as well as substantial amounts of very rare metals such as hafnium. But trying to recover these can pose real hazards, as substantial plumes of toxic pollution, for example, can be produced by backyard incineration. And the concern is, the stream of e-waste is growing ever larger around the world.
How big is the e-waste stream?
A couple of years ago the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimated that, worldwide, between 20 and 50 million tonnes of electrical and electronic goods which had come to the end of their lives were being thrown away every year. The latest UNEP report now estimates the annual total at 40 billion tonnes, with America in the lead, producing 3m tonnes domestically every year, followed by China with 2.3m tonnes. (The UK total is thought to be more than 1m tonnes, about 15 per cent of the EU total – it is the fastest-growing waste stream in Britain). But more important, the figure is starting to soar upwards, especially with a gigantic surge of disposable electronics use in the developing countries.
What sort of goods, and in what sort of numbers?
Globally more than a billion mobile phones were sold in 2007, up from 896m in 2006 (In many parts of Africa telephone communications have skipped the landline stage and gone from no phones, to mobile phones, in one step). In the US alone, more than 150m mobiles and pagers were sold in 2008, up from 90m five years earlier. The waste streams are correspondingly burgeoning, and the new UN report focuses on China, India and the other relatively poor but expanding economies.
In China, for example, the report predicts that by 2020, e-waste from old computers will have jumped by 200 to 400 percent from 2007 levels, and the same holds true for South Africa, while the figure for India is a staggering 500 per cent. By that same year in China, e-waste from discarded mobile phones will be about 7 times higher than 2007 levels and, in India, 18 times higher, while e-waste from televisions will be 1.5 to 2 times higher in China and India, and in India e-waste from discarded refrigerators will double or triple. Add to that the vast amounts of e-waste that are still being imported from countries such as the US, and you have a quite colossal e-waste mountain in prospect, with its corresponding dangers for human health and the environment. “The issue is exploding,” says Ruediger Kuehr, of the United Nations University in Tokyo.
What can we do about it?
The first thing to do is recognise the problem. The electronics revolution of the past 30 years has seemed different in kind from the original industrial revolution, characterised by smokestacks belching very obvious filth; it has seemed clean, green and lean. But we have gradually come to realise that in two ways in particular, modern hi-tech can be bad for the planet too. The first is its energy use; so enormous is the worldwide scale of IT that electronics now accounts for fully two per cent of global carbon emissions, which about the same as aviation, whose emissions have become highly controversial. The second is the hardware, when it comes to the end of its natural life, which increasingly, is pretty short. We have been largely ignorant of this increasingly important waste stream, so much so that a Greenpeace report on e-waste two years ago referred to it as “the hidden flow”. We need to be aware of it.
Once we’ve recognised the problem, then what?
The European Union has shown the way by adopting a key principle: producer responsibility – that is, make the producers of electronic goods responsible for their disposal at the end of their lives. This is enshrined in the European Union’s WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive of 2002 which is now law in Britain and across the EU. In practice, it means that electronics retailers must either take back the equipment they sold you, or help to finance a network or drop-off points, such as council recycling sites. There have been some problems with the directive’s initial operation, but its main feature is impressive in its ambition: it aims to deal with “everything with a plug”.
Has producer responsibility been adopted elsewhere?
Hardly at all as yet, and the EU is very much in the vanguard. The US did nothing in terms of federal legislation during the George W Bush years, and such rules as exist are implemented by the states, such as California. The new UN report suggests that all countries should start to establish proper e-waste management networks, which could not only cut down on health problems but generate employment, cut greenhouse gas emissions and recover a wide range of valuable substances from gold to copper.
Is there anything else that can be done?
Yes: design the problem out. Groups such as Greenpeace have led the way in putting pressure on companies like Apple to find substitutes for the toxic chemicals inside their products, and have had some success in forcing them to develop non-toxic alternatives. This may be the real way forward.
Is the rising tide of e-waste going to swamp us?
Yes…
* Once we recognise the problem, it becomes possible to deal with it, and the need is paramount
* The adoption of producer responsibility for disposal, as championed by the EU, is a major step forward
* Some of the hazards can actually be designed out, and that must be a priority for manufacturers
No…
* The growth of the global e-waste stream is becoming simply too large to handle
* In many countries there are no incentives to install official recycling schemes
* Informal recycling is so large in countries such as China that it will hamper official schemes

Scotland not doing enough to meet emissions target, ministers told

Emissions cuts from cars, homes and farming are key if Scotland is to meet its target of a 42% reduction, new report says
Severin Carrell
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 24 February 2010 11.39 GMT
Scottish ministers have been warned they need to aggressively target carbon emissions from car use, home energy and farming if Scotland is to meet its ambitious target of cutting CO2 levels by 42% in the next decade.
The Committee on Climate Change, an influential government advisory body chaired by Lord Adair Turner, has told Alex Salmond’s nationalist government it needs to show much greater “political will and leadership” if Scotland is to build a truly low-carbon economy by 2020.
In a report released today, the committee complimented the devolved government for setting “ambitious targets”, and confirmed they were tougher and farther-reaching than the UK’s government’s interim target of a 34% cut by 2020.
The UK government has promised to increase that target to around 42% if a global climate deal is agreed upon, but unlike Scotland, it has refused to include aviation and shipping in its calculations or to set annual targets.
Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, an influential umbrella group of more than 60 environment groups, faith groups, civic organisations and development charities, said the committee’s conclusions would increase pressure on UK ministers to set a similar and binding target.
Mike Robinson, the group’s chair, said: “This is a great opportunity for the UK government to be ahead of the curve and show some leadership. I do think this shows the UK should up its game. The world needs more ambitious targets.”
David Kennedy, the committee’s chief executive, stopped short of endorsing that view. But the committee’s report confirmed the widely held belief that Scotland’s target is heavily dependent on the negotiation of a new global climate treaty. After the failure of the Copenhagen talks last December, no deal is expected before next year.
The Scottish government has direct control over only a minority of Scotland’s CO2 emissions, which in 2007 amounted to 56.9m tonnes a year. The committee did not establish the extent of that control, but Scottish officials said it is roughly 30%.
The bulk of Scotland’s CO2 emissions are covered by either the EU emissions trading scheme for large energy users, such as power stations, or UK government policies on fuel and car taxes.
The committee warned that a failure to sign a global deal on emissions would make it extremely difficult to hit the 42% target. Even with a deal, though, it said Scotland still needs a “step change” in its policies on transport, housing, waste and agriculture, and to aggressively push renewable power through the planning system.
It specifically recommended greater efforts to promote electric cars: successive Scottish governments and local councils have been far slower than English authorities to invest in low-energy transport, such as hybrid buses or electric vehicle charging points. The SNP has also been strongly criticised for its substantial road-building programme.
The committee said including aviation and shipping, however, meant other parts of the Scottish economy would bear a heavier burden for cutting emissions, increasing the scale of the overall challenge, as these sectors were ignored by EU and UK carbon budgets.
Professor Jim Skea, a member of the committee, said: “These are ambitious targets that go further than those in the rest of the UK. A step change will be needed to unlock potential emissions reductions in Scotland, but we believe this to be achievable with new policies.”
Late yesterday, Stewart Stevenson, the Scottish climate change minister, retracted an earlier statement saying the report was a “robust and complex piece of work”, and did not directly respond to the committee’s challenge on strengthening government policy.
In a revised statement, he said: “The need to take action to reduce our emissions is clear and everyone has a role to play in helping Scotland meet its world leading climate change targets.
“Achieving the necessary reductions in emissions will require hard decisions, not only by governments but also by businesses, the public sector, voluntary and community groups and individuals.”

Reject sceptics’ attempts to derail global climate deal, UN chief urges

Ban Ki-moon urges environment ministers to reject attempts by sceptics to undermine negotiations by exaggerating shortcomings in Himalayan glaciers report

Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 24 February 2010 10.20 GMT

The UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, today urged environment ministers to reject attempts by sceptics to undermine efforts to forge a climate change deal, stressing that global warming poses “a clear and present danger.”
In a message read by a UN official, Ban referred to the controversy over mistakes made in a 2007 report issued by the UN-affiliated Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which have been criticised by climate sceptics.
Despite the failure to forge a binding deal on curbing heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions at a UN conference in Copenhagen last December, Ban said the meeting made an important step forward by setting a target to keep global temperature from rising and establishing a program of climate aid to poorer nations.
“To maintain the momentum, I urge you to reject last-ditch attempts by climate sceptics to derail your negotiations by exaggerating shortcomings in the … report,” Ban said in the statement read at the start of an annual UN meeting of environmental officials from 130 countries on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
“Tell the world that you unanimously agree that climate change is a clear and present danger,” Ban said. A British poll yesterday showed public conviction about the threat of climate change has declined sharply in the last year.
The Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said time was running out, but expressed confidence that a binding climate change deal could be forged at the next climate change summit later this year in Cancun, Mexico.
“I’m convinced that we’re still not too late,” he said at the Bali conference.
Indonesian foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, said Indonesia will hold an informal meeting of all environmental ministers and officials from 130 countries Friday in Bali to discuss ways of ensuring that a binding treaty on greenhouse gas cutbacks could be forged in Cancun.
“No sealed deal happened in Copenhagen, so it’s now more urgent than ever for us to work diligently between now and Mexico,” Natalegawa told The Associated Press in an interview.
“It should have been urgent last year, but we didn’t live up to that urgency,” he said.

Academic attempts to take the hot air out of climate science debate

Judith Curry aims to turn inflammatory debate of ‘climategate’ into reasoned online discussions to rebuild trust with the public



Professor Judith Curry, who currently chairs the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, has embarked on what she’s describing as a “blogospheric experiment”. Having written a lengthy essay entitled Losing the Public’s Trust which will be published later today, she decided to alert many bloggers across the climate change debate in “the hope of demonstrating the collective power of the blogosphere to generate ideas and debate them”. She has asked the likes of Anthony Watts, Andrew Revkin, Roger Pielke Jr, among many others, to pitch in with their own thoughts about her essay with the goal of “bringing some sanity to this whole situation surrounding the politicization of climate science and rebuilding trust with the public”. I genuinely hope she achieves her aims.
As and when other bloggers publish their own responses I will try and provide links to them below, but here are my own thoughts on Curry’s article. First, I agree with her opening premise that “credibility is a combination of expertise and trust” and that the climate research establishment has failed to understand that the “climategate” furore is “primarily a crisis of trust”.
In their misguided war against the skeptics, the CRU emails reveal that core research values became compromised. Much has been said about the role of the highly politicized environment in providing an extremely difficult environment in which to conduct science that produces a lot of stress for the scientists. There is no question that this environment is not conducive to science and scientists need more support from their institutions in dealing with it. However, there is nothing in this crazy environment that is worth sacrificing your personal or professional integrity. And when your science receives this kind of attention, it means that the science is really important to the public. Therefore scientists need to do everything possible to make sure that they effectively communicate uncertainty, risk, probability and complexity, and provide a context that includes alternative and competing scientific viewpoints. This is an important responsibility that individual scientists and particularly the institutions need to take very seriously.
If the “climate research establishment” is to take away one lesson from this sorry episode it will surely be the need to “effectively communicate uncertainty, risk, probability and complexity, and provide a context that includes alternative and competing scientific viewpoints”.
Up to this point I strongly agree with Curry’s sentiments, but I think she is a little complacent in her assessment of the “changing nature of scepticism about global warming”. She correctly identifies that climate scepticism is a multi-headed and ever-shifting beast. There are as many flavours to the sceptics as there are to environmentalists. To label them all as flat-earthers and big oil deniers is just as ill-judged and lacking in subtlety as labelling all environmentalists as “eco-Nazis intent on taking us all back to the caves”. Genuine climate science sceptics such as Climate Audit’s Steven McIntyre are a world apart from the out-and-out denial pumped out by the likes of Prison Planet’s Alex Jones. Somewhere in between are the likes of Anthony Watts who risks polluting his legitimate scepticism about the scientific processes and methodologies underpinning climate science with his accompanying politicised commentary. But Curry bags them up together and describes Watts and McIntyre both as “climate auditors”:
They are technically educated people, mostly outside of academia. Several individuals have developed substantial expertise in aspects of climate science, although they mainly audit rather than produce original scientific research. They tend to be watchdogs rather than deniers; many of them classify themselves as “lukewarmers”. They are independent of oil industry influence. They have found a collective voice in the blogosphere and their posts are often picked up by the mainstream media. They are demanding greater accountability and transparency of climate research and assessment reports… So how did this group of bloggers succeed in bringing the climate establishment to its knees (whether or not the climate establishment realizes yet that this has happened)? Again, trust plays a big role; it was pretty easy to follow the money trail associated with the “denial machine”. On the other hand, the climate auditors have no apparent political agenda, are doing this work for free, and have been playing a watchdog role, which has engendered the trust of a large segment of the population.
I think Curry has misjudged this point a tad. If the “climate auditors” were exactly as billed above I would agree they are a most welcome addition to the debate. But to claim these blogs have no political agenda is naïve, I feel. Granted, both McIntyre and Watts do make regular efforts to tone down some of the very worst off-topic comments that follow their posts, but it doesn’t take much analysis to know where the political heartbeat of these blogs lies. For right or wrong, they have attracted a particular crowd of followers – predominantly right-wingers in favour of the free-market and libertarianism – and it must be a difficult horse for McIntyre and Watts to ride at times without playing to the crowd.
Curry goes on to say:
There is a large group of educated and evidence driven people (eg, the libertarians, people that read the technical skeptic blogs, not to mention policy makers) who want to understand the risk and uncertainties associated with climate change, without being told what kinds of policies they should be supporting.
I think this is an important point. Some sceptics such as Bjørn Lomborgand Nigel Lawson have made a very conscious shift in their stance in recent years away from one that questioned the science to one that now largely focuses on questioning the policy responses to climate change. If we are to have a fierce, politicised debate let it lie here, surely. But let’s keep the politics out of both the climate science and those that choose to try and audit it via their blogs.
And it is on this point that I think Curry makes her most powerful point:
While the blogosphere has a “wild west” aspect to it, I have certainly learned a lot by participating in the blogospheric debate including how to sharpen my thinking and improve the rhetoric of my arguments. Additional scientific voices entering the public debate particularly in the blogosphere would help in the broader communication efforts and in rebuilding trust. And we need to acknowledge the emerging auditing and open source movements in the internet-enabled world, and put them to productive use. The openness and democratization of knowledge enabled by the internet can be a tremendous tool for building public understanding of climate science and also trust in climate research.
I, too, think it would be a grave mistake not to make better use of the obvious open-source and crowd-source advantages enabled by blogs such as Climate Audit. Just as the SETI@Home project has made use of thousands of otherwise idle computers to scan radio telescope data for signs of extraterrestrial life, if people are willing and able to interrogate climate datasets in their spare time it would be strange in my view not to try and make use of this collective resource.
But the key for me is that word “trust” again. I think until those that frequent these sites come out from behind the cloak of anonymity that most of them choose to hide behind very few people, particularly climate scientists, will be willing to trust the motives of this army of DIY auditors. Anonymity allows for some spicy free speech beneath blogs such as this one, but it is not the right tool if we’re seeking the “openness and democratization of knowledge”. If we are to once again try and drive a wedge between science and politics, then all the participating actors – on both sides of the debate - need to be open about who they are and where their motives and vested interest, if any, lay.

Over 5,300 Official US Military Deaths in Iraq and AfghanistanOccupations

Death toll in Afghan war nears 1,000

By Craig Whitlock, Greg Jaffe and Julie Tate
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, February 24, 2010; A01

More than eight years after the Taliban was toppled from power, the number of U.S. military fatalities in the war in Afghanistan is nearing 1,000, a grim milestone in a resurgent conflict that is claiming the lives of an increasing number of troops who had survived previous combat tours in Iraq.

As of Tuesday, 996 U.S. military personnel had died while serving in Operation Enduring Freedom. The roll call of the fallen began on Oct. 10, 2001, when Air Force Master Sgt. Evander E. Andrews was killed in a forklift accident in Qatar while building an airstrip in preparation for the invasion of Afghanistan. The latest confirmed addition came Sunday, when Army Pfc. J.R. Salvacion, 27, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, died of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit near Kandahar.

The number of dead is small in comparison with U.S. casualties in Iraq, where 4,366 uniformed personnel have died since 2003. But as operations intensify in Afghanistan, the war is killing more and more service members who came home safely after serving in Iraq, only to return to the battlefield in another theater.

Since Dec. 1, at least 30 percent of the American military personnel who have died in Afghanistan have been veterans of the Iraq war, according to a Washington Post analysis.

Among them: Marine Staff Sgt. Chris Eckard, 30, who was killed Saturday in Helmand province, the site of a major NATO offensive targeting Taliban-held territory. Eckard, an explosives specialist from Hickory, N.C., had disarmed hundreds of makeshift bombs during four tours in Iraq. It was his first assignment to Afghanistan. He leaves behind a wife and two sons, ages 4 and 18 months.

“Chris loved the Marines. He was all about the Marines,” said his sister-in-law, Chastity Eckard. “This was going to be his last tour.”

The impending milestone of 1,000 deaths hasn’t drawn much notice in the United States or in Afghanistan, despite the Obama administration’s focus on the war and the launch this month of the largest U.S.-NATO military operation in the country since 2001.

When the United States crossed the threshold of 1,000 deaths in the Iraq war in September 2004, there was widespread concern in Washington that public support for the conflict would collapse. To some, the relatively quiet approach of the new benchmark is a sign that the country has grown more sober-minded in the way it perceives the war. “We’ve learned that the public doesn’t react reflexively to the tote board of [war deaths],” said Peter Feaver, who served in George W. Bush’s administration and teaches political science at Duke University.

Others see a fundamental change in American foreign policy after almost nine years of combat. “The American people and the governing class have accepted that war has become a permanent condition,” said retired Army Col. Andrew Bacevich, a history professor at Boston University whose son was killed in Iraq in 2007. “Protracted war has become a widely accepted part of our politics.” Even before his son’s death, Bacevich spoke out forcefully against the wars.

More than 600 troops from NATO allies and other countries have died in Afghanistan since 2001. Thousands of Afghan civilians, soldiers and police officers have also died in the war, although the precise number is unknown.
Back to the front, again

For many Americans, what is most striking is that so many Marines and soldiers have died during their second or third combat tours. Of the 73 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan since Dec. 1, at least 23 had previously served in Iraq, according to The Post’s analysis.

“It affirms what we already knew, which is that the burden of this very long war is being borne by a small percentage of the population,” Bacevich said.

Both the Obama and Bush administrations have wrestled with how to highlight the sacrifices of the troops and, to the extent possible, share the burden with the rest of the country. During the debate last year over the Afghanistan strategy, President Obama made high-profile visits to Arlington National Cemetery and Dover Air Force Base to witness the return of fallen U.S. troops. Lawmakers, meanwhile, have repeatedly boosted pay and benefits for service members, sometimes to the consternation of the Pentagon, which has become concerned that the surging personnel costs are squeezing out money for new weapons.

But the White House, Congress and the military seem broadly comfortable with the notion that a relatively small number of professional soldiers and Marines should be expected to fight multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“There are enormous and disturbing moral implications in the tacit agreement we have made to have such a small percentage of our population bear so great a burden,” Bacevich said. “But there is no recognition of it or desire to raise questions about it.”
For families, questions

White House officials said they do not want to draw special attention to what they described as an arbitrary figure. “We mourn the loss of each and every serviceman and woman,” said National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer. “The nation is indebted to them and their families for making the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country.”

But as the casualty count rises, so does the number of grieving relatives who can’t help question why their sons and daughters, or their spouses or parents, had to keep returning to the battlefield, tempting fate again and again.

Adam K. Ginett, a 29-year-old Air Force tech sergeant from eastern North Carolina, told his family that he felt compelled by a sense of public service to serve two tours in Iraq, followed by two more in Afghanistan. An explosives and ordinance disposal specialist, he had extensive experience in the highly risky job of defusing makeshift bombs, the insurgents’ weapon of choice in both war zones.

When Ginett was a teenager, “I told him he’d be safer going into the Air Force, that at least he’d get a clean bed to sleep in every night,” said his grandfather James Haslam, 80, a former Marine. “But he chose perhaps the most dangerous job in the military.”

When he was last home in July, visiting his parents in tiny Coats, N.C., Ginett was gently challenged by his mother, who wanted to know: Why do you keep volunteering to go back to the war? “It just seemed like he was always going,” said his mother, Christina Kazakavage. “He said: ‘Mom, it’s just my turn. I gotta go.’ “

As he departed for the airport to return to Afghanistan, he left behind a book for his mother. Titled “Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives,” it tells the story of a Marine major assigned to knock on the doors of military spouses and parents and deliver the tragic news that their loved ones had sacrificed their lives for their country.

“After I read that book, I looked at my husband and said, ‘He’s not going to come home.’ After reading that book, I just knew,” Kazakavage said. “I think it was just Adam’s way of preparing me.”

Staff writer Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.

Cuban Medical Personnel Treat Over 95,000 Haitians

In Haiti: More than 95,000 patients treated

Leticia Martínez Hernández

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti.— More than 95,000 patients have been treated here to date here by the Cuban medical brigade since the January 12 earthquake, and 4,500 operations have been performed. However, as brigade coordinator Carlos Alberto García says, in looking toward the country’s future, the most important part begins today with the transfer of equipment and medical personnel to two new hospitals in the provinces.

Dr. García explained that one hospital will be set up in the Port Salut commune and another in Corail, both at a considerable distance from the capital.

“The new centers will be in places which have bee lacking the conditions for health care because of a shortage of doctors, equipment, running water and electricity. These institutions will be open not only during the post-earthquake national emergency situation, but also will continue to provide services on an ongoing basis.

“With the two new hospitals and the seven Comprehensive Diagnostics Centers in various departments, we are taking the first steps toward improving the health system in Haiti,” the coordinator stated.

A total of 1,439 Cuban doctors trained on the island are currently working in Haiti, 637 of them graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine. The Cuban medical brigade is providing services in 134 of the country’s 140 communes.

Translated by Granma International

Cuban-trained doctors vaccinate the Haitian population

A group of doctors trained in the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba (ELAM) have joined the vaccination campaign organized by Cuban medical personnel in devastated Haiti.

Cuban-trained doctors vaccinate the Haitian populationThe young doctors, from various Latin American countries, began their work in one of the largest improvised camps for victims of the earthquake, assisted by Cuban medical personnel who are providing services in Haiti.

There has been no vaccination campaign to date at the camp, located in the Saint Louis Gonzaga secondary school, despite requests to nongovernmental organizations and other institutions, according to the camp’s coordinator, Elvire Constant.

Latin American and Cuban doctors, assisted by nurses from the island, immunized the population with vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, placing a priority on children and women.

Translated by Granma International

Cuba in the heart of every Haitian

Haitian government reiterates its gratitude to the Cuban people. Esteban Lazo concludes visit to Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti.— Shortly before leaving for Cuba after two working days in Haiti, Vice President Esteban Lazo Hernández was received by Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive who, on behalf of the Haitian government, reiterated his people’s gratitude to Cuba.

“I have to thank you for the help provided by Cuba since long before the earthquake. It is fantastic, free, unconditional, and it is in the heart of every Haitian man and woman,” Bellerive said. He went on to note two fundamental aspects: “first that that the Cuban cooperation is going to continue. It is important for Haiti to know that the programs will continue and moreover, outside of the capital, outside of the area where the earthquake occurred.”

“The second issue is that you didn’t come to talk about building a hospital or a healthcare center. You are talking about helping us to build a healthcare system and that is more important. A system that is going to allow us to improve Haitians’ health has never been within the framework of cooperation. Because many people come and say that they want to build a hospital but not an integral system that will help attain more health, greater levels of hygiene. With that cooperation we can raise the level of health of our people, which they deserve.”

The prime minister acknowledged the attitude assumed by the Haitians after the tragedy, when many of them rushed into the streets to help save thousands of people. “Up until now, I think that they have dealt with the situation very calmly and intelligently and have not let themselves get caught up in violence, a situation which can occur after a disaster like this.”

For his part Lazo informed him of the Cuban delegation’s activities in Haiti, which included visits to the Croix des Bouquets and Leoganne field hospitals, the Mirebalais Comprehensive Diagnostics Center, the La Paz and La Renaissance hospitals, and the Venezuelan Simón Bolívar Camp. Lazo told Bellerive that the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro had called him several times out of concern for the situation in Haiti.

“It has been an intense working visit. It was not possible to come immediately after the earthquake but our hearts have always been here.” Laze reiterated that the idea was to concentrate aid on recovery and the creation of a national healthcare system in Haiti. “At this point, it has to be at that level, above all in something as significant as the population’s health. We would like everyone who wants to do so, to help, without exception. But Haiti will be the principal player in the development of the program,” Lazo stated.

Translated by Granma International

Haitians describe landing of yanki Marines as occupation

PORT-AU-PRINCE, January 19.— Hundreds of Haitians watched with a mixture of resignation and anger on Tuesday as several helicopters landed U.S. troops in the grounds of the Presidential Palace, an act considered by many Haitians as a loss of sovereignty, the AFP reported.

“I haven’t seen them distributing food downtown, where the people urgently need water, food and medicine. This looks more like an occupation,” said Wilson Guillaume, a 25-year-old student.

At least four helicopters brought 100 U.S. soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to the grounds, as hundreds of Haitians looked on stunned. Having lost their homes in the earthquake, they are living as refugees in the Palace gardens.

As the U.S. troops left the Palace to guard Haiti’s general hospital, overflowing with injured people, many people yelled “Go home!” and “Don’t occupy us!”

A fleet of amphibious craft also reached the coast of Haiti, transporting some 800 Marines expected to go ashore in the next few days to join the 2,000-plus soldiers already stationed in Haiti.

Also today, the UN Security Council today unanimously approved increasing the number of international military and police forces in Haiti by 3,500 to reinforce security.

Meanwhile, thousands of earthquake victims are trying to get onto buses to flee the hunger and violence of the destroyed capital, with the hope of finding food more easily in the countryside, AP reports.

(Translated by Granma International)

World’s coral reefs could disintegrate by 2100

The world’s coral reefs will begin to disintegrate before the end of the century as rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere make the oceans more acidic, scientists warn.

The research points to a looming transition in the health of coral ecosystems during which the ability of reefs to grow is overwhelmed by the rate at which they are dissolving.

More than 9,000 coral reefs around the world are predicted to disintegrate when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reach 560 parts per million.

The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today stands at around 388ppm, but is expected to reach 560ppm by the end of this century.

Coral reefs are at the heart of some of the most biodiverse marine ecosystems in the world. They are home to more than 4,000 species of fish and provide spawning, refuge and feeding areas for marine life such as crabs, starfish and sea turtles.

“These ecosystems which harbor the highest diversity of marine life in the oceans may be severely reduced within less than 100 years,” said Dr Jacob Silverman of the Carnegie Institution in Stanford University, California.

Coral reefs grow their structural skeletons by depositing aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate, from calcium ions in sea water. As oceans absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide, they become so acidic the calcium carbonate dissolves.

Silverman’s team studied a coral reef in the northern Red Sea and calculated its response to increasingly acidic waters. The research showed that the ability of the coral to build new structures depended strongly on water acidity and to a lesser extent temperature.

From these data the researchers created a global map of more than 9,000 coral reefs, which showed that all are threatened with disintegration when carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere reach 560ppm. Silverman was speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in San Diego.

In a separate study, Simon Donner, an environmental scientist at the University of British Columbia in Canada, warned that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is already at a high enough level to cause devastating coral bleaching.

Corals have a symbiotic relationship with microscopic algae that live on them. The algae give coral reefs their vibrant colors, but are also an important food source for the habitat’s marine life. When sea temperatures rise, the corals expel the algae and turn white. Once this happens the coral is deprived of energy and dies.

“Even if we froze emissions today, the planet still has some warming left in it. That’s enough to make bleaching dangerously frequent in reefs worldwide,” said Donner.

Bleaching had become increasingly widespread in recent years, Donner said. In 2006, severe bleaching struck the southern part of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef system in the world. Last year scientists reported that a “lucky combination” of circumstances had allowed the coral to recover from the disaster.

Source:
London Guardian, “World’s coral reefs could disintegrate by 2100“, accessed February 23, 2010

Shell Raises Alarm Over Nigeria’s Dwindling Oil Production

Shell raises alarm over Nigeria’s dwindling oil production

Wednesday, 24 February 2010 01:28
Sola Bello & Ameto Akpe

Nigeria’s oil and gas production has dropped by over 30 percent since 2005 and may continue to decline in coming years. And concerned by the development, Shell Petroleum Development Company, the dominant oil producer in Nigeria, has sounded the alarm bell that the government may be unable to deliver on the provision of infrastructure to its citizens.

“Nigeria’s share of global oil production is shrinking — it has fallen over 30 percent since 2005. Investment in the industry has stalled. Final Investment Decisions are not being taken in deepwater and unlike Australia, no new LNG projects have been approved onshore. As a result, other countries are catching up with Nigeria fast”, said Shell’s Ann Pickard.

Pickard, Shell’s outgoing regional executive vice president, exploration and production for Africa, spoke on “Nigeria’s position as a key player in global oil and gas markets,” at the Nigeria Oil and Gas 2010 exhibition in Abuja on Wednesday.

She blamed the lack luster performance of the Nigerian oil industry on the inability of government to translate all the positives in the industry into coherent policies and actions. She noted that Angola had eclipsed Nigeria in performance over the last decade drilling more exploration wells than Nigeria every year since 1999 except one.

“In 2009 alone, the industry invested $8 billion in Angolan deepwater - double the amount invested here. As a result, by 2020 Angolan offshore production is likely to be at least double that of Nigeria. New players are entering the market that will increase competition still further. Nigeria’s position in global oil and gas markets cannot be taken for granted,” Pickard said.

Taking a swipe at the Petroleum Industry Bill hailed by Nigerian authorities as critical to the success of the nation’s energy reforms, Pickard said: “The simple, passionately stated priorities of government have been completely lost in a cumbersome document that lacks insight into the very basics of our industry. When I hear comments like ‘we won’t fiscalise criminality’ and ‘we are better of leaving oil in the ground,’ I shudder. The PIB threatens to make the present bad situation worse. If passed in the form currently proposed its mistakes will take years to correct.”

She stressed “Nigerians will have to wait longer for the electricity they need to light their homes at night. They will have to wait longer for jobs they need to put food on the family table. The government will have to face difficult choices to balance the budget with less money available for the social services that people need,” she added.

Reacting to Shell’s presentation, Livi Ajuonuma, NNPC’ spokesman, said the PIB would make the industry better. “What Shell wants us to do is to keep subsidising the production of gas which they end up exporting to their home countries to guarantee their national energy security. As I speak, Nigeria is still subsidising gas for export because the cost of producing it is recovered from oil revenue.

“There is no country in the world that does not get value for its natural resources. But we are getting negative value from gas in Nigeria. The big question is if Nigerians are willing to forego subsidy on petroleum products which they consume, why should Shell or any other international oil company operating in this country expect Nigeria to keep subsidising the gas that they export to other countries? That and many more abnormalities are what the PIB is seeking to correct,” Ajuonuma said.

Pickard, however, said that despite everything, she remained optimistic because the International Monetary Fund had been commissioned by government to provide an independent objective analysis of the PIB. Pickard said it was not too late for Nigeria to put before the President for assent, a simple, efficient legislative framework that delivers national priorities and heralds a new era for Nigeria.

In an earlier presentation, Mohammed Barkindo, group managing director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said the corporation was working with its joint venture partners to initiate more gas projects that would put out flares in the oil fields.

Barkindo said government had shifted its tactics of putting out the flares from the oil fields from giving deadlines to facilitating projects that would put out the flares, adding that government was committed to ensuring that the peace in the Niger Delta was sustained through the development of the region.

Latin American and Caribbean States Plan to Establish RegionalOrganization Without the U.S. and Canada

New US-free Americas bloc planned

Latin American and Caribbean nations have agreed to set up a new regional body without the US and Canada.

The new bloc would be an alternative to the Organisation of American States (OAS), the main forum for regional affairs in the past 50 years.

Mexico has been hosting a regional summit in the beach resort of Cancun.

The OAS has been dogged by rifts between some members and the US over economic policy and trade, and criticised for promoting US interests.

‘Regional integration’

The proposed new grouping was one of the main issues on the agenda of the two-day summit, which ended on Tuesday.

It “must as a priority push for regional integration… and promote the regional agenda in global meetings”, Mexican President Felipe Calderon told the summit, which includes leaders and representatives from 32 countries.

Cuban President Raul Castro was quick to applaud Mr Calderon’s announcement as a historic move toward “the constitution of a purely Latin American and Caribbean regional organisation”.

Cuba was suspended from the OAS in 1962 because of its socialist political system. In 2009, the OAS voted to lift Cuba’s suspension but the country has declined to rejoin.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez earlier expressed his support for the proposal, citing it as a move away from US “colonising” of the region.

A US State Department official, Arturo Valenzuela, said he did not see the new body as a problem.

“This should not be an effort that would replace the OAS, ” he said.

The terms of the new bloc and whether it would replace the Rio Group of Latin American countries has not been clarified.

“It’s very important that we don’t try to replace the OAS,” said Chile’s President-elect Sebastian Pinera. “The OAS is a permanent organisation that has its own functions.”

On Monday, Bolivian President Evo Morales proposed that it begin operating in July 2011 with a summit hosted by Venezuela.

Falklands row

The Cancun summit has also unanimously backed Argentina’s claim over the British-owned Falklands.

Argentina is angered that a UK firm has begun drilling for oil off the Falkland Islands, which lie about 450km (280 miles) off the Argentine coast.

Argentina and Britain went to war over the South Atlantic islands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas, in 1982, after Buenos Aires invaded them.

The leaders at Cancun also discussed whether to recognise Porfirio Lobo as the legitimate president of Honduras after he was elected president under interim authorities following a 28 June coup that ousted Manuel Zelaya.

A long-term plan to help Haiti recover from the devastating January earthquake was also on the agenda.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/8531266.stm
Published: 2010/02/24 01:04:45 GMT

Nigeria News Bulletin: President Yar’Adua Returns From Saudi Arabia

Yar’Adua Arrives

From Paul Ibe and George Oji in Abuja, 02.24.2010
Nigeria ThisDay

Exactly three months after he left Nigeria for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, in a most dramatic twist, returned to the country in the early hours of today.

THISDAY learnt that the President, whose prolonged absence had generated considerable heat in the polity, left Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at 8.22pm Nigerian time last night and arrived at 1.46am today.

About 30 minutes to his arrival, the source of power supply to the airport was switched from public to generator.

After the first, small aircraft arrived, another one, a bigger aircraft, landed a few minutes later. Both were unusually parked on the runway - virtually in the bush - instead of the parking area, for a very long time. It was not clear which of the two aircraft carried the President as the entire area was covered in darkness.

An ambulance was seen moving towards the two aircraft shortly after the arrival of the second one. A bus also moved in a few minutes later.

At the airport to receive Yar’Adua were Governors Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina) and Namadi Sambo (Kaduna). They had earlier met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Dimeji Bankole, at his residence in Abuja.
Soldiers were deployed on the route from the airport to the Presidential Villa. They all took strategic positions, fully armed. The trucks that conveyed them bore the sign of Brigade of Guards.

THISDAY learnt that all the soldiers, who came in two companies, were asked to drop their phones, thereby rendering them incommunicado.

Airport staff were also ordered out of the presidential wing as soldiers took over the place. The only thing that could be gleaned from the aircraft was the flashing beacons.

At 2.56 am, the ambulance left while a convoy of about eight cars drove towards the aircraft. After 3am, the cars left the airport. They drove at moderate speed on the way to Aso Rock. There were about 16 cars in the convoy that headed for town.

The presidential jet eventually moved to park at its usual place at 3.20am while the unmarked smaller aircraft, presumed to be an air ambulance, also parked at 3.25am.

Yar’Adua returned to the country in company with his wife, Turai; his Chief Security Officer, Yusufu Tilde; and Aide-de-Camp, Col. Mustapha Onoedieva.

The President’s return came as a complete surprise as the public had no prior notice or indication to that effect. The six-man ministerial team set up by the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) to pay him a visit only left for Saudi Arabia Monday night.

A source said yesterday that the ministers flew directly to Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, and met with a representative of the King, Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, to “express deep appreciation for the excellent and generous attention the government and people of Saudi have given to the President”.

However, before the team could move to Jeddah – about one and a half hours by flight from Riyadh – the President had begun his journey back to Nigeria.

There were unconfirmed reports, however, that Yar’Adua flew in an air ambulance provided by the King of Saudi Arabia.

The presidential jet that flew him out of the country on November 23, 2009, was still at the Jeddah International Airport after he left, but it was believed to have taken off shortly after.

The air ambulance had been on standby for the past five days to bring the President back, THISDAY learnt, and airport authorities in Nigeria had been put on alert in the last two days to prepare for his return.

Members of the ministerial team, namely the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed; Minister of Health, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin; Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman; Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN); Agriculture Minister, Dr. Abba Ruma; and Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, are expected to return to Nigeria this morning straight from Riyadh.

Nigeria’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mr. Abdullah Garba Aminchi, had said on Monday that doctors were preventing visitors from having access to Yar’Adua.

Aminchi said he himself had visited Yar’Adua on Saturday and that the condition of the president was improving after treatment for a heart ailment.

“I saw him the day before yesterday… He’s really feeling better now,” Aminchi had told AFP

Yar’adua is back

Written by Theophilus Abbah & Nasir L. Abubakar
Nigerian Daily Trust
Wednesday, 24 February 2010 03:12

President Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s long medical sojourn in Saudi Arabia ended early this morning when two planes landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja. While the first plane, an air ambulance, landed at 1.47am, a second one, the presidential aircraft, landed at 1.54am. As soon as the first plane landed, the small convoy of cars already waiting at the Presidential Lounge drove to the tarmac and came to a stop near it. There were about five cars, one of which was a Ford ambulance recently acquired by the State House.

Soon after the two planes landed, Daily Trust learnt that a large group of security agents and Foreign Ministry protocol officials who moved towards them were chased away by presidential bodyguards. Only a handful of bodyguards and the planes’ crew members were allowed near the planes as the president alighted, so it was not clear whether he walked into the waiting cars or was helped into them. The scene was also dark, but the ambulance was seen moving towards the parked planes.

Yar’adua had been away from the country for 90 days. He had earlier departed Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at 9pm Nigerian time [11pm local Saudi time] last night in a convoy of three different aircraft.

Indications that Yar’adua was about to depart the Saudi Kingdom first became manifest yesterday when a long convoy of royal cars and police escort vehicles were seen at the Royal Guest House in Jeddah, where he had been recuperating for several weeks since he left the King Faisal Hospital in December. At around 7pm Nigerian time yesterday, the convoy drove out to the airport, and two hours later the president’s plane departed for Nigeria.

Signs of his return however became more visible as the night wore on, and our reporters saw columns of soldiers with armoured personnel carriers taking positions at Wuse, at the intersection between the Airport Road and Olusegun Obasanjo Way. Our reporters also saw a small convoy of cars sweeping into the airport’s presidential wing at about 11pm. It included a Ford ambulance.

Yar’adua’s return plans were a tightly-kept secret, as several government officials said last night that they were unaware of the president’s impending return. However, there were indications that Acting President Goodluck Jonathan’s office got wind of them, because some items on his itinerary for today were hastily cancelled. Jonathan’s office had earlier invited media chiefs from all over the country to dine with him in Abuja tonight, but late in the afternoon yesterday, officials called and cancelled the dinner without advancing any reasons. Earlier yesterday, Jonathan held a long meeting with Niger Delta community leaders and state governors, following which he suspended the on-going Niger River dredging project.

Daily Trust also learnt that the 6-man delegation of Federal Ministers that arrived in Jeddah early in the morning yesterday delivered the Nigerian government’s letter of thanks to the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal. The letter, addressed to Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, thanked him for his generous hospitality to Yar’adua while the treatment lasted.

However, the ministers’ plans to fly on to Jeddah to see Yar’adua were aborted when they heard that the ailing president was already on his way to the airport, on his way home. The ministers then quickly changed their plans and are expected to return to the country this morning, in time for today’s meeting of the Federal Executive Council, likely to be chaired by Yar’adua himself.

The ministerial delegation, led by Foreign Affairs Minister Chief Ojo Maduekwe, comprised Secretary to the Government of the Federation Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, Health Minister Professor Babatunde Osotimehin, Petroleum Minister Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, Agriculture Minister Dr. Abba Sayyadi Ruma as well as Attorney General and Minister of Justice Adetokunbo Kayode, SAN. Their trip was at the behest of the FEC, which directed them on Wednesday last week to undertake the trip, officially billed to thank the Saudi King and to see Yar’adua. Many observers however saw it as the first step in invoking Section 144 of the Constitution to declare Yar’adua permanently incapacitated from holding his office.

Yar’adua had been out of the country since November 23, last year when he left for Jeddah to treat an ailment later described as pericarditis, or inflammation of the heart’s linings. The president also has a long history of kidney disease. Two weeks ago, when Yar’adua failed to transmit a letter of medical vacation, the National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution recognising Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President. He is expected to relinquish the role today with Yar’adua’s return.

Yar’Adua Returns Home

By Sunny Igboanugo and Rafiu Ajakaye, Lagos
Nigeria Daily Independent

President Umaru Yar’Adua flew out of Jeddah on Tuesday night to return to the saddle in Nigeria, against all expectations, and with mum still the word from his close associates in the saga of three months that has kept Nigeria on edge.

The plane conveying Yar’Adua, who left the country on November 23 last year for medical treatment, touched down at the the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja at about 3 a.m.

The jet left Jeddah International Airport with him and his entourage at about 11 p.m. (Saudi time), two hours ahead of Nigeria for the six-hour flight.

He shunned his own Presidential aircraft that took him out of the country for one provided by the King of Saudi Arabia, Abdallah bin Abdul Aziz, with his family members and security details.

He left ahead of the six members of the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) team which travelled out of Nigeria on Monday to visit him at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah.

The Ministerial team was said to have first gone to Riyadh to meet with Aziz, but was met instead by the Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister because protocol stipulates five days’ notice to meet him.

The team, according to sources, had no choice but to deliver a letter from Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to the Minister for onward transmission to Aziz before it went on to Jeddah to meet with Yar’Adua.

The letter thanked Aziz for his hospitality and generosity, and for taking good care of Yar’Adua, but also explained the concern of the Nigerian Government and the people over their inability to reach their President in the last three months, and therefore asked the Saudi Government to provide them access to him.

The Ministerial team was expected to also leave the country at midnight (Saudi time) back home to enable the members attend today’s EXCOF meeting in order to brief the cabinet and Jonathan on the true health situation of Yar’Adua.

Daily Independent reliably gathered that the team did not meet Yar’Adua, who was already airborne when it arrived Jeddah.

Events before and after the President’s trip had been steeped in controversy and drama that left the country totally nonplussed, bruised and in clear danger following agitations from several quartres.

In the weeks before November 23, 2009, attention was completely turned to the National Assembly where a superiority contest was taking place – a debate on which Chamber should host the President to present the 2010 Appropriation Bill.

That left the President himself almost completely out of national gaze.

Yar’Adua then gave the lawmakers an ultimatum to resolve their rift or have the Bill sent to them, without the honour of having him laying it before them, as has been the convention for the few years of democracy since Independence in 1960.

Lawyers and laymen alike disagreed on the legality of the President not appearing in person to read the budget, but most legal minds quickly dismissed the debate as unnecessary and blamed the disruption (of the convention) on the bickering of lawmakers. The President’s Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Muhammed Abba-Aji, laid the bill before each arm of the parliament.

But the jetting out of Yar’Adua to Saudi Arabia on Monday, November 23, promptly brought out a theory that the superiority contest must have been provoked to achieve a purpose: shielding the consistently worsening health condition of Yar’Adua from public gaze. Budget presentation, a ritual that may last well over an hour, could have confirmed the long-held rumour that Yar’Adua was so weak and lean he could no longer stand for more than 30 minutes.

The Presidential Spokesman, Segun Adeniyi, merely issued a statement announcing Yar’Adua was going on a medical vacation, again provoking a debate and pressure on the government to say exactly the state of Mr. President’s health. This debate was followed by a rumour about 78 hours later that the President had died in a Saudi hospital.

This rumour prompted Adeniyi to, on November 25, issue a statement announcing that the President is suffering from Acute Pericarditis”, an inflammatory condition of the coverings of the heart, but is fast recuperating. He lamented the death rumour. Adeniyi was reading to reporters a statement from Yar’Adua’s Personal Physician, Dr. Salisu Banye. And so Rock confirmed for the first time since the uproar that the President was at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

With doctors acknowledging how grave the President’s condition is, Nigerians called on him to write the National Assembly empowering his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, to be Acting President.

But if the secrecy with which the issue has been handled angered most Nigerians, quite a number of pressing issues worsened the anger.

The gradual collapse of the amnesty deal in the Niger Delta, the budget impasse, and the December 25 attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound aircraft by a 23-year-old Nigerian and the subsequent listing of Nigeria among “countries of interest” by the United States brought to the fore the need for an active President, strong enough to steer the ship of Nigeria.

With the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) turning down calls to declare the President unfit and clear the way for Jonathan to take charge, Nigerians of varied background came under different umbrellas to ratchet up the pressure. This took various forms, including street protests and press conferences, all directed at getting Yar’Adua to hand over power. The country has since recorded a chain of events, including court declarations and National Assembly resolutions. They are as follows:

On January 5, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) took the Federal Government to court, and prayed the latter to compel the EXCOF to act appropriately

On January 12, Yar’Adua broke his silence in a two-minute interview with the British Broadcatsing Corpoiration (BBC), during which he thanked Nigerians for their prayers, urged on the Super Eagles then at the Nations Cup, but sidestepped the issue of the listing of Nigeria among terrorist countries and its impacts on her citizens worldwide

On January 13, a Federal High Court in Abuja declared that Goodluck is empowered by the Constitution to exercise, in the absence of Yar’Adua, all the powers vested in him, including signing of sensitive documents, so far such powers are delegated to him. The presiding high court judge, Justice Dan Abutu, made the pronouncement while interpreting the meanings and intendments of sections 5(1) and 148 (1) of the 1999 constitution in a suit brought by a lawyer, Mr. Christopher Onwuekwe.

Also on January 13, the House of Representatives resolved to send a delegation to Saudi Arabia to see the President. The team returned without seeing him

On January 28, the same court ruled that Jonathan can carry out presidential duties, as delegated by Yar’Adua, but can’t be Acting President until conditions precedent are satisfied, that is Yar’Adua must transmit letter.

On January 21, the same Justice Abutu ordered the EXCOF to investigate the state of health of President Umaru Yar’Adua and pass a resolution within 14 days. He gave the verdict in a suit filed by former House of Representatives Minority Leader, Farouk Aliyu, and Jigawa State Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chairman, Sani Gabbas. He, however, held that: “The Court certainly has no power to declare the president permanently incapacitated as the body vested with such powers in line with Section 144, is the Executive Council of the Federation. The Court cannot usurp the power of the Executive Council of the Federation.”

On January 22, former President Olusegun Obasanjo denied imposing Yar’Adua on the country and called on the ailing President to stand down – a call greeted by criticism from the PDP and opposition which accused the former President of deceit

On January 27, the Senate urged Yar’Adua to transmit letter announcing his medical vacation

January 29, former President Shehu Shagari and other elder statesmen urged Yar’Adua to transmit letter and asked the lawmakers to save the country

On February 3, Information Minister, Dora Akunyili, submitted a memo to EXCOF urging it to pass a resolution making Jonathan the Acting President – a step that drew nationwide applause and polarised the federal cabinet

On February 4, following claims and counter claims that Yar’Adua may have written a letter announcing his vacation and directing that Jonathan be made Acting President, Abba-Aji denied possession of such letter

On February 8, the ruling PDP sent a delegation to Saudi Arabia to ascertain the state of the President’s health. It returned without seeing Yar’Adua

On February 9, the National Assembly passed separate resolutions empowering Jonathan to be Acting President

On February 10, the EXCOF said it was in full support of the National Assembly resolution and pledged support for the Acting President

Also on February 10, Jonathan made a slight cabinet reshuffle removing Michael Aondoakaa as the AGF/Justice Minister and redeployed him to Special Duties Ministry.

On February 17, the EXCOF set up a six-man committee to visit Yar’Adua, probably setting the ground for the setting up of a medical panel to ascertain the true state of his health.

Reps raise alarm over economy

ABIODDUN ADELAJA and ADEKUNLE ADESUJI, Abuja
Nigeria Daily Champion

The House of Representatives yesterday rejected claims by the executive that the 2009 budget can not be fully implemented on account of inadequate funding arising from dwindling oil revenue due to militants attacks in the Niger Delta.

It raised alarm that the country’s economy would suffer if the country continues to depend solely on crude oil.

The lawmakers’ stand was contained in a report jointly signed by the chairmen of House committees on appropriation and that of finance, Ayo Adesanya and John Enoh respectively, which was made available to the Daily Champion at the weekend.

Eziuche Ubani who briefed newsmen on the activities of the committees said the country might be in trouble if we continue to depend on crude oil because America that imports 25 per cent of our crude oil is looking for other sources of energy generation. He said other countries of Western Europe may emulate the United States (US).

“Therefore, we should begin to look for other sources to make money apart from crude oil, it is high time we stop depending on oil money if we want to be serious,” he said.

Ubani also implored President Umaru Yar’Adua to pay much attention to climate change saying, “we are the one that climate change will affect because of the problem of poverty we face in our continent. It is very necessary to pay much attention to it because other developed countries do it”.

He urged the Speaker to write to the president on the need to pay much attention to it adding that we need comprehensive climate change bill in Nigeria.

“We want to drive this thing from the highest corridor of power,” he stated.

In another development the Chairman House Committee on Constituency Outreach, Hon. Muhammed Bawa said the Federal Government has provided N30 million for the consistency project in 2009.

He said money will not be given to members even-though they will choose areas in which they want the project to be done in their various consistencies.

He however said they have not embarked on 2009 project as at present because the 2008 project was still on course, saying about N2.9billion has been released to about 1068 contractors to start working but some can do it due to logistic problem and we have decided to give the contract to capable contractors.

Ailing president returns

By Terfa Tilley-Gyado
Nigeria Next
February 24, 2010 05:30AM

Three months after leaving Nigeria to receive medical treatment for a heart condition, President Umaru Yar’Adua shocked the nation by returning home in the early hours of today. A patient at the King Faisal hospital in Jeddah for 92 days, Mr. Yar’Adua was finally removed from his bed on Tuesday and taken aboard an Abuja bound flight at about 2100 Saudi time.

Two planes, one of them an air ambulance, landed in the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja within ten minutes of each other and it is believed that the president was on board the first one which landed at 0145 hours.

A presidential convoy, including the Ford intensive care ambulance, was at the airport waiting to meet him. It is doubtful if the president has recovered from his illness and sources at the airport were unable to confirm what kind of condition he was in when he landed. Soldiers prevented journalists from going anywhere near the aircraft and the homecoming was without ceremony.

An airport employee who works as a ground staff said quite unusually, the planes disembarked at a secluded part of the runway.

“That is not where they normally land even when it is a presidential flight,“ he said. “The place they landed is as if they don’t want anybody to see them at all.”

The floodlights on the tarmac were also dimmed in the section the planes landed which made it difficult to make out the figures that alighted from the planes. It appeared though that Mr. Yar’Adua was moved directly into the ambulance.

There had been some signs that the president was returning to the country. Two of Mr. Yar’Adua’s daughters, Aisha Yar’Adua and Mariam Badamasi Kabir, both returned to Nigeria last weekend and this fuelled speculation that the president would soon be coming back. Both daughters had spent the most of the past three months in Jeddah with their ailing father.

Sources within the state house in Aso Rock also revealed that the past two days had seen some increased activity in the presidential quarters. On Tuesday, there was a high level of military presence at both the airport and within the federal capital territory.

Nigerian president ‘returns home’

Ailing Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua has returned home secretly after three months’ medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, reports say.

A plane landed from Jeddah at the presidential wing of Abuja airport in the middle of the night, where an ambulance was waiting on the tarmac.

Earlier this month, Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan became acting leader as fears mounted of a power vacuum.

Mr Yar’Adua had been suffering from a heart condition and kidney problems.

There has been no official confirmation of his return, although Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed government source as saying: “He just landed at Abuja airport on a Saudi plane escorted by the presidential plane. He is on his way to the [presidential] villa now.”

His state of health is unclear, and it is not known whether he wants to return to his post.

Soldiers were reported to be lining the main road from the airport to the city.

A delegation of Nigerian ministers had travelled to Saudi Arabia on Monday for an update on Mr Yar’Adua’s health.

They had been expected to report back to a weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday, and reports suggest they arrived back on another plane shortly after that thought to be carrying the ailing leader.

The BBC’s Ahmed Idris in Abuja says the next three or four hours will be crucial, as Nigerians wait to see whether the president himself turns up to the cabinet meeting.

If he does not appear, questions will be asked as to whether Mr Yar’Adua is fit enough to resume his duties.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8533380.stm
Published: 2010/02/24 04:14:57 GMT