Caterpillar machine involved in construction of Israeli A1 railway tunnel 3A in the occupied West Bank. (Photo retrieved from Israel Railways’ Facebook page on 29 July 2012)

Who Profits?, a project of the Tel Aviv-based Coalition of Women for Peace, found photo’s of the A1 high-speed train project that will connect Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on the Israel Railways’ Facebook page. The photo’s – published on 4 June 2012 – document the use of Caterpillar equipment in the construction of tunnel 3A which lies within the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israel’s A1 high-speed train crosses the Green Line – the 1949 Armistice Line (also known as the “1967 line” or “Green Line”) that is internationally recognized as the boundary between Israel and the occupied West Bank. When completed, the A1 high-speed train will exclusively serve Israeli commuters between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Who Profits published a report on the A1 fast train in October 2010.

Overview of the construction site of A1 high speed railway tunnel 3A near Palestinian villages of Beit Iksa and Beit Surik. (Photo retrieved from Israel Railway Facebook page on 29 July 2012)

Israel builds railway tunnel 3A on occupied land

The railway will run for six kilometers on occupied Palestinian land, violating international law in several ways. For example, Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention forbids Israel as occupying power from destroying Palestinian property. The construction of the A1 railway also constitutes a significant alteration of the infrastructure of the West Bank contrary to the Hague Regulations of 1907, Section 3. Israel’s entire settlement enterprise in the West Bank has been declared illegal and illegitimate countless times by governments all over the world and by the United Nations Security Council and the International Court of Justice  although no action has ever been taken to enforce those decisions.

Tunnel 3A is part of the section of the railway which cuts into the West Bank near the Palestinian villages of Bet Surik and Bet Iksa, close to Jerusalem. The section consists of a tunnel, a bridge over Cedar Valley and a second tunnel. The map on page 11 in Who Profits’ report on the A1, clarifies the situation. Tunnel 3A is situated on occupied land.

In the original plan the route would pass the Israeli town of Mevaseret Zion. However, the Israeli residents objected to the plan, demanding that the route be moved at least 500 meters further north. Following protests by Israeli citizens, the railway route was moved to 250–300 metres north of the 1949 Armistice Line, cutting into the lands of the vilages Beit Surik and Beit Iksa.

Caterpillar machine assisting in construction of Israeli A1 railway tunnel 3A near Palestinian villages of Beit Iksa and Beit Surik. (Photo retrieved from Israel Railways’ Facebook page on 29 July 2012)

Caterpillar machinery used for illegal construction of railway tunnel on occupied Palestinian land

Recently, Maureen Clare Murphy reported in her blog Milestone victory: pension fund giant TIAA-CREF divests $72 million from Caterpillar that US pension fund giant TIAA-CREF had removed Caterpillar, Inc. from its Social Choice Funds portfolio. The Quaker Friends Fiduciary Corporation decided to divest $900,000 worth of shares in Caterpillar one month earlier.

The role of Caterpillar machines in the illegal construction of A1 railway tunnel 3A in the occupied West Bank is yet another reason for socially responsible investors to divest from the company.

First published at The Elctronic Intifada.

AUTHOR: Adri Nieuwhof
URL: http://www.samora.org
E-MAIL: a.nieuwhof [at] samora.org

Maintenance work commenced last week at third mainland bridge, as directed by a top government official. It is scheduled for completion by November, and will see eight expansion joints replaced on both sides of the carriageways of the bridge. This maintenance work was initially scheduled to commence two weeks ago, but was postponed, possibly to put more things in place. This repair is coming at this crucial time when rain and floods is making motoring difficult.

Concerns of different sorts have been expressed, and press report of floods on alternative routes supports some. The government has pledged to reduce the traffic burden during this period with more control officers on duty, attention to suggested alternative routes and improved traffic monitoring reports to the public. This gives some confidence but complications will definitely come at certain times during the four months period.

Some people have presented arguments about the timing, they could be correct, but maintenance at this time, as said, is coming for the necessity. Traffic in Lagos has been a problem, with construction somewhere or not. Government continues to work to ensure that people enjoy free flowing traffic.

The Lagos government has LASTMA – Lagos State Traffic Management Authority. They also have traffic lights, recently built roads, a traffic FM, and benefitted from removal of traffic-causing-police-road blocks that the IGP prohibited nationally weeks back. Traffic on Apapa-Oshodi expressway, a perfect example of the problem, was tackled in May. Faulty road users there were dealt with, and things improved. The achievement of that gives so much hope for another in future, albeit significant traffic is returning to that route.

Traffic is one big issue in the state, and it robs government credits for development. Traffic stiffens engagements, troubles businesses, aids crime, reduces the quality of air, contributes to climate change, plugs road safety, adds to health risks, causes fatigue and makes time management more difficult. We all know that traffic solution is not mentioned during political campaigns, but the problem leaves the government in a bad light outside, even as people within ‘are used to it’. Traffic requires all round solution, with new ones and improvements to those in use.

Traffic reports through radio and social media are part solutions that should be further advertised and improved. These platforms enable people to get updates on traffic for routes that connect locations. They could help people before setting-out, they could also help people to change their plans or to change their planned form of transportation.

These platforms inform, and could also tell of why traffic is happening at a particular place and time, to quicken attention and action.  Good, but they don’t address solutions and may not favour at times if something happens on a recommended free flowing route –- usual in the unpredictable situation — and quick response stalls. Rapid response, proper oversight, regulation and compliance to road directives are best played by LASTMA.

These folks work hard and deserve credit for some improvements that have been seen in the past years in traffic. They, as public officers are included in government ranking of staffers, and face some challenges that many rail about for those in ministry. These guys have their issues, with news stories on disparaging acts of some. Some of them also have issues of being unskilled, for duties; there are issues of keeping up in this low per capita GDP economy and more. Things are not so easy, with a global recession and oil prices dipping, for an economy reliant on oil trade & several issues to table.

Attending to LASTMA better is desired, as some officials rumble for a better status, but may not be so easy. Improved status by the Lagos government to LASTMA is help for all. It is help to themselves, to the federal government, to the people, to LASTMA officials, to investors, to security, to the present and the future.

Having this is beyond donations, or symposiums for a few, or tough talk by top bureaucrats, or comments or abuses (as some believe); but improved welfare, structured training, more equipment, more officials, and complete overhaul of that system. Training them on common situations, improving reporting bottom up within the system and more is necessary if the government really wants to help all.

Prioritizing repairs of alternative routes, putting more traffic lights at points, rapid attention to bottlenecks either road repairs or blockades, developing suggestion channels that road users can submit what they think will help per route, road use instructions, more traffic technologies and seriousness will also reduce traffic in the state.

The center however remains LASTMA, with more officials, they can be spilled to alternative routes and also be available within meters on pikes during heavy traffic hours, to prevent/reduce new traffic origins within a large traffic. More officials can also monitor from within, situations and ensure that response, reports and updates on action are in sync.

More officials will ensure that work shifts are flexible, boosting commitment to duties while at work; more officials will also ensure that they are all available for regular trainings on what-to-do, how-to-do, when-to-say-what, who-to-call, when-to-ignore, when-to-arrest and what-to-observe.

New attention to the situation can be started with a small forum, where presentations will be made, and issues will be submitted. This will involve a number of people and the press. Action will follow after to further understand some things before the next meeting. Things that can be fixed will be fixed, before a major conference on traffic and complete action.

Repairs to third mainland bridge will bring attention to traffic around concerned areas, but traffic will continue as usual at other routes. Government, corporates, high commissions, those that love Nigeria, and individuals should please start something that can lessen this multidimensional torture.

Please read:

Lagos: Short term traffic solutions for the long term

AUTHOR: David Stephen
URL: http://www.trpns.com
E-MAIL: Stephen [at] trpns.com

Ironically, over the years, Bhendi Bazaar has become one of the most crowded, dingy and rundown of neighbourhoods in an otherwise well-planned south Mumbai. It is a rabbit-warren of shops and dilapidated buildings, with tangles of streets, some so narrow they can only support pedestrian traffic.

In this clutter of chawls and ramshackle tenements, most of which are overdue for demolition, infrastructure improvements have been few and far between. Residents of this unintended urban sprawl joke that it hasn’t seen a tree or a green patch in over a century.

Which is why when the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) said, about a year ago, that it would undertake a massive redevelopment of this neigbourhood, and turn it into a green precinct with 40-storey high-rises, high-street shopping and with the swankest of homes and amenities—all of which would be environment-friendly—the announcement was met with some disbelief.

Some of it had to do with scale, of course. The Rs 2,000 crore project is slated to cover 16.5 acres of one of the most congested parts of the city, and transform about 1,200 businesses, 3,200 homes in 250 buildings and the lives of over 20,000 residents.

Work on the proposed ‘cluster redevelopment’ has already begun, even though the ministry of environment and forests is yet to give the green light. But one thing is clear: if the SBUT completes the redevelopment as planned, and in the designated seven years, it could pave the way for similar (and much-needed) projects in the rest of India.

AUTHOR: Qureish Raghib
E-MAIL: Qhraghib [at] gmail.com

Power lines over buildings in Cameroon, 2008. Photo by Zzilch on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

After his reelection in November 2011, President Paul Biya of Cameroon announced [fr] that the country would soon become a giant “construction site”. The goal for his new term is for Cameroon to reach emerging market status by 2035 through a series of “great achievements” in transport and energy infrastructure development [fr]. It’s a deadline that fails to convince [fr] many commentators, if only because the challenges are so great.

Energy, and specifically electricity, is especially problematic.  Like many other African countries, Cameroon suffers from insufficient electricity supplies.

Journalist Leopold Nséké explains in an article published in Afrique Expansion Magazine:

Underequipped, the African continent is awash in the obsolescence of its facilities and bore the brunt of poor management of available resources. Representing 15% of the world population, Africa consumes paradoxically only 3% of the total world production of electricity.

According to some estimates (fr) only 20% of Cameroon’s population has a regular access to electricity supplies. Indeed, those who have access to power tend to experience cuts in supply as often as every three days. Electricity is also increasingly expensive commodity for most of the country’s citizens. The privately-owned AES Sonel, for example, recently announced a 7% rise in prices[fr] starting from June 1, 2012.

Limited access to electricity also represents a threat to the industrialization of Cameroon, which in turn could undermine Cameroon’s ambition of becoming emerging economy by 2035. A study [fr] conducted by the Polytechnic National High School of Yaounde outlined that:

Production losses were estimated at EU91.5 million per year in industrial enterprises because of the difficulties in supplying electricity. These results indicate that inadequate and poor quality of electricity supply has slowed industrial development.

There is no electricity in Mafa Kilda village, it's just passing by (and going from Ngong to Garoua). By Philippe Semanaz on Flickr in 2006 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

As Cameroon essentially relies on hydro-energy production, the Government also launched the construction of the Lom Pangar dam in the east of the country. The project – funded by the World Bank and other international organizations – is considered to be integral to Cameroon’s aspirations to become an emerging economy.

The dam is expected to the increase energy production of Cameroon with a planned capacity of 7.250 billion cubic meters for a reservoir that will cover 610 km2. Water supplies will also be held in reserve for the dry season at two damns further downstream of the Sanaga River, thereby enabling them to generate more electricity.

Christiane Badgley’s blog highlights some of the shortcomings of the project. She is concerned that the electricity produced will mainly prioritize the needs of Cameroon’s industries :

…the urban and rural poor do not appear to be the primary beneficiaries of the Lom Pangar project. Instead, the dam is designed to regulate the flow of the Sanaga River in order to increase energy production from existing and proposed downstream hydropower plants serving the southern electricity grid and the country’s single largest electricity consumer, the Alucam aluminum smelter. Jointly owned by the government of Cameroon and the Canadian-based company Alcan, Alucam plans to more than double its production and needs new sources of cheap energy to do so.

This post and its translations to Spanish, Arabic and French were commissioned by the International Security Network (ISN) as part of a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide.Visit the ISN blog and see more related stories.

First published at Global Voices Online.

AUTHOR: Julie Owono
URL: http://bantupolitics.blogspot.com/
E-MAIL: info [at] www.NL-Aid.org

From the left is Board Member Patrick Ngwediang, second left is Onesmo Olengurumwa (Vice Chairman), taking a sip of water is Saning’o Ole Telele, board member and legislator standing is Good Luck Olemedeye - Deputy Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development

Conflicts of interest between domestic and tourism demands have once resurfaced in the construction of tarmac road linking Arusha and Mara regions.

This time it was residents of Ngorongoro who asked the government to construct the said road without hesitation, despite external pressures on account that the construction of this road will disturb wild animals and the ecology of this area.

Shout-africa.com had the opportunity of meeting members of the Jukwaa la Wanataluma na Sauti ya Jamii Wilayani Ngorongoro, which is a professional forum comprising people born and/or living in Ngorongoro, on Sunday this week at the Ubungo Plaza in Dar es Salaam.

Voicing the call of Ngorongoro people was Onesmo Olengurumwa, who was accompanied by their legislator Kaika Saning’o Ole Telele, board member Patrick Ngwediagi, Coordinator Valentine Ngorisa and Mesha Pius Assistant Secretary.

“The forum has been following with a keen interest the ongoing debate at different fora and media outlets surrounding the construction of a tarmac road,” said Olengurumwa.

He argued that his organization has observed that for many, years now, the Tanzanian government has had good intentions of constructing a tarmac road from Mtowambu-Loliondo/Mugumu Makutano which would not only benefit the residents of Ngorongoro, Monduli and Serengeti districts but the whole of Tanzania and even the East African region.

The construction of this road has been in the government’s pipeline since the early 1980s. In recent years the government has just renewed its intentions. “These opponents don’t even know our needs or they have just chosen to ignore the truth,” he added. He added that opponents of this plan, who include international conservationists, have been using different tactics to attract support from the international community, including incorrectly renaming the road the “Serengeti Super Highway”.

This call was echoed by the MP for Ngorongoro Ole Telele, who was of the opinion that a neighbouring country is behind this campaign,
because they know that once the road is fully constructed the flow of tourists will increase in Northern Tanzania.

The most recent strong pronouncement on the position of the Tanzanian government was made on 30th March 2012 by President Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, during an award-giving ceremony to best journalists, in Dar es Salaam.

In his speech, President Kikwete urged Tanzanians in general and journalists in particular, to stop supporting the opponents of what he termed as noble decision, which is after all for the betterment of their country.

The argument of Ngorongoro is that the cost of essential commodities transported to the area would be reduced significantly. Those living in the vicinity also say the road will interlink their regions more appropriately.

AUTHOR: Elias Mhegera
URL: http://mhegeraelias.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: mhegeraelias [at] yahoo.com

Logo used in Veolia campaign by Dutch Palestine Committee

Pressure is growing on the Dutch regional administrative council of Haaglanden — whose major city is The Hague — to end its business with Veolia Transport because of the deep complicity of Veolia Environment with grave Israeli violations of international law. Veolia is involved in projects that strengthen Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank such as the Jerusalem Light Rail and the Tovlan landfill.

Earliers this month Dutch groups and the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq launched an effort to convince Haaglanden that Veolia should not be awarded the public transport contract.

This has now been joined by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) and the Tel Aviv-based Coalition of Women for Peace and its research project Who Profits.

Meanwhile, a majority of the Dutch Parliament called on Haaglanden to postpone the decision because of the preparation of a law to abandon tender procedures for public services in the major cities.

Palestinian civil society calls on The Hague to uphold international law by excluding Veolia
On 16 May, the BNC, the largest Palestinian civil society coalition, called upon Haaglanden regional administrative council to exclude Veolia Transport from participating in the tender for public transport in The Hague. The BNC wrote:

Veolia Environnement companies are centrally involved in the Jerusalem Light Rail, which while disguised as a municipal infrastructure project is designed to serve the approximately 200,000 illegal Jewish settlers who reside within and around occupied East Jerusalem, reinforcing the unlawful Israeli annexation of Jerusalem and facilitating plans for further colonial expansion. Veolia also operates waste collection, sewage treatment and bus services for illegal Israeli colonies in occupied Palestinian territory (OPT). Despite attempts to mislead the public, Veolia remains an active and willing accomplice to Israel’s systematic violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in the OPT.

Who Profits submits report on Veolia’s grave misconduct in Israel and Palestine?
In addition, the Tel Aviv-based Coalition of Women for Peace and its research project Who Profits wrote a letter to Haaglanden and its nine participating municipalities.

In light of the participation of Veolia in the tender, it is of utmost importance that you receive reliable information about the grave misconduct of Veolia in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Veolia Environment and its subsidiaries are involved in violations of international law and human rights and have a record of discriminatory practices in Israel and the OPT. Civil society organizations have been campaigning to encourage Veolia to cease from these practices. Nevertheless, the company continues its extensive involvement in the occupation of Palestinian Territories and its blatant disregard of ethical guidelines and international standards of social corporate responsibility.

Rights organizations remind Haaglanden of its legal obligations
Dutch rights organizations sent a fact file and a legal opinion to Haaglanden about Veolia’s activities in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. In the legal opinion, Dutch Attorney Phon van den Biesen reminds Haaglanden that Veolia has become complicit in Israel’s ongoing violations of international law through its involvement in Israeli projects in the occupied West Bank.

States are under an obligation not to render aid or assistance to such violations and to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law. The legal obligation also applies to state bodies, including municipalities and regional administrative councils. Van der Biesen argues that companies involved in Israel’s violations of international law should not be “rewarded” with public contracts of State bodies. Moreover, if a municipality decides to ignore its duties and award a contract to such a company, it will be vulnerable to be held legally liable by parties who suffered damages from these violations of international law.

However, a spokesperson from Haaglanden has claimed that there was no need to exclude Veolia from bidding, because the information presented to them is “one-sided.”

A Different Jewish Voice and legal expert criticize Haaglanden’s position
Jaap Hamburger, chairperson of A Different Jewish Voice who participate in action to end Veolia’s role in Haaglanden’s public transport, commented: “It is too easy to call it ‘one-sided’ information. The qualification doesn’t impress me as sincere or even professional, as it is a totally unspecified reproach first of all. Furthermore, the information is well researched, extremely factual and comprehensive and sources are referred to in footnotes throughout the article. Haaglanden has huge legal and financial responsibilities towards the public. It is neglecting what it is supposed to do as a civil service body, to at least examine the information assembled, to prevent contracting with a dubious partner and possible future damage to the public cause.”

Dr. Jeff Handmaker, Senior Lecturer in Law, Human Rights and Development at Erasmus University’s International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague commented: “It’s unfortunate of Mr. Veenman [spokesperson for Haaglanden] to dismiss the position of these respected organizations as a ‘one-sided position’. In fact, it is the very same position of the Hague Municipality, which is obliged to ensure respect for international law, including the laws of war. The Haaglanden regional government should be proud to host the ‘City of Peace and Justice’ [The Hague], that is home to the International Court of Justice. In 1907, this city hosted an historic conference that led to the Hague Convention respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land. It is well documented that the government and military of Israel have violated the Hague Convention in numerous respects, the gravest of which amount to war crimes, and that the Veolia Corporation has been directly complicit in these violations. It would be a shame if the City of Peace and Justice also became complicit in these violations and allowed Haaglanden to award the tender to Veolia. The Hague and Haaglanden should not only set a good example as a matter of principle; they are required to do so as a matter of law.”

First published at The Electronic Intifada.

AUTHOR: Adri Nieuwhof
URL: http://www.samora.org
E-MAIL: a.nieuwhof [at] samora.org

Veolia subsidiary Connex operates bus lines to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank (Photo: Anne Paq/ActiveStills)

Dutch and Palestinian human rights organizations are calling for the Dutch regional administrative council of Haaglanden — whose major city is The Hague — to exclude Veolia Transport from bidding for a bus contract, because of the firm’s role in projects that strengthen Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank such as the Jerusalem Light Rail and the Tovlan landfill. 

Call on Haaglanden to end its business with Veolia
Dutch rights organizations A Different Jewish Voice and United Civilians for Peace (UCP) sent a joint letter, a fact file and a legal opinion to Haaglanden about Veolia’s activities in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The organizations argued that Veolia should be excluded from the public tender, and that under no circumstances should it be awarded the contract to operate the public transport in Haaglanden. Yet so far, Haaglanden officials are refusing to change their policy, claiming that the information presented to them is “one-sided.”

UCP was founded by four major Dutch non-governmental organizations IKV Paxchristi, Oxfam Novib, Cordaid and ICCO. An English translation of the 12-page fact file on Veolia’s activities was published today by A Different Jewish Voice, as well as the legal opinion of Attorney Phon van der Biesen (in Dutch).

The fact file provides useful up-to-date information for activists involved in the international Derail Veolia Campaign.

The Hague: A city of peace and justice?
Palestinian human rights group Al Haq also called on Haaglanden “to reconsider its association with the Veolia Group’s businesses and to immediately exclude Veolia Transport Nederland from the public transport tender”. Al Haq said in a press release:

Participation of a company with a disputed reputation and involvement in illegal activities in the [occupied Palestinian territories] in The Hague’s public transport tender is particularly problematic, due to the city’s reputation as the “International City of Peace and Justice.” Commenting on the issue, Al-Haq Director Shawan Jabarin stated: “How can the city of The Hague consider allowing its citizens and employees of international institutions, courts and tribunals tasked with contributing towards peace and justice world wide, to make use of a public transportation service which is operated by a company involved in violations of international law?

Veolia’s complicity in Israeli violations of international law
Veolia’s role in the Jerusalem Light Rail which connects West Jerusalem with illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem is well-documented as is its role in Tovlan Landfill in the Jordan Valley where waste is dumped from settlements and municipalities in Israel; in the operation of bus services to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank; and in the treatment of sewage from the settlement Modi’in Illit.

In “Time to hold Veolia to account,” Daniel Machover and I wrote about the Jerusalem Light Rail:

Israeli settlements in the OPT and the annexation of East Jerusalem are illegal under international law. Numerous UN resolutions and the 2004 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on Israel’s wall in the West Bank have confirmed this. The settlements violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention — which states “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” — as well as Article 53 forbidding destruction of property. In some cases in East Jerusalem these violations amount to war crimes, i.e. “grave breaches,” as they involve extensive appropriation of Palestinian property not justified by military necessity (see Articles 146 and 147 of the convention).

These grave breaches are being facilitated by Veolia’s part in the construction and future operation of the tramway serving the settlements. The tramway also constitutes a significant alteration of the infrastructure of the OPT contrary to the Hague Regulations of 1907, Section 3, which Israel accepts as binding international law. Through its involvement in the building and future operation of the tramway linking Israel’s illegal settlements with West Jerusalem, Veolia is facilitating Israel’s grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and is complicit in its perpetuation of those actions. In other words, Veolia is involved in aiding and abetting ongoing war crimes. It is also facilitating, exacerbating, aiding and abetting Israel’s breach of the Hague Regulations.

Many municipalities have already shunned Veolia
The fact file on Veolia sums up the city councils which adopted motions on the exclusion of Veolia from bidding for public contracts. In addition, the file lists the contracts Veolia lost in towns where Palestine solidarity activists campaigned against the company because of its involvement in Israeli violations of rights of the Palestinian people.

European law in fact empowers local municipalities to take such actions. It states that “any firm may be excluded from participation in tender competitions who has been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authorities can justify” (Article 45 of Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and Council of 31st March 2004). This directive on the co-ordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public services contracts provides the basis for such activism. EU member states have the obligation to implement European law in their national laws as is the case in the Netherlands.

Region Haaglanden dismisses “One-sided information”
Today, I called Jan Willem Veenman, spokesperson for Haaglanden, to learn if the administration received the documents from Al Haq, A Different Jewish Voice and UCP. He confirmed receipt, but informed me that “at the moment there was no reason to change the procedure on the basis of one-sided information.”

The Hague is the International City of Peace and Justice, after New York the second city of the United Nations, according to the city’s website. “There are 131 international organisations in The Hague, employing around 14,000 people dedicated to the cause of world peace. As far away as Sarajevo, Nairobi and Kabul, the name ‘The Hague’ represents hope: hope for millions of people that the crimes perpetrated against them will not go unpunished. Hope for a peaceful future.”

The PLO, the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions National Committee -– representing over 170 civil organizations -– Kairos Palestine, and Al Haq have clearly protested Veolia’s role in crimes Israel perpetrated against the Palestinian people.

The Hague should live up to its reputation of “City of Peace and Justice”. It cannot write off the information of rights organizations as “one-sided.” Instead, The Hague should make sure that Haaglanden will not award the seven-year bus contract to Veolia.

First published at The Electronic Intifada.

AUTHOR: Adri Nieuwhof
URL: http://www.samora.org
E-MAIL: a.nieuwhof [at] samora.org

The walk way is totally obstructed with dug up mud and sewage water flowing in the road makes it hard for the pedestrian and people passing by. Every day passing by, it stinks and unnecessarily drivers speeding up their vehicle splashing dirty water to the road side people or bike riders is the audacity of outcry. The KMC has been trying to work in expanding the sewage capacity there but at the cost of public suffering is wrong.

The laxity shown by the KMC is completely ignorant towards the tax payers. Reality of today when it come to spending and showing their image they come up with big campaigns like clean up Kathmandu and something like this that directly effects public health and hygiene they are silent and ignorant about the issue. May be we need to make our Prime minister walk through the road and only then things will change.

AUTHOR: Shreedeep Rayamajhi
URL: http://www.rayznews.com
E-MAIL: weaker41 [at] gmail.com

President Jakaya Kikwete

The call by President Jakaya Kikwete for the Cooperative Unions to stop selling their housing property has raised eyebrows among the critics who say the same directive has to be sent to public institutions, which continue to sell public houses and prime areas relentlessly, despite a big segment of the public calling on the Government to halt the exercise.

The directive by President Jakaya Kikwete to halt the selling of property belonging to Cooperative Unions could be a step forward to reviving the once powerful institutions, but people are doubting its effectiveness if there are no tough laws to support the initiative.

But probably what might be seen as a contradictory stance is the fact that the same Government had allowed the negative trend of selling public houses and prime areas which has continued, despite a loud outcry from a big segment of the public, calling on the Government to halt this exercise. One wonders whether the call by President Kikwete was not a reaction, following the revelation from the Tanzania Federation of Cooperatives about selling their buildings far below the market value.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam at an event commemorating the International Year for Cooperatives, on Tuesday this week, Kikwete, who was the guest of honour at the occasion, said that this dubious practice, which has involved some senior leaders of TFC selling their buildings, may kill the cooperative unions forever.

“This ill-advised practice of selling cooperative buildings is an assassination of the sustainability of the federation to cope with a changing environment in the running of cooperatives, as it denies them income,” Kikwete said.

He said that the leaders of the cooperatives should adhere to their professional ethics in serving the majority of poor farmers across the country, while buildings are the main assets that can be used to get access to loans through various local financial institutions.

Kikwete added that these assets can be used as stepping-stones to assist farmers, but also they can be used as reliable sources of income by leasing them instead of selling them at such big losses.

Commenting on this sudden stance by the President, a senior lecturer in political science at St Augustine’s University of Tanzania, and a regular commentator, Prof Mwesigwa Baregu, said that he commends the President for this appeal but he is worried that it has come belatedly.

“The Government has the task of protecting its property, including buildings, but in this case one wonders at the lack of consistency, taking into consideration the fact that the same Government has allowed the sale of civil servants’ quarters, this is contradictory,” he remarked.

He reminded us that during the last General Election in 2010, President Kikwete had promised he would return servants’ quarters to the Government, but after assuming power for the second term he had stayed his hand without taking any serious measures, a sign that he might be facing resistance from certain Government officials, and probably other fellow party stalwarts.

Prof Baregu was saddened by the fact that, despite the abject poverty that the population are facing it could still sell its real estate, which in many cases consists of reliable assets for bonds, and many other meaningful values.

Shoutafrica.com also managed to interview another retired civil servant from the Tanzania Building Agency, one however preferring anonymity, who said that during his tenure in the agency there was never any plan to sell Government quarters, especially those in prosperous areas. But he was not surprised when this step was taken, because some political bigwigs had already indicated that they were in no way ready to surrender Government houses soon after their retirement.

In question, there has always been a house which the Third Phase President Benjamin Mkapa occupied for a number of years at Sea View, Upanga, while still in Government service, but had decided to inherit after his retirement. It is speculated that this move was what justified the sale of Government houses to other civil servants, some of whom had already retired but were still residing in these houses unlawfully.

The sale of these houses sparked a lot of criticism, due to the fact that even houses belonging to doctors in regional hospitals were sold, with the effect that whenever there are transfers new doctors are forced to rent, in areas which sometimes are unfriendly to them as if to squatters.

Dr Oswald Mashindano, from the Economic and Social Research Foundation, commented that the sale of any Government property must adhere to the guiding rules concerned. For that matter, if there is evidence that properties belonging to the Cooperative Unions have been embezzled, then stern legal measures must be taken against all the culprits.

“I am surprised to hear these outbursts from the President, because if you want these leaders (of cooperatives) to be clean, the top leadership must be clean in the first instance,” he concluded.

AUTHOR: Elias Mhegera (with guest writer Damas Makangale)
URL: http://mhegeraelias.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: mhegeraelias [at] yahoo.com

Hon. Justice Kedar Nath Upadhyay, Chairperson National Human Rights Commission, NEPAL, nhrc@nhrcnepal.org

Dear Chairperson of NHRC of Nepal,

Name of victims: Communities living in the slums alongside the banks of the Bagmati river, Kathmandu, Nepal

I am writing to voice my concern regarding the upcoming evictions of thousands of families living in the banks of Bagmati River. I am informed that no formal process involving the community was followed when the decision to evict them was made, in violation of international norms and standards and that the authorities have not made any plan to provide alternative housing opportunities to the affected families. Further I am concerned about reports that the police manhandled and verbally abused women, children and elderly people during protests against the eviction and that the government is deploying thousands of security personnel to conduct the eviction and fear that excessive force may be used against the families.

According to the according to the information I have received from the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), thousands of families living in the banks of the Bagmati river are facing eviction without having been provided any alternative housing. I am informed that the number of families potentially affected by the eviction is not certain yet as no definitive study have been conducted to estimate their number which may be as high as 23,000 according to the squatter organizations.

I am informed that for the last three years, the government has been announcing its attention to evict the communities living alongside the banks of the Bagmati river for development purposes. In November, the High-Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilization (HPCIDBC) directed the slum dwellers to leave their settlement within two weeks but did not offer them any alternative housing option. I am concerned to hear that after three ultimatums to the slum dwellers to evict the place, without providing them with alternative housing arrangements, a meeting on 4 December 2011 decided to resort to force to conduct the eviction. I am further concerned to hear that the head of the taskforce entrusted with conducting the eviction has since then announced in the media plans to deploy 3,000 police and armed police personnel to conduct the eviction.

Five slum dwellers’ organizations filed a writ petition to the Patan Appellate Court to suspend this decision. On 11 December 2011 the Appellate Court, Patan issued a stay order to the three District Administrative Offices of Kathmandu Valley, the Nepal Police and the HPCIDBC to suspend the eviction process until 17 January 2012. The court further ordered the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers to conduct an identification process of the “genuine” slum dwellers and to develop appropriate housing alternatives for them if they are to be evicted. On 27 January, the Supreme Court upheld the government decision to evict the slum dwellers but further ordered appropriate alternatives for them. Nevertheless, I am informed that the only alternative offered by the government is a three-month housing allowance for the few families identified as “genuinely” landless.

In interaction programmes with the representative of the slum dwellers organizations or with the media, the ministers have committed to develop suitable alternative solutions for the slum dwellers. In December 2011, the Minister for Land Reform and Management promised that the government was committed to “managing new places for slum dwellers”. Similarly the government has repeatedly pledged to form a high-level commission to solve the issues of the slum dwellers but such commission is yet to be established.

I know that the government’s plan to develop the banks of the Bagmati River has not included any provision to provide alternative housing options to the community, nor was the community consulted in the process leading to the decision to evict them. In public, the different government agencies are rejecting the responsibility for finding accommodation for the slum dwellers on each other. The government is offering to provide the landless with a three-month renting allowance but has not made any plan for relocation.

I am further informed that no proper research was done by the government to evaluate the situation in the slums, including to determine the number of children and elderly who would be affected by the relocation or to evaluate the poverty level of the community. In January the government launched a verification process to determine those who were “genuine” slum dwellers. To be considered “genuine landless slum dwellers” the inhabitants had to prove that they, their fathers and their children did not possess land and that they were not government employees. Around one thousand families only have so far gone through that process, as the majority of slum dwellers feared that the verification process was an attempt from the government to portray them as abusers and to justify their eviction without further process.

Further, I am told that the community has not received any formal notification of the eviction. Instead, the community was informed that they had to evacuate the river within one week through an announcement in the newspapers. This communication does not follow any due process as established in internationally accepted norms and standards such as the UN Basic principles and guidelines on development-based evictions and displacement.

Those basic principles further state that the affected community must be involved in every stage of the decision-making process. This has not been the case here.

The slum dwellers have organized themselves in a National Squatter Forum and have organized protests against the eviction without appropriate solutions. In January 2012, they have forwarded a letter to the Home Minister Gachchhadar and to the head of the High-Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilization and of the taskforce, Mahesh Basnet, urging them to develop a relocation plan in accordance with international standards.

A report by The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition reports that the National Squatter Forum’s request for the government to collectively plan for eviction were “met with continuing harassment and police brutality”. I further know that on 17 January, more than 400 persons were arrested for having taken part in the protests organized the previous day. At around 4 am the same morning almost 7, 8 hundred policemen thronged into the slum area in police vans and trucks and arrested every person they found in front of them. The children and elderly people were also manhandled and pushed into police trucks. According to the same information police arrest and manhandling continued for about 4 to 5 hours. After the arrest they were detained in different police detention centers around Kathmandu valley.

I am appalled to learn that the women rights defenders who visited Maharajgunj and Tinkune police station reported that some of the detainees were injured and some women even fainted in front of them. All but 24 detainees were released within after 12 hours of arrest and detention. The police was planning to charge those 24 detainees under public offence but after pressure from national human rights organizations the government released them without any charge. The police further raided the homes of the leaders of the movement which forced them into hiding for several days.

In light of the above and keeping in mind that the government is resolute to use force against the slum dwellers and has announced the deployment of 3000 police and armed police personnel, I am concerned that excessive force may be used against the slum dwellers during the eviction process, putting in dangers the most vulnerable of them.

I further urge the government of Nepal to abide by the UN basic principles quoted above. In particular, I wish to recall that the principles mandate that “evictions should not result in individuals being rendered homeless or vulnerable to the violation of other human rights. The State must make provision for the adoption of all appropriate measures […] to ensure that adequate alternative housing, resettlement or access to productive land […] is available and provided”. I therefore urge the government of Nepal to develop appropriate housing alternatives, in consultation with the community. A thorough assessment of the affected families’ socio-economic situation and specific needs must be conducted beforehand.

I further call for the respect and the protection of the work conducted by human rights defenders in defending the community. An investigation must be launched into the allegations of excessive use of force toward the protesters, including elderly and children.

AUTHOR: William Nicholas Gomes
URL: www.williamgomes.org
E-MAIL: williamgomes.org [at] gmail.com