Comments on: Wednesday Night #1347

By: Diana Thébaud Nicholson

Diana Thébaud Nicholson — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:35:51 +0000

Wednesday 2 January 2008
Nepal starting major road construction
A new road will help cut travel times in Nepal between capital Kathmandu and Terai. With this new road, the distance between Kathmandu and Tarai will be 82km, reducing travel time from the present six hours to just two. The Nepalese government has given its approval for the construction of the North-South Fast Track along the Bagmati river, with work starting in 2008. The North-South fast track road project is being supported by Asian Development Bank with a budget of US$310,000 for initial work. The process of contract bidding is now underway. This will be one of the 64 major projects Nepal’s Department of Roads (DoR) is launching, which will increase the length of strategic roads in the country by 2,300km to a total 7,330km. Of this, the DoR will invest an impressive $115 million, Nepal’s Army will contribute $5.3 million and the Road Board will provide $12 million. According to the DoR, other major projects include the Dharan-Katari-Hetauda road, the Dang-Rolpa-Rukum road, the Karnali Corridor road and the Gorkha-Kilo Barpak Road. Along with support from ADB and the World Bank, the governments of Japan, China, India and the UK are also keen to help Nepal construct more roads.

By: Diana Thébaud Nicholson

Diana Thébaud Nicholson — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:49:18 +0000

Riots Erupt Across Kenya as Rivals Declare Victory
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
NAIROBI, Kenya — With the results from Kenya’s closely contested elections still up in the air, riots erupted across the country on Saturday. Columns of black smoke boiled up from the slums ringing Nairobi, the capital, as supporters of Raila Odinga, the leading presidential challenger, poured into the streets to protest what they said was a plot by the government to steal the election.More
(BBC) Kenya’s knife-edge election result has been delayed amid chaotic scenes at the offices of the electoral commission.
There were scuffles at the counting centre in Nairobi as party rivals demanded recounts of Thursday’s vote, amid claims of rigging. Officials suspended the count until Sunday. The delays have already sparked violence and looting across Kenya. Details

By: JOE HUEGLIN

JOE HUEGLIN — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 11:52:47 +0000

THE FOCUS: REORGANIZATION OR MEETING CNSC CONDITIONS OF LICENSING
Health Minister Tony Clement appears to have not quite had his facts straight when he said concerning the resignation of Michael Burns as AECL Chairman: “I actually think this was just an interesting coincidence.” The Chairman’s resignation was unrelated to the crisis in the production of medical isotopes at the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) reactor. It was, however, the near completion of a more than year long reorganization of the Crown Corporation readying it for possible privatization.
The first step in the privatization process was the appointment of Burns in October 2006, which was done over the recommendations of the Nominating Committee of AECL’s Board of Directors, who had recommended Jean-Pierre Soublire. Soublire had been Acting Chair of the Board of Directors for (AECL) since October 20, 2005.Burns, a former fundraiser for the Canadian Alliance, was probably considered as more amenable to change than someone who had been on the Board of Directors of AECL since 1998.
Rather than concentrating on bringing the reactor up to the standards agreed upon when the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) approved the AECL application to renew the Chalk River Laboratories Site Operating Licence in July 2006 government focus was on restructuring AECL into “two divisions a commercial reactor business and Atomic Energy’s research and development operations.” Accomplished in October, 2007 it was seen by industry observers as a possible: “signal that the federal government is quietly preparing to privatize a portion of the crown corporation”.
On November 2, 2007 Robert Van Adel, AECL President and Chief Executive Officer, a staunch public spokesman about the success of his Corporation, retired half way through his term of office. Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn announced this decision in July.
On November 29th, before the isotope crisis, Chairman Burns resigned.Though the last step deemed necessary for reorganization is not yet in place. This is Bill C-63, the Nuclear Liability and Compensation Act, which received first reading on June 15, 2007, would limit the liability of a nuclear plant to a maximum of $650 million dollars; Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn by “coincidence” on November 29th launched “a strategy review of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to determine whether the maker of the Candu nuclear reactor needs to be restructured, a move industry observers say will likely lead to a partial privatization of the heavily subsidized Crown corporation.
The isotope crisis gave the choreographers of new directions for AECL the opportunity to appear to act decisively. On December 14th Chairman Burns resignation was announced as well as the appointment of his replacement as Chairman and that of a new CEO.
The events of December 14 were not as Clement said “an interesting coincidence” but rather what Maurice Burns has called “a clumsy piece of political [o]pportunism”. Burns’ resignation was being used as the opportunity to slip in a new management team.
Was a real crisis used to push the new Conservative government’s privatization plans? Perhaps the answer to this question is to be found in another coincidence: the publishing on December 15 of a column headlined “AECL served a purpose, now it’s time to sell it.”