can some people provide solutions or recomendations as to what we need to do. i have read some topics on this forum about the goodness or overall betterment of the islands. can someone explain it to me better.

some questions thought

1)Tourism - your thoughts on positive and negative

2)utilities in cabo verde - good/bad (should a foregin company own more than half of a country's resource)

3)foreign investment

4)politics and corruption (is there/not -if so how do we fix it)

5)other industries

6)stock market

[quote="vagabundo"]can some people provide solutions or recomendations as to what we need to do. i have read some topics on this forum about the goodness or overall betterment of the islands. can someone explain it to me better.

some questions thought

1)Tourism - your thoughts on positive and negative

2)utilities in cabo verde - good/bad (should a foregin company own more than half of a country's resource)

3)foreign investment

4)politics and corruption (is there/not -if so how do we fix it)

5)other industries

6)stock market[/quote

Henrique Vagaboundo always nice to hear from you. How do we improve Cabo Verde a great question.

I am not sure that I have the answers to your question.

I am sure that we have some great scientist who are qualified and are looking at the best way bring investments and other industries and the economist who are searching for the best stock market for the advancements and progress for the Nation of Cabo Verde.

Now your fourth question is dealing with some heavy stuff to say the least.

CORRUPTION? NOW THAT DEALS WITH MORAL PERVERSION AND DEPRAVITY WHICH HAS A LOT TO DO WITH HUMAN BEHAVIOR.

HOW DO WE STOP THAT AND MAKE THAT WRONG,RIGHT?

LET US ALL THINK ABOUT THAT.

HERE IS WHAT I WILL SUGGEST FOR OUR CONSIDERATION.

KEY WORD: [COMMONALITY] MEANING--- A SHARING OF FEATURES OR CHARACTERISTICS IN COMMON;POSSESSION OR MANIFESTATION OF COMMON ATTRIBUTES. THAT WILL HELP US TO OVERCOME EVIL AND A VILE WAY OF LIFE. NOW I SUPPOSE THE NEXT QUESTION IS HOW DO WE ACCOMPLISH THIS TASK. I AM SURE MANY PEOPLE HAVE MUCH TO SAY ABOUT THIS QUESTION THAT DEALS WITH MORALS THAT IS THE DISTICTION BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG. WHAT IS RIGHT CONDUCT?

I WILL WAIT TO READ WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY ON THIS SUBJECT.

LOOK UP THE WORD RIGHT.

I THINK WE HAVE SOME PEOPLE WHO ARE STRIVING TO BE RIGHT,BUT PERFECTION DEMANDS A LOT AND IT IS A STATE OF EVOLUTION.

BEFORE WE CONDEMN OTHERS LET US BEGIN WITH OURSELVES. LET US LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND ASK IN OUR MINDS. I THINK TO IMPROVE
CABO VERDE WE MUST IMPROVE OURSELVES.

THATS ALL FOR NOW.

MANU SALAH

1) Tourism can be good and bad, depending on how it is structured. If they keep looking out for themselves instead of the people, then CV is in trouble. So far that is precisely what they've been doing: give some foreign investor the keys to the house without checking with the people living in that house. They should instead promote a Policy that would allow the People to take full advantage of the tourism industry, protecting the future of CV at the same time.

2) No foreign company should control ANY "utility" in CV. Those are as essential as the oxigen, therefore they should be controlled by the government. However a foreign or national could invest some money into any of those companies, should they present a clear plan allowing the people to benefit from their investment. CV should also allow anyone to invest in the same fields, creating competing enterprises.

3) Foreign investment is good as long as the profit doesn't go back directly where it came from. Indeed at least part of the profit should be reinvested in the infrastructure. They should contribute to education and the social life.

4) That my friend is a veru difficult topic. Remember, in CV being in politics in most cases equates to: the easiest way to get rich. I remember back in 1993-94, I asked the then Prime Minister Veiga why we did not have a law peventing politicians from robbing the State. The answer was that they had such a project but there was considerable opposition. Should I remind everyone that His Party was at the time controlling everything in CV, the legislative, executive, I mean EVERYTHING? So to say that these people are corrupt is a pleonasm and the answer would probably be in an INDEPENDENT comitee that would check every public servant's posessions every year to ensure that he is not doing ANYTHING illegal. While we're at that we should also investigate retroactively all the retired ones.

5) Any industries should be encouraged to invest in CV, but before they do so a book should be handed to them. The book would explicitly show them the dangers of bringing Pedophilia, (more) Corruption, etc to our shores. As I wrote above, they should also contribute to better the education in CV. And talking about education it is about time that our government start promoting the education a little better. Indeed how many more lawyers do we need? We need more scientists, in every department, we need more specialised Doctors so that we don't need to send our sicks to the US or Europe every time our doctors don't understand or can't diagnose a disease. We need a National debate on education.

6) Stock Market is probably not something the average Jose is ready for. So maybe we should first educate the people on the benefits and dangers of the stock market. Anyone heard of the 1929 stock market crash?

Frutuoso

Manu dearest,

It's just as nice to read you, which I do every time I can.
N ta desejau um excelente Ano Novo tambe.

I do not support any party. My support goes to the people. Truth be told, I do not know all the Constitution, although sometimes I happen to think that we should change it and go into a new Republic. Ours is a carbon copy of the Portuguese Constitution for all I know. I used to vote MPD when I lived in France (member #4) but when I saw my country being given back to the Tugas I saw red. I was angry. How could they dishonor the memory of Cabral by selling the country the way they did, sem vergonha? How could they do the very same thing they accused the PAIGC/CV of doing, which is robbing the State?

I have no party, my party is the people. I just hope that whoever is governing, a good job will be done. I have to admit, Ze Maria seems to be a man of honor.

But if I had the power to influence the policies in CV, I certainly would favor the opening of selected investors in some areas. Back in 1994 I had a discussion with Veiga where I submitted to him the idea of chosing an Island and make it an industrial zone free. Investors would be invited to install factories or other job creating industries. In return they would pay lower taxes for X amount of years. To avoid seeing them leave for other shores the government or the people would have to invest some money to have a say or the penalties would be so heavy that they wouldn't think about that. The answer of course was a political one, very evasive.

See my brothers, CV just like the rest of Africa could very easily become auto suficient. Al we need is: WATER. Water to keep the people and the animals alive, water for the agriculture, water for the hygiene, etc... So instead of asking for help to build stadiums, shouldn't we send negotiators to the rich nations to ask for help building desalinators everywhere? Water is at the epicenter of our life, the most important component of everything on Earth, yet they won't.

Any way you look at it, we should first solve that problem and thing about the rest after. Because of a lack of water the agricultors are leaving for the city.

No water=No agriculture. No agriculture=Food import. Food import=Unnecessary expenses. Unnecessary expenses=Less money for education & health. Less money for education & health=Poorer people. Poorer people=Easy to govern. Easy to govern=Politicians can do whatever they wish. So my question is: why would they bother?

Brothers if WE in the Diaspora, do not act, CV will be what it is today and what it was yesteryear. A nation of ASSISTED people.

Deus fica ku nhos tudo,

Frutuoso

I am with you. Lets wait and see what wise and prudent decision that will be made. It is going to be a difficult task and it is going to cost a great deal of money to put enough Desalination plants. I have spoken about the water issue,I hope we can overcome this problem for all the reasons you have stated. The old saying water water everywhere but not a drop to drink.Perhaps the weather pattern will change and we will get the kind of raining season and mother nature will solve the problem.

Let me ask a dumb question. In terms of agro-industrial. Is it possible to rent or buy farm land in other countries and ship food back to Cabo Verde and process the food in Cabo Verde. We have so many CV's living out side of Cabo Verde could not co-opts be a means of production. I can't believe I said that. Well we will just have to wait and see.

This is not a dumb question, in fact it is a very intelligent question/suggestion. I believe it has been done or at least the idea floated in the air. If I'm not mistaken, CV had some talks or agreement with Benin or some other country in that sense. So it is a pretty good idea that we should support and promote.

I don't believe that ANY country would refuse to help an humanitarian cause. Would they refuse to save lives? No. So why not have a team study the possibilities of installing those plants everywhere and then send emissaries to Washington, Paris, London, Berlin, etc?

That is one way of solving our problem. I believe another way would be to install huge pots on the mountains. They would get very hot during the day and cold at night. The condensation would give us all the water we need. Simple, cheap and faisable.

But do they have the desire to do that? Remember it's easier to govern uneducated people. What to do? Trust blindly the government? Or should we, the Diaspora try to have a say in the political arena in CV? After all we contribute to the well being of not only our family and friends but we also feed the bank accounts of the politicians. Benefactors, that's what we are.

I just wish the politicians could listen to all of us. Maybe they would change their ways. Here's hoping that it will happen. Better yet, I suggest we invite them to an open discussion about the future of CV and the way they treat us.

I sometimes wonder if some among us don't suffer from this terrible disease I call the Intellectual Priapism. Always erect but incapable of any pleasure, so busy trying to show our "Arian superiority". Lots of bla-bla, no action.

Frutuoso

Some politicians in many third world countries go to College in the Industrialized countries, read books written by people who never understood the real problem of the less developed countries. but have access to alot of data collected in those industrialized countries. That is, all they depend on are data available, scientific research done in those countries, in addition to philosophies that applies to those countries but rarely applies to less developped countries.

No wonder why so many Doctors look stupid in front of remedies done in poor countries to cure difficult desease, but always question the usefulness of these remedies.

No wonder why social scientists never understand why many social phenomenon happen in so many countries but don't happen the same way in Industrialized countries.

No wonder why the economy of Cape Verde has never been fully understood by any other Industrialized Country economists why we develop so quickly after the Independence like none of neighboring countries.

A German economist who spent time to study African Development, gave a very particular name for the process of economy of CV, but couldn't provide data to classify it because it doesn't fit in any model already known so far. It is just similar.

There is a tremendous lack of studies (understandable) in these countries in order to find or to create models that will adjust best to the economy of those 3rd W countries.

I had a professor who had data from many countries including the trend of population growth, Gross income per individual, development, foreign currency while applying Malthusian theory for development, but couldn't figure out what happens to countries like CV.

In any way, CV looks successful in their effort to develop while just the politicians take the credit.

WE need to demand that independent group have studies done to make data available to better understand the process. Who is doing what? Which is the participation share in the process of Develpment?

To me, the best thing that has been done for the people of Cape Verde so far since its Independence is:

DAM!!! BARRAGEM!!

That is conservation of what we lack : Water
That is to prevent dying from hunger
That is to stop immigration to the larger urban centers
That is to tie people to their land and produce
That is to diminish import of food to the people of CV
That is creating certain level of Independence and help farmers contribute more to the development of the country.


Did you wonder why most of the immigrant come form the countryside?

Because politicians do not invest in poor people of the country. They build infrastructures( ponte na avenida cidade de lisboa, palacios, digo assembleia, do governo, carros de luxo, mansoes de palmarejo, zonas urbanas sofisticadas ) that benefits the city where they, their friends and relatives live.

So let's hope that this is a start.

Cabrala

My dear Cabrala,

Nice to read you. I think that the best way to summarize the success of CV is: IMMIGRATION. Let's give credit where it is due. The CV Diaspora has kept the country afloat all these decades yet nobody's thinking about creating the "Ordem Nacional do Emigrante".

Let's break down the process: CV becomes independent, help pours from rich nations in addition to the immigrants remittances. The country is doing better but there's so much to do and with the government doing a poor job, it still difficult for many people, to have a decent life.

Enter the new government. Lots of promises, not much accomplished. Politicians get richer and richer and the gap between the social classes gets bigger. In the meantime the international aid is becoming scarce, however the people is doing OK. There's some foreign and immigrant investments, lots of dirty money coming in. The standard of living is raised every year. Politicians take credit for that and forget that if not for us the Diaspora, CV would cease to exist.

So the success of our economy rests, for the most part on our shoulders. We built CV, and if the government had participated a little better we'd be in a far better position.

To me there's no secret as to why we're doing well. Simple, while we were sending goods and money to feed our loved ones the government didn't have to worry about creating social programs, helping the poor and needy, etc... Their only obligation was to develop the country, which they should've done better. But let's hope that 10 or 20 years from now we will no longer be debating about this.

Frutuoso

By becoming a united immigrant community instead of leting politics divide us, and see Cape Verde as our own house instead of living by political colors.

Greedy Politicians and their fanatic supporters are some reasons Cape Verde is still under-developed. All they look for are their personal interests and satisfy their thirst for power. They really don't care about the well-being of the Ze Povinho.

By becoming a United People.