Iranian Insanity

The Onion is satire as the piece below shows. Above is a screen shot from Al Jazeera .

" CHARLESTON, WV—According to the results of a Gallup poll released Monday, the overwhelming majority of rural white Americans said they would rather vote for Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than U.S. president Barack Obama. “I like him better,” said West Virginia resident Dale Swiderski, who, along with 77 percent of rural Caucasian voters, confirmed he would much rather go to a baseball game or have a beer with Ahmadinejad, a man who has repeatedly denied the Holocaust and has had numerous political prisoners executed, than spend time with Obama. “He takes national defense seriously, and he’d never let some gay protesters tell him how to run his country like Obama does.” According to the same Gallup poll, 60 percent of rural whites said they at least respected that Ahmadinejad doesn’t try to hide the fact that he’s Muslim."

The full Al Jazeera article

" Iran's semi-official Fars news agency has apologised to its readers for republishing - as fact - a fake news article by the US satirical website the Onion.

Fars on Friday picked up the story about a supposed survey showing an overwhelming majority of rural white Americans would rather vote for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, than Barack Obama, the US president.

But the story was made up, like everything in the just-for-laughs newspaper, which is headquartered in Chicago.

Are we living on totally different planets ? Well yes. Nothing to argue about with regard to the stereotyped rural American other than to note it is a stereotype. That the stereotype is total fiction is actual the basis of the satire. What is ironic is that Fars are so ill informed that they ran with the story. That says a lot about Iran.  

The English-language service of Fars republished the story several days after it appeared in the Onion.

"Unfortunately an incorrect item was released on our website on Friday which included a fake opinion poll on popularity rate of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and US President Barack Obama,"  the news agency’s editor in chief was quoted as saying on the Fars website.

"The news item was extracted from the satirical magazine, the Onion, by mistake and it was taken down from our outlook in less than two hours.

"Although it does not justify our mistake, we do believe that if a free opinion poll is conducted in the US, a majority of Americans would prefer anyone outside the US political system to President Barack Obama and American statesmen," he added.

Oh... really ? I guess that would be like the free opinion polls conducted in Iran. Or is Fars being satirical are they talking about  Obama  Ahmadinejad ? Sedition comes in many forms. I actually suspect that is not the case  and Fars will look like total idiots after the US election. Lets face it they are total idiots right now. 

'Other blunders'

The Fars apology article then continued by citing a number of blunders by other news outlets.

The Iranian version of the Onion article copied the original word-for-word, even including a made-up quote from a fictional West Virginia resident who said he would rather go to a baseball game with Ahmadinejad because "he takes national defence seriously, and he'd never let some gay protesters tell him how to run his country like Obama does".

Oh dear....copied word for word. That sort of screws the other media outlets argument.  

Homosexual acts are punishable by death in Iran, and Ahmadinejad famously said during a 2007 appearance at Columbia University that "in Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country".

The Iranian version of the article leaves out only the Onion's description of Ahmadinejad as "a man who has repeatedly denied the Holocaust and has had numerous political prisoners executed".

The story appeared to have been taken down by about mid-day, Chicago time.

The Onion reveled in the fact that it had been taken seriously.

Well not quite word for word I guess the editor had enough of a brain to know what would end up with him getting a bullet in the head. Yet he ran with the story and I struggle to believe that he could be so naive. 

Will Tracy, the editor of the Onion, put out a tongue-in-cheek statement that referred to Fars as "a subsidiary of The Onion" that has acted as the paper's Middle Eastern bureau since it was founded in the mid-1980s by Onion publisher T Herman Zweibel.

Why not it is comedy gold.

"The Onion freely shares content with Fars and commends the journalists at Iran's Finest News Source on their superb reportage,'' Tracy said in jest.

It is not the first time a foreign news outlet has been duped by the Onion.

In 2002, the Beijing Evening News, one of the Chinese capital's biggest newspapers, picked up a story from theOnion that claimed members of Congress were threatening to leave Washington unless the building housing them underwent a makeover that included more bathrooms and a retractable dome."

I guess what is worrying is that they can't distinguish between a genuine news story and a piss take even worse one published in a site known only for piss takes. Is it any wonder we have issues with the muslim world view when it is so out of touch with the west. 

Updated Have a read of Kiwipolitico.

The Auckland International Boatshow

Tanzania being set up to fail

New Times ( Rwanda ) reports

UN should fund Congo peace efforts – Museveni

A group of officers who are part of the ICGLR joint verification team in DRC. President Museveni says UN should support the new peace process in the Congo. The New Times / File.


Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has called on the United Nations to fund the operations of the proposed 4,000-strong neutral international force to enable it to pacify eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Museveni is the current chairperson of the International Conference on the Great Lakes (ICGLR), a position held on a rotational basis among all the eleven member states.

Interesting to remember that just two weeks ago the Ugandan Foreign minister was declaring no confidence in the UN. 
In a meeting with journalists at his country home in Rwakitura on Monday, Museveni said that he had sent a delegation to lobby for the funding at the UN General Assembly.

“If they fund it, I believe the Tanzanian army can do the job like we have done the job in Somalia. I don’t think the groups in DRC are more dangerous than the Al Shaabab,” he said. Tanzania has offered to contribute troops to the neutral international force. During Heads of State and Government Summit in Kampala early this month, other ICGLR member states were urged to make a similar commitments within one month. The humanitarian situation remains dire in eastern DRC, with over 226,000 people displaced in North Kivu alone in the past several months while over 57,000 Congolese have crossed into Rwanda and Uganda.

That is interesting the AU force has become Tanzanian force I would say reading between the lines. Equally interesting is Alex Engwete blog of yesterday.

" Burundi and Rwanda are now (and have always been) true, and even
conjoined, twins when it comes to wreaking terror, instability, and
pillage in eastern Congo.
And this association has now hatched yet another devious scheme against the DRC.
But, uncannily, with Congolese aiding and abetting!
Sources in the Force de la Défense Nationale du Burundi (FDNL), the
Burundian army, tell me about their frustration at not being able to
put a stop at the vast-scale conspiracy now unfolding in South Kivu."

Alex goes further

At any rate, here's how those sources presented to me the new Rwandan
(and Burundian) strategy:

1) Congolese intelligence agents and assets in South Kivu Province,
especially Uvira and all across the Ruzizi Plain, are in the pocket of
Burundian intelligence;

2) Burundian intelligence agents and assets are in the pocket of
Rwandan intelligence;

3) A massive recruitment drive of combatants is underway in Rwandan
and Burundian refugee camps sheltering Congolese Rwandophones;

4) New recruits have all had some military training or familiarity with weapons;

5) Combatants are then escorted into the DRC by Rwandan military advisors;

6) Some of these combatants are now in the Rubumba hills above the
city Luberizi, and, aping Congolese armed groups, call themselves
"Mai-Mai Obed" (after their leader who's named Obed, a former RCD
officer);

7) In the night of Monday, September 17, Mai-Mai Obed successfully
launched an attack on the FARDC proving ground of Luberizi, looting
the arms depot and killing one soldier (an attack confirmed by a
report filed by Radio Okapi on September 18); and

8) The idea is to spread those "foco groups" inside DRC to stir or to
create "foyers of armed tensions" by setting up fake Mai-Mai groups,
as one of the officers summed up the strategy.

Now remember that both Rwanda and Burundi both sit on the ICGLR and are part of the JVM ( Joint Verification Mechanism ) yet,and I have no reason to doubt Alex or rather his sources, both Rwanda and Burundi are undermining the AU mission. So we appear to have a plan to nuliffy the AU / Tanzanian force before it takes the field.   

Back to New Times

In his message to ICGLR Heads of State Summit, held in Kampala, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said the UN stands ready to provide support in cooperation with the African Union, regional and international partners.

The problem is that the UN looks to be supporting an inititive that seems to be being set up to fail. I think funding this might well be a waste of money. Remember the UN is all ready spending around $5 million a day trying to keep a lid on things.

He encouraged bilateral and regional level dialogue aimed at finding a lasting solution by addressing the underlying causes of the conflict.

ICGLR Heads of State will meet again in Kampala early next moth to review progress on the implementation of the decis(ions) taken during the previous summit.

The bottom line is that Tanzania should they decide to become the leading military in the AU force will not face a situation like the situation Uganda did in Somalia. The expansionist ambitions of Kilgali are focused on the Eastern DR Congo and until Kilgali alters its gaze. 

Eunuchs live longer

Stolen from DPF over at Kiwiblog

Living longer isn’t everything

September 26th, 2012 at 9:00 am by David Farrar

Stuff reports:

In the industrialised world, women live at least five years longer, on average, than men.
Scientists have attributed that difference to everything from healthier habits to hardier cells.
Now, a new study that analyses the longevity of eunuchs, or castrated men, suggests that testosterone may play a part in shortening men’s lives.
The idea that testosterone, the male sex hormone, affects lifespan isn’t new.
Neutered dogs and other animals that have had their sources of testosterone removed often live longer than their intact counterparts.

For me, I go for quality of life over quantity!

Hard to argue with. Boat show means that there may be some wholesale content theft over here. 

More from Virunga National Park

Stolen from LuAnne

Two Rescued Baby Gorillas in One Week

September 24th, 2012 by LuAnne

24 Sep 2012 Filed under (Gorilla Orphans, Grauer's Gorillas, Poaching) by LuAnne @ 2:18 pm

Late Thursday evening a very small, frightened infant gorilla arrived at the park headquarters. She was dehydrated, hungry, and weak, and like any baby in that condition, she whimpered and cried. For this female baby, only 4 to 5 months old, it was the end of a 2-week trauma of captivity from her home in the forest to the city of Goma where she was rescued by Virunga and ICCN authorities.

The operation began when our Gorilla Sector warden, Innocent Mburanumwe, received a tip-off from local community members saying there might be a baby gorilla or chimp at a house in Goma. The sting operation went into effect. Posing as a buyer, a park contact went to the house to see what information he could gather. A man produced a small backpack with a baby gorilla inside that he was hoping to sell. His father-in-law, from the Walikale  mining region west of the park, had captured the baby and brought it to Goma on a motorbike.

The park officials immediately went into action. Following legal procedures, Virunga’s deputy park warden Norbert Mushenzi was accompanied by ICCN lawyer Mathieu Cingoro in order to confiscate the gorilla and arrest those involved in the poaching who were transferred to the court authorities. Gorilla poaching is considered a serious crime in Congo and can lead to a lifetime prison sentence.

Dr. Eddy and Dr. Martin with the Gorilla Doctors examined the baby in Goma, finding her to be quite dehydrated and hungry. He gave her a banana, an oral rehydration solution, and subcutaneous fluid. In the two hours that followed she ate 4 more bananas and later some baby formula and seemed more stable. She was then taken to the sanctuary at Virunga park headquarters.

This is the second baby gorilla to be confiscated and brought to the park headquarters in less than a week. The two gorillas will stay together in the lower enclosure to complete a 3-month quarantine with 24-hour care from 3 caretakers who are trained and experienced at taking care of orphan gorillas in both Congo and Rwanda. The newest baby has been named Baraka, meaning “blessing” in Swahili.

The two gorillas showed some interest in each other when they first met, but for the older gorilla, it seems as if she considers the younger one a competition for food and milk, often trying to grab the milk bottle or banana from the younger gorilla, and even throwing a tantrum once when she didn’t get a bottle too.

Both gorillas are Grauer’s, also known as eastern lowland gorillas. They live exclusively in eastern Congo, and their numbers have seen an incredible drop since 1995, placing them on the endangered list. Although no one knows for sure, estimates say they have dropped from 17,000 to as few as 4000. Walikale, where the gorillas were captured, is an insecure region where numerous armed groups compete for control over mines.

Keeping two new baby gorillas is an unforeseen expense for the park. If you would like to help us care for these gorillas over the next few months, please contribute in the One-time Open Donation section to the right of this blog.

Here are a few photos of the newest baby gorilla:

Dr Eddy Kambale with Gorilla Doctors, holding the 4-month old baby gorilla.

The caretakers each sleep with one of the gorillas at night and during naps.

Caretaker Kakule with the new baby.

The baby weighed 4.5 kilos on Friday.

Isangi (right), the 9-month old, saw Kakule feeding bottled milk to the baby and climbed to try to grab it.

Veterinarian Dr. Dawn Zimmerman with the Gorilla Doctors takes baby Baraka’s temperature. The vets will examine the baby more thoroughly when she is less stressed and comfortable with her environment.

Finning Sharks

Shark Alliance reports 

Close and Confusing Shark Finning Vote in Parliament 

 

Loopholes not widened, but not yet closed as battle moves to Plenary

19 September 2012

BRUSSELS - The European Parliament Fisheries Committee voted today in a puzzling and inconsistent manner on a suite of amendments that form their response to a European Commission proposal to strengthen the EU ban on shark “finning” (slicing off a shark’s fins and discarding the body at sea). Votes on most amendments passed or failed by a narrow margin and produced contradictory messages that both reject and support loopholes that hinder finning ban enforcement.

   

The Commission proposed last year to end the special permits that allow fishermen to remove shark fins on-board vessels.  Landing sharks with their fins attached is by far the simplest and most reliable way to enforce finning bans.  Spain and Portugal are the only EU Member States that still issue such permits.

Shark finning is a terrible practice. Either land the shark whole or leave it.

                                                       

Ms. Patrão Neves, MEP from Portugal, has been using her role as Rapporteur to fight against adoption of the Commission’s proposed improvements.  Today her attempt to widen loopholes in the finning regulation was defeated, but – in a contradictory move – MEPs adopted her proposed text suggesting exceptions for completely removing shark fins at sea.  In the end, most of her problematic amendments were rejected, but the lack of clarity in accepted language presents a threat to finalizing a strong finning ban.

                                                        Stolen from David Vogt  

It happens in New Zealand as David shows us.  despite being against the law.

" In New Zealand, it's perfectly legal to catch sharks, kill them, hack off their fins and dump their mutilated bodies overboard. The Ministry of Fisheries seems to think it has done enough just by setting quotas for how many sharks may be dispatched in this manner (the TACC for blue sharks alone is 1,860 tonnes!) and pointing out that you have to kill the shark before cutting off its fins or else you could face prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act – though live finning has been exposed in New Zealand in recent years."

The battle now proceeds to a Plenary session, most likely in the next few months.

The Shark Alliance strongly supports the European Commission’s proposal. 

So should we all.     

 

“We will continue to urge all MEPs to promptly remove all confusion in Plenary and clearly endorse a strict EU policy against removing shark fins at sea, without any more exceptions,” said Ali Hood, Director of Conservation for the Shark Trust, a founding member of the Shark Alliance.  

Excellent work at Virunga National Park

Emmanuel reports 

Gorilla Marketing in the Refugee Camps

Filed under (Alternative energy, Uncategorized) by Emmanuel @ 7:21 pm

Because of the war, there are now about 250,000 internally displaced people on the park boundary.  They desperately need fuelwood, and their only option is to go into the park and cut down the forest.  We have been trying to convince them to use fuel briquettes as a clean alternative.  But we have to convince them, and that’s not easy, but we’ve discovered a new form of marketing.  Guerrilla Marketing…

Definition as found in Dictionary.com

Main Entry:	guerrilla marketing
Part of Speech:	n
Definition:	any of a number of unconventional methods of marketing with minimal resources for maximumresults; any marketing campaign that uses non-mainstream tactics and locations
Etymology:	1982

… and this is what Balemba came up with:

Balemba, looking pretty.  Briquettes in one hand, energy efficient stoves in the other.  Potential customers all around.

The jury is still out as to whether it will work, but it did bring a few smiles to otherwise terribly stressed families.

As I have said many times the people of Virunga National Park are amazing

Waylaid Dialectic

This could become a must read.

" I’m a student. I used to work for an aid agency, and before that an NGO.

The Disclaimer

This blog is me jotting down my thoughts about international development. Needless to say, they are my thoughts alone and don’t reflect the opinions of the institute where I study or my previous employers.

The Important Disclaimer

I could be wrong. In fact I almost certainly am. Development is difficult and the odds of me being right when everyone else was wrong are vanishingly small. Please read the blog with this in mind."

                                     Not related in any way to the blog.

Will do.

More Bat Shit Crazy from Zimbabwe

The BBC reports

Synchronised toilet flush held in

 Zimbabwe's Bulawayo

Many residents of Zimbabwe's second city have simultaneously flushed their toilets, as part of an official attempt to prevent blocked sewage pipes.

Bulawayo Mayor Thaba Moyo told the BBC the "big flush" would keep pipes wet and so prevent them getting clogged up.

Local government it would seem provides entertainment the world over.

A severe drought and years of poor maintenance have meant Bulawayo residents often go without running water for three days at a time.

The first synchronised flush took place at 19:30 local time (17:30 GMT).

So more synchronised flushes to come.

'A joke'

Council workers had visited townships warning people that they risked a fine if they failed to take part.

Mr Moyo said the lack of water in the sewage pipes had already led some to burst.

Not sure how that works but I have always suspected that there is something in the Zimbabwe air that causes insanity and I guess bursting is the pipes equivalent although that would be insanitary.

Many of the city's million residents are believed to have flushed at the appointed hour.

No fines for them.

"I made sure my wife and children flushed the toilet at 19:30 to avoid blocking our own toilet. So far, the flushing of toilets was a success here in Cowdray Park township," one resident, human rights activist Dumisani Mpofu, said.

I kind of like the mental picture I have of Mrs Mpofu and the kids collectively flushing the toilet.

According to the Associated Press, the synchronised flush will now take place at the same time twice a week - on Mondays and Thursdays - though residents will of course be able to flush their toilets at other times too.

I wonder what they do for entertainment in Bulawayo on other days of the week.

The BBC's Thabo Kunene, in Bulawayo, says that most houses in the city, even in townships, do possess toilets which flush, unlike in many African countries.

But he says that due to a lack of water, many people have been using buckets of water instead.

Sensible approach if you think about. In a drought pore water into the sewage. 

The proposal has had a mixed reception in the city.

"Our leaders are a joke," said Petros Ncube. "What they should be doing is finding money from donors to buy new sewer pipes," he said.

Thank you Petros Ncube.

As you can see from the top image Zim dollars are not good for the pipes and unfortunately pretty much useless when it comes to buying new pipes as well 

Blow Jobs for China....

Strange stuff

Google Translation:
I am willing to give free blow jobs to those whom want to fight the Japanese devils for eight hours today

Any Chinese readers might want to confirm that that is what it says. Doesn't seem all that likely to me.

Hat Tip Not PC

The Anglo Saxon Fist or is America fisting us ?

The NZ Herald reports


US lifts ban on NZ navy vessels entering ports

In a key shift, the United States is lifting a ban on New Zealand navy vessels visiting US ports, and will remove obstacles to defence talks and exercises.
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the shifts in policy after talks with Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman in Auckland today.
Mr Panetta said the restrictions would be lifted in the interests of closer defence cooperation in the Asia Pacific.

In operational terms the only change is that NZ sailors now get to tie up at navy bases rather than the civilian ports and from a sailors point of view that is no advantage at all.
To put that in a NZ context would you rather be at Devenport or down town Auckland. It is a no brainer the booze and woman are far more available in the viaduct basin.

Neither side will change their stance on US ship visits to New Zealand, but Mr Panetta said the restrictions had been in place since the suspension of Anzus. He believed removing them could be made without affecting core tenets of US policy.

Core tenets of US policy ? What about NZ policy has it been effected ? The NZ Herald reports further

"...But it is a further embarrassing development for New Zealand authorities in the Dotcom case, in which a High Court judge has already found that search warrants used by police were invalid.

Council for Civil Liberties spokesman Thomas Beagle said the fact it had come to light because Dotcom's lawyers had flushed out the information was a concern, and showed stronger oversight was needed."

Hell we just can't wait to help the repressive arms of the American government to the extent that we have government agencies willing to break NZ law on their behest. Our independent foreign outlook is gone.

Currently waivers are required before New Zealand can take part in exercises or talks with the US.
Mr Panetta said the changes signified a "new era'' in the relationship.

 "..new era in the relationship." If the Argentina was to invade the Falkland  Islands I suspect we would be standing in line to send a frigate. There is nothing new here the Anglo Saxon Fist  is back. But for what ?


Dr Coleman said the nuclear free policy would remain unchanged but that did not mean the two countries could not have a strong defence relationship.
The shift sends the clearest indication yet that the two are determined to work around the stand off over the nuclear free policy.

Yes well not quite " gone by lunchtime " but Don Brash's ambitions for a vassal state status for NZ are being realised. 

Mr Panetta said he expected to see a New Zealand Navy vessel in a US port soon but it was up to New Zealand when that happened.

"While we acknowledge our countries continue to have differences of opinion in limited areas, today we have acknowledged we are embarking on a new course in our relationship that will not let those differences stand in the way of greater engagement on security issues."

Fuck yes. Important shit like down loading music, thats right, in a world that has immense security issues New Zealand has chosen to concentrate the resources of our intelligence agencies on fucking potential illegal music downloads. I fucking give up.

Ugandan Stuff Up

The Monitor  ( Uganda ) reports

Nakawa-Naguru land abandoned for rats, squirrels and policemen

                        A section of the Nakawa-Naguru estates. PHOTO BY EMMANUEL GYEZAHO 

Fourteen months ago, bulldozers arrived with a bang, knocking down homes and leaving in their trail wailing women and distraught family members at the Nakawa-Naguru estates, in Kampala.

These houses were supposed to be replaced with new flats- an estimated Shs750b investment was expected to be sunk into a project flaunted as one that would change Kampala’s skyline by creating two self-sustaining satellite towns.

Today, however, the 66-hectare Naguru-Nakawa estate has grown into bush-land and turned into a home for hoodlums, rodents and policemen. 

An interesting combination. I guess the police are close to their clients.

The government had argued that the houses were blighted and unfit for human habitation. But in a twist of fate, the police, who supervised the eviction of the tenants, some 1,750 families under the stewardship of Kampala Capital City Authority and at the behest of a presidential directive, have become new occupants at what is left of this rambling suburb. And here is how they are living.

Black polythene sheets, tarpaulin and several pieces of wood have been improvised to close broken windows and doors. Concrete frames of the ramshackle three-storeyed flats still hold the shape of what the police are more than happy to occupy and call home.

Makeshift bathrooms have been built. It is difficult to imagine how these law enforcement officers answer to nature’s call as what remains of functional toilet facilities is a conked-out sewer system.

A police source admitted that the personnel who live under these squalid conditions are servicemen and women deployed at the Central Police Station.

Sounds to me anyway, that the police in Uganda are getting a very rough deal.

Driving school instructors now ply their trade in this estate whose main road, Estate Road, is now a busy potholed short cut used by the public. Goats roam and graze freely in this estate whose bushes people now use to urinate and defecate.

But what could explain the glaring delay in executing this multibillion shilling project? Do the investors, Irish billionaire brothers, Brian and Luke Comer through their real estate development company, Opec Prime Properties Limited, whom government allocated the land lack money to start the project? Are they still interested in developing the project? Or has the proverbial curse that has plagued similarly hyped projects such as the Shimoni and Nakasero land giveaways obtained its latest victim?

By the sound of it yes. The Ugandan Observer detailed the demolition in January and details the terms.

" The contract does not state that any premium payment would be made to the government for the land, as is the normal practice. A local government official familiar with such arrangements told The Observer that normally, a premium fee based on the value of the land would be paid upfront. Over the life of the lease, the premium and the annual rent would add up to the value of the land. The official found it laughable that OpecPrime would pay only $990 over 99 years for land it values at $20 million at present."

Stranded: A former resident looks on as the Nakawa-Naguru estate is demolished

“Look at the bigger picture here, leave that micro thing. Uganda is not the best investment atmosphere. In order to attract investors, government sourced for international investors. Government brought land and the developer is bringing $300 billion. What is important is not the $10, but the huge investment that will span over 10 years,” Tendo says.

Except that it hasn't happened. The bigger picture is that a lot of people have been made homeless for no real benefit.

The government version of events is that a tedious process of titling the land into the names of the investors as well as dealing with issues surrounding compensation demands by former tenants and other investors who were reportedly leased parts of the land has bogged down the process of starting the project.

Officials at the Ministry of Local Government, the entity overseeing the project, told Sunday Monitor that the delay is “negligible” and the project will soon start.

Presumably alternative accommodation will be found for the police if not the hoodlums and rodents.

Acting Permanent Secretary Patrick Mutabwire, who confirmed reports that President Museveni recently issued a directive to have the site “expeditiously” handed over to the investors as well as an end to “speculation” over their financial muscle, declined to address himself to queries as to why the project has stalled.

“Call me at 10 o’clock on 3rd September and I will give you the entire story after we have finished our technical meeting on this project,” he said, before admitting: “The developers are showing us their development plans and time plans.”

Mr Simon Barigo, a former resident who was part of the 1,750 families forcefully evicted on July 4, 2011, said he was disappointed to see that “a lot of things have been happening but not in favour of sitting tenants”.

Mr Barigo doubled as the area local council chairman and has been leading a campaign for redress of former tenants. “We have heard that the developers actually don’t have money right now and are running around international banks looking for funding,” he said.

Sounds about right.

This newspaper could not independently verify that claim although officials at the Local Government ministry were quick to dispel the idea. By press time, Sunday Monitor was still waiting for a response from Opec Prime Properties, despite days of repeated calls and email inquiries.

Find a new developer and start again with a sensible contract $990 US for a 99 year lease means the current developer has no real risk to incentivise the  development.