Stories about Development from April, 2008
Libya: Roads Mess
“Lately I have been wasting huge amounts of time driving around town looking for roads that are not blocked due to all the demolition and roadwork. It's becoming extremely frustrating,” admits Khadija Teri, from Tripoli, Libya.
Poland: Warsaw Notes
Scatts writes about Poland's capital at Polandian: “Thanks to either greed, bad planning, ineffective regulations or a combination of all three, Warsaw is slowly becoming a city hidden behind gigantic advertisements.” On 20 East, Scatts posts pictures and describes the route of a “favorite Warsaw walk.” Both entries feature the...
China: Netizens defend Zimbabwe arms sales
As China's latest shipment of weapons and ammunition sits stranded off the coast of southeastern Africa and president Mugabe of landlocked Zimbabwe digs in against accusations of a fixed election, the majority of Chinese netizens are defending their government's arms sales to the country, at the same time accusing the US and its allies of double standards.
Bulgaria: “Options for the Disabled”
Maya Markova of Maya's Corner writes asks for help in finding a suitable institution for one disabled young woman – and describes the overall situation in Bulgaria: “After the BBC exposed the shocking conditions in Bulgarian institutions for abandoned disabled children and our European partners began to exercise much needed...
Albania: “Albanosphere”
Douglas Muir of A Fistful of Euros posts a new installment on the “Greater Albania” – an extensive overview of the myths and facts about the “Albanosphere.”
Trinidad & Tobago, Bahamas: Rising Food Prices
KnowProSE.com blogs about the reality of rising food prices in Trinidad and Tobago, while Craig Butler at Bahama Pundit connects the rising price of food to the level of poverty in the Bahamas.
Guyana: Back to the 50s
Guyana Providence Stadium posts a series of photos by Godfrey Chin of 1950s Guyana (you'll have to look in the blog's April archives, as there is no photoset) – including this one of a small section of a Carnival band: “Note the copper hand-beaten copper craft armour…”
Afghanistan: Farmers Displaced in Balkh Province
Mohammad Fahim reports that dry spring, which shattered arable lands and increased the food prices, forced hundreds of farmers to leave their homes in agricultural Balkh province in order to survive.
Georgia: Dubai of the Black Sea
Registan comments on news that the United Arab Emirates plans to invest $100 million in Poti. With Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili promising to turn the port into a Eurasian Dubai, the blog wonders if this means foreign companies will move in to make a killing before finally leaving when new...
Zimbabwe: Play your liberation songs at high volume
Zimbabwe Independence Day Message: “Actions: Create your own ways of taking back Independence Day. * Switch off ZBC/TV. * Don’t buy state controlled newspapers. * Play your own liberation songs at high volume. * Write a letter to the editors of local and regional newspapers . . .”
Burkina Faso: Vegetarians need not apply
As much as Ouagalais love political intrigue, most people are much more preoccupied with the power cuts that have afflicted the city for the past five weeks or so. First, a galet poussoir, which translates as a roller tapet, failed at one of the city’s main power stations, forcing Sonabel, the local power company, to schedule rolling blackouts throughout the city every day for more than a week until someone was sent to France to pick it up a new piece.
Russia: Chechnya Photos
LJ user mnog posts photos from Chechnya: Grozny; Terek-CSKA football game (and the first anniversary of Ramzan Kadyrov's inauguration); Shali, Argun, Makhkety.
Haiti, Congo, and the politics of hunger
Two francophone bloggers respond to the crisis over rising food prices, but rather than blame their proximate cause–subsidies for biofuels in rich countries–they criticize the politics and the politicians who left their countries this vulnerable to begin with. They write that the riots of these last few weeks and the riots to come, like the crisis itself, are symptomatic of deeper problems that cannot be solved by the simple magic of foreign aid.
Cuba: Exit Permits On The Way Out
The Cuban Triangle links to a report that says “the requirement that Cubans obtain an exit permit (tarjeta blanca) from their own government before traveling abroad, will soon disappear for nearly all Cubans.”
China: Boomtown Beijing
Onemanbandwidth introduced a documentary “Boomtown Beijing” by Siok Siok Tan. The film gave more background on the social psychology at the center of a rising state.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Tuzla
Pure Intent writes about Tuzla: “Minus the coal plants and DITA factory, Tuzla would be a pretty groovy place to be.”
Azerbaijan: Peace Corps FAQ
Carolyn & Jesse's Azerbaijan Peace Corps Blog posts an entry answering the most common questions received from readers ranging from inquiries about computer access to attitudes towards single and married women. Intriguingly, concerns about the availability of can openers in Azerbaijan also makes the list.
Laos: Low happiness rating
Apocalypse Lao notes that in the map of the world’s happiness, Laos has a very low happiness rating.
Mozambique: On the new statutory minimum wage
Basilio Muhate [pt] talks briefly about the consensus reached by Mozambique's trade unions and the employers’ associations in the negotiations for a new statutory minimum wage in eight of the nine sectors defined by the government. “If indeed there has been a consensus, it is a good step from the...
Turkmenistan: Forests and Deserts
Maciula reports and opines on the Turkmenistan government's intention to create a forest in the desert with the help of extensive irrigation.
Georgia: Tourism Development
Social Science in the Caucasus examines Georgia's fledgling post-Soviet tourism industry and takes one ski resort as an example. After previously failed attempts at privatization, the blog says that with each step of progress, other problems emerge which reflect many of the issues facing the former Soviet republic.
