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Here in
Bamako, we have electricity most of the time, though frequently we don't -
for minutes or even hours. At other times there are so many fluctuations that
it gets dark and light and dark and light....
Regarding the second report, in 1999 I was in that region.
MALI: World Bank backs energy programme
ABIDJAN, 5 November (IRIN) - The World Bank is providing Mali with close to
US $40 million in an effort to improve access to energy sources for the
population, the Bank reported on Tuesday.
The Bank approved an International Development Association (IDA) credit of
$35.6 million and a Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Trust Fund of $3.5
million for the Malian government. The funds are to be channeled through a
Household Energy and Universal Access Project (HEURA).
HEURA aims to accelerate the use of modern energy services in rural and
peri-urban areas of the country, improving health and education centres and
increasing the productivity of small and medium enterprises. The project also
looks to strengthen energy sector reform, offering incentives for greater
private investment.
Mali has a low level of electrification, with less than 10 percent of the
population having access to electricity. The country's energy sector is
mostly based on traditional fuels. There is a heavy, unsustainable reliance
on the use of fuel-wood, leading to soil erosion and desertification.
The HEURA project aims to scale down community-based woodland management so
as to reduce pressure on forest resources, while also encouraging interfuel
substitution and energy efficiency initiatives.
Both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have strongly
backed Mali's efforts to reduce poverty and provide better services to the
population. The Bank says Mali has achieved a growth rate of around five
percent a year since 1994. Recent energy policy has highlighted the need to
provide energy at affordable prices and to open the energy sector to private
capital and competition.
MALI: Cholera epidemic kills 17 in Niger valley near Mopti
BAMAKO, 10 November (IRIN) - An outbreak of cholera has killed 17 people in
recent weeks in a swampy area of the Niger valley near the city of Mopti in
central Mali, government officials said on Monday.
The officials said 153 cases of the disease, a potentially fatal form of
diarrhoeia which causes a rapid loss of body fluids, had been recorded in two
districts near Mopti.
They said 73 cases and nine deaths had been recorded in Djenne district, 60
km southeast of Mopti, while 80 cases and eight deaths had been reported in
villages near the town of Tenenkou, 45 km north of the city.
Cholera is generally spread by contaminated drinking water. Officials said
the authorities had launched a public awareness campaign about the causes of
cholera on local radio stations and had taken measures to improve the supply
of disinfectant to the area.
Other public health measures included a ban on the sale of food from
makeshift stalls in front of schools and Madrassa Islamic schools and a ban
on bathing and washing laundry on the banks of the River Niger in Mopti.
IRIN-WA
Tel: +225 22-40-4440
Fax: +225 22-41-9339
Email: IRIN-WA@irin.ci
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Ask of Me, and I will make the nations your inheritance. (Ps 2:8)
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Dr. Claudia R. Wintoch
s/c Ecole Biya
BPE 2165
Bamako
Mali
Tel. (+223) 220 0311
claudia@healing2thenations.net
www.healing2thenations.net
www.glorywebservices.com
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