Sudan's new oil era comes at a price - Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Sept.27
By Albino Okeny
Khartoum (DPA) - On August 30, Sudan celebrated its first consignment of oil for export in a ceremony officiated by President Omar Beshir at port Beshair on the Red Sea.
It prompted a Sudanese poet to laud the rebirth of the country, and a radio commentator to describe the day as ``our sunrise' and the end of poverty in the country.
The chairman of the peace committee in the national parliament, Abdalla Deng Nhial, called the exports the beginning of stability and peace in Sudan.
The Sudanese president paid tribute to the armed forces for protecting the oil fields, the workers and the pipelines from the threat of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in the south and the forces of the exiled opposition parties, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the east.
The SPLA does not want the oil, most of which is situated in the south, to be exploited until the way the proceeds will be divided is worked out. The NDA opposes the exports saying the government will use the returns to cement what it calls a totalitarian regime.
In his speech at the ceremony Beshir attacked the NDA for not having Sudan at heart. He asked them to repent their crimes and return home to join his government in developing the country.
Three weeks later on September 19 the NDA blew up a section of the oil pipeline 50 kilometres east of Atbara town in northern Sudan.
Students who took to streets to condemn the incident carried slogans urging the government to stop the national reconciliation negotiations with the NDA.
The Sudanese government portrays the attack as one on the hopes of the people to escape economic difficulties. The message is that petrol does not belong to the government but to the people.
Youths who gathered in front of the ministry of energy and mining to condemn the explosion were militant.
But senior members of the government have stressed that the incident would not affect the national reconciliation effort.
``We shall not abandon the reconciliation drive but we shall use maximum force to combat terrorism,' said Minister of Interior Major General Abdul-Rahim Mohamed Hussein.
Another senior member of the government, Minister of Social Planning Al-Tayeb Ibrahim Khair told Radio Omdurman that reconciliation was a government principle.
The government is capable of defending the oil installations but the cost will be crippling.
The interior minister, on visiting the damaged pipeline, announced that he would deploy 3,000 policemen to join the other security forces to protect the 1,610-kilometre long pipeline.
One report said the attack also resulted in the loss of more than 10,000 barrels of crude oil with a value of nearly 100,000 U.S. dollars. To repair the damage some equipment had to be brought from Saudi Arabia adding to the costs.
Authorities in the state of Kassala were thinking of introducing taxes to pay for the additional expenses. The irony is that the oil exports were to help relieve the financial burden on taxpayers. |
