Shaking up things a little bit!
I left my new apartment at 7:10 am on Tuesday, only to find dozens of my neighbours standing outside, wrapped in blankets, and huddled together in little family groups. The earth tremors that had taken place the night before had scared most families, in particular the Indians, and I later found out that people had slept outside their homes in other parts of the country too. Whilst the tremors rocked me into a deeper and more comfortable sleep, it hasn’t been a pleasant occurrence this week for many in Nairobi. Rumours from the US Embassy ordering an immediate evacuation of all its citizens to ‘the world coming to an end’ have been on the radio waves.
It all started on Sunday when a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit Tanzania and since then, in Kenya, we have felt more than 15 other aftershocks both day and night. Whilst there has not been a report over casualties or buildings collapsing, I must confess that it does get a little nauseating sleeping in swaying buildings.
Africa's Great Rift Valley is a 6,000-mile crack (fissure) in the earth's crust, stretching from Lebanon to Mozambique. One of its most dramatic sections slices through East Africa, dividing Kenya into two segments. Geologists know that violent subterranean forces that tore apart the earth’s crust formed the Rift Valley. These forces caused huge chunks of the crust to sink between parallel fault lines and force up molten rock in volcanic eruptions. [Wheeling Jesuit University]
The council of a Kenyan town ‘Limuru’ have ordered that donkeys wear nappies, and this has rumbled angered opinions from the community. If anyone cares for my opinion I will say that diaper manufacturers need to move quickly to support this new mass-soil-producing market. I find it strange too that no one has made mention of what is to become of all the collected manure.
Film Resource Unit (FRU), South Africa, rocked the boat last month when they publicly announced that they were insolvent and called on partners and stakeholders to come to their rescue. Several news media carried the report (including an official statement from Co-directors, Desmond Mthembu and Dorothy Brislin) and film enthusiasts rushed to buy films from FRU fearing its closure. This, to an extent, began to underwrite their debt and they also now have promising support from the District Arts Council (DAC).
The recently published ‘Sudan post-Conflict and Environmental Assessment’ report [http://www.unep.org/sudan/] linked the war to climate change and the environmental destruction, suggesting that the war would not end unless these issues were addressed. Now, an ancient underground lake has been discovered and jolted hope that this will actually end the war.
Finally, at the 2007 APN annual meeting in Kampala, November, we are going to be doing a little in-house throbbing ourselves. A top-of-the-agenda discussion I shall propose to all has to do with re-evaluating and re-committing ourselves as partners to the network. The stage we are at as partners requires a “…passion for TVE” - John, Kyamanywa, TFD. This phrase echoes the Windhoek meeting in which most suggested ‘Institutionalising TVE.’ The key idea behind the thoughts is that partners should have a good communications person from within their staff that will handle international liaison for TVE matters. In many cases partners have great enthusiasm and expectations for the network, but the ‘passion’ is not communicated and hence little a seeming disinterest. A good representative should already display interpersonal skills. Enock Chinyenze, TVE Regional Coordinator - Africa
AFP. Sunday, 15 July 2007. ‘Quakes rattle north-eastern Tanzania, tremors felt in Kenya’ - NAIROBI (AFP)
Earthquakes measuring up to 5.5 on the Richter scale have been rattling northeastern Tanzania in the past four days and tremors were also felt in neighbouring Kenya, officials said Sunday. Kenya Meteorological Department official Peter Ambenje said the tremors, which lasted about one minute, were last recorded in northeastern Tanzania's Lake Natron at around 2:24 pm (1124 GMT) on Sunday.
"More earthquakes will be felt in the area because it lies on East Africa's Great Rift Valley which runs along a geological fault line," he said. "Kenyans should not be worried because we are unlikely to be affected by the tremors," he added. Another quake was felt at about 11.43 pm, (2043 GMT), but there was no damage reported from the series of tremors that has sent panic across Nairobi, a department official said.
Ambenje played down fears that it could be a sign of volcanic activity from Mount Kilimanjaro, an inactive volcano in northeast Tanzania, near the border with Kenya.
In December 2005, a powerful earthquake struck the Lake Tanganyika region of East Africa. That quake, which French geologists said registered 7.5 on the Richter scale and US geologists said was a magnitude 6.8, shook buildings in cities throughout the east and central African region.
BBC News. Tuesday, 17 July 2007. ‘Anger at Kenya donkey nappy plan’ - Michael Kaloki, BBC News, Limuru
Donkey owners in the Kenyan town of Limuru are up in arms over an order from the municipal authorities that their animals must wear nappies. The council said the measure would come into effect on 16 July to ensure the town's streets are kept clean. But recent press coverage and outrage from the town's residents has led the authorities to put their plans on hold. "If we have to put nappies on our donkeys, soon they will say our cows need them too," one donkey owner said.
Limuru's mayor, James Kuria, says: "We must come up with a way to make sure that the droppings are not a nuisance." Another donkey owner, Kimani Gathugu, who lives in the town some 50km northwest of the capital, Nairobi, says the measure is not practical and the council would do better to employ more street sweepers.
Fatal kick
Noting the vital role played by donkeys in the community, he says: "Donkeys are very important. Not many people have cars in the area and the donkeys serve as a mode of transport." Another resident, John Kinyanjui, says: "The council itself has workers. They can do the sweeping. We are paying taxes."
Water trader Simon Kamau, who uses donkeys to transport water to his clients utters: "In all the three years I have been in this business, I have never tied a nappy on a donkey. "The problem is that the donkey can give you a fatal kick. I was once kicked by a donkey and it broke my leg. "What the council should do is come to us traders and show us how to tie the nappies on the donkeys," Mr Kamau says Mr Kuria though seems determined to push on with his plan.
"I have heard that in some areas where they keep donkeys, they also have nappies," he said. "We will go to these areas and see how they do it and come back and show our people how to do it. We want the people to earn a living but at the same time we must keep our town clean."
SCREEN AFRICA. Sun, 24 June 2007. ‘FRU in discussion with DAC’
The alarming news that the Film Resource Unit (FRU) faced closure due to a financial crisis, elicited much support from producers, industry bodies and the press.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday 20 June by Desmond Tsakani Mthembu and Dorothy Brislin of FRU on behalf of the FRU Board of Directors, there may be some hope on the horizon for the beleaguered organisation. FRU has engaged in a strategic plan to revitalise the organisation and is also involved in discussion with the Dr Pallo Jordan, Minister of the Department of Arts and Culture, regarding the financial status and the way forward to ensure FRU’s longevity.
Here we quote directly from the FRU statement issued on behalf of the Board of Directors:
“Film Resource Unit has been at the forefront of representing African film makers across the continent through distribution of film and video for the last seventeen years. Its reputation as a pioneering audience development organization remains unsurpassed. To this day it continues to engage in successful audience development projects and has expanded its mandate to training in distribution. Over its twenty-one years of existence it has developed a rich archive of film and video resources. Two weeks ago FRU made an announcement about its financial status of commercial insolvency and, following legal advice, made the decision to go into voluntary liquidation. "
“Following this announcement letters of concern have expressed alarm about the state of the industry in losing a vital and important distribution channel and heritage institution. FRU would like to thank producers and the industry in general for their support in invigorating the urgency of a premier distribution company potentially shutting its doors. With the news of liquidation creating a climate of uncertainty in the industry there has been a rush on sales of FRU titles since buyers have recognized that it may be a long time before these titles will be easily available and accessible again."
“With letters of support from producers and the press, FRU has been able to develop a comprehensive strategic plan to revitalize the organization and create a model that would make audience development and distribution more economically viable. To this effect we are pleased to inform the industry that the Film Resource Unit is currently in discussion with the Department of Arts and Culture and directly to the Minister Dr. Pallo Jordan regarding its financial status and the way forward to ensure its longevity. FRU looks forward to keeping the industry and the press informed about the outcome. "
BBC. Thursday, 19 July 2007. ‘Water find may end Darfur war'
A huge underground lake has been found in Sudan's Darfur region, scientists say, which they believe could help end the conflict in the arid region. Some 1,000 wells will be drilled in the region, with the agreement of Sudan's government, the Boston University researchers say.
Analysts say competition for resources between Darfur's Arab nomads and black African farmers is behind the conflict. More than 200,000 Darfuris have died and 2m fled their homes since 2003. "Much of the unrest in Darfur and the misery is due to water shortages," said geologist Farouk El-Baz, director of the Boston University Center for Remote Sensing, according to the AP news agency. “Access to fresh water is essential for refugee survival, will help the peace process, and provides the necessary resources for the much needed economic development in Darfur," he said.
'Significant'
The team used radar data to find the ancient lake, which was 30,750 km2 - the size of Lake Erie in North America - the 10th largest lake in the world. A similar discovery was made in Sudan's neighbour Egypt, where wells have been used to irrigate 150,000 acres of farmland, the researchers say. The discovery is "very significant", Hafiz Muhamad from the lobby group Justice Africa told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. "The root cause of the conflict is resources - drought and desertification in North Darfur." He says this led the Arab nomads to move into South Darfur, where they came into conflict with black African farmers. He also said that it has long been known there was water in the area but the government had not paid for it to be exploited.
French researcher Alain Gachet has also been using satellite images to look for new water resources in Darfur. Last month, the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) said there was little prospect of peace in Darfur unless the issues of environmental destruction were addressed. It said deserts had increased by an average of 100 km in the last 40 years, while almost 12% of forest cover had been lost in 15 years.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said climate change was partly to blame for the conflict in Darfur in an editorial for US newspaper The Washington Post in June.
Group hug!
If you ever miss an edition of this newsletter, or want to refer back to any information posted, please note that these are also automatically posted onto our APN blog - http://tveafrica.blogspot.com/ You may also post your stories directly onto the blog.
I had also, previously, given out my Yahoo Messenger ID and with the good number of partners that were linked to me it had been an efficient way to communicate, without having to type out formal messages via email. The new servers I am now using, however, do not encourage Yahoo Messenger but thanks to a ‘Group Hug’ system I can connect to Yahoo from MSN; except that I have to kindly ask you to email your chat ID’s. I will take this opportunity to invite those that had not subscribed to the service as yet. Enock Chinyenze, TVE Regional Coordinator - Africa
SCREEN AFRICA. Wed, 18 July 2007. ‘SABC News International launches’.
South African public broadcaster SABC will launch Africa’s first news channel on 20 July at the new Montecasino Theatre just outside Johannesburg. The channel aims at providing an African perspective on domestic and international stories. SABC News International, a channel with a Pan-African focus and reach went on air for the first time at 6pm on June 7, 2007 as a soft launch to test the reception in the market.
The launch included live feeds from SABC’s six international bureaus in Kenya, DRC, Washington, Brussels, New York, Senegal and Nigeria. Initially, the channel will be broadcast via signal distributor Sentech’s Vivid Satellite Digital Decoder, which currently broadcasts to Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Europe. In addition to news bulletins, the channel will feature current affairs and investigative programmes, including news magazine shows, which will incorporate broader content like weather, sports, and economic news and studio interviews.
The channel will also include French news bulletins which are currently streamed live on the SABC News website. SABC News International will replace the SABC Africa overnight feed on SABC 2 and will initially broadcast weekdays only. As from April 2008 it will have a full 24-hour schedule.
Environment News
Africa: Kibaki Agrees to Host Annan's Organisation
East African Standard (Nairobi): President Kibaki has accepted a request by former United Nations Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan that the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (Agra) headquarters be hosted in Nairobi. The organisation, headed by Annan, aims at preventing poverty and hunger in Africa by increasing the productivity of small-scale farmers. Annan, who arrived in Nairobi on Saturday morning, called on Kibaki at State House. Kenya has received grants worth $5 million (about Sh330 million) from Agra. The organisation has also awarded about Sh19.8 million to the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, to improve cassava and sorghum production in the semi-arid areas. Annan asked his team to focus on marketing. He said Agra emphasised on helping small-scale farmers to sell their surplus crop to earn from their sweat. "The alliance will design programmes to regularly communicate with farmers. This will be in regard to farming techniques, dietary preferences, desired crop traits, local water sources and weather patterns. "We will then design programmes that directly respond to their needs," Annan said. Dr Peter Matlon, Agra interim President Rockefeller Foundation Managing Director, and Dr Akinwumi Adesia, an Associate Director of the Rockefeller Foundation, accompanied the former UN boss. Agriculture PS, Dr Romano Kiome, was also present. http://allafrica.com/stories/200707150029.html
Namibia: Namibrand Strives for the Top
The Namibian (Windhoek): NAMIBRAND Nature Reserve (NRNR), a private nature reserve in southern Namibia, has set up a research and awareness centre in an effort to better manage its activities. Located in the former farm buildings at Toekoms (in the reserve) the NamibRand Desert Research and Awareness Centre (NRAC), provides support and guidance for local and international researchers, focusing on management issues. Danica Shaw, a Senior Control Warden at NamibRand told The Namibian on Friday that research being conducted at the centre is aimed at the better management of plant and animals species of the NRNR, viewed as the largest private nature reserve in southern Africa, extending over an area of 172 200 hectares. Shaw said the centre started operating in August last year and so far a group of four researchers have conducted their research here. She said the centre has also established partnership with renowned local and international research institutions, such as the Gobabeb Training and Research Centre and was working in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, feeding back into national research.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200707130447.html
South Africa: Decision to Put Down Baby Whale 'Was the Best Response'
Cape Argus (Cape Town): A newly born southern right whale calf that washed up on the rocks at Infanta at the mouth of the Breede River has been euthanased with an explosive charge for humanitarian reasons. A joint response team sent from Cape Town decided that the whale had been too badly injured while on the rocks and was too weak from its stranding to survive. But the team had been expecting to find an adult whale, and although they used only one of the two explosive charges they had with them to euthanase the whale, the explosion was still powerful enough to blow out some windows in nearby houses - despite the owners having been asked to open the windows. The team was apologetic and members said they were "still learning lessons" about the use of explosives in such situations. http://allafrica.com/stories/200707130624.html
Nigeria: Ubeji Inferno - WRPC to Start Damage Assessment Soon
Vanguard (Lagos): In compliance with the directive of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to the Warri Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC) to carry out a post spill impact and damage assessment on the Ubeji condensate spill that caused colossal damage to aquatic, economic lives and destruction of the vegetation of the area, a Joint Investigation Visit, JIV, by all the relevant groups and stakeholders was carried out with a promise to commence damage assessment soonest by the WRPC. But the chairman of the Ubeji committee set up to liaise with the company, Hon. Griftson Omatsuli yesterday called on WRPC to send a weekly relief material to the community and resist taking measures that would set the aggrieved youths of the community on rampage against the company, saying that if that happens he would be unable to hold them back. Mr. Griftson Omatsuli therefore called on the company to relax some of the restrictions imposed on community members coming to WRPC for business and other reasons, disclosing that over 12.56 cubic meters of condensate was lost in the spill that has devastated the neighbouring communities. http://allafrica.com/stories/200707130086.html
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| Enock Chinyenze Regional Coordinator for Africa Television Trust for the Environment (TVE) United Nations Environment Programme Division of Communications and Public Information P. O. Box 30552 Nairobi, Kenya Phone: +254 20 762 1551 Mobile: + 254 723 562900 Fax: + 254 20 762 3927 www.tve.org www.unep.org | |
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