Vol. 23 No. 72 Wednesday, 11 November , 2015 Pages 8, Price 2.00NFA

Eritreans living in the Repub-lic of South Africa held their an-nual festival on November 1st this month.

Photographic exhibitions, chil-dren’s programmes, and bazaars were in display at the Festival. Seminar papers on various issues of relevance to the Eritrean com-munity in South Africa were pre-sented by notable professionals.

Eritrea’s Ambassador to the Re-

The 4th Congress of the Work-ers Federation of Tourism Services was held in Asmara from the 6th to 7th November this month.M

Mr. Kibreab Kidane, Head of Labour Cooperation Office in the National Confederation of Eritrean Workers (NCEW), explained that the tourism sector continued to face challenges as a result of unfavour-able externalities. Perception on the regional security situation and concerted smear campaigns against the country by its detractors affect the tourism sector negatively, Mr. Kibreab underlined. These ob-stacles notwithstanding, tangible

Financial support to 40 needy students

The Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare, Barentu branch, extended financial support to 40 needy students in the sub-zone.

Ms. Hanna Osman, Head of the Branch office, stated that the support program will enable the students to purchase school uni-forms and text books.

The Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare carries out similar programmes on a routine basis in various parts of the country. The modest support remains useful in partially alleviating financial problems of students from low income families.

training on pottery making

The National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW) organized training for 60 needy women in Areza and Nai-Mine, Southern Region, on pottery making.

The training is aimed at enabling the target group in becom-ing self-supportive, according to Ms. Aberash Haile, Head of the NUEW in the Southern Region.

Mr. Tekie Tewolde, Director General of Trade, Innovation and Mining in the Region stated that the trainees have been provided with a support package that consists of the requisite machinery and payment for house rent for one year.

popular campaigns

Residents of Roboria and Afta administrative areas in Foro Sub-Zone are conducting community activities to clear land for culti-vation as well as road repair work.

The residents have constructed water diversion schemes that can cultivate seven thousand hectares of land and built about 50 thou-sand meters of terraces.

youth training

The National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students (NUEYS) have sponsored training for 110 youth on different skill enhancing themes that include courses on still and video cameras, sound and light editing as well as on documentary films production.

NUEYS has also provided training on administrative skills for 45 women from all the Administrative Regions.

The National Union of Eri-trean Women held a seminar on negative consequences of under-age marriage, female genital mutilation and related practices.

The seminar was attended by representatives of various Min-istries, Administrative Regions, the Police as well as civil soci-ety groups.

Ms. Tekea Tesfamicael, chair-person of the NEUW, urged all stakeholders and concerned bodies to work with higher vigour and coordination so as to fully eradicate all harmful practices.

eritrean Festival in south aFrica

congress oF Workers Federation in tourism sector

progress has been achieved in the past years in fostering a healthy work-ethic among members of the Workers Federation as well as in the articulation of fair labor laws. Mr. Kibreab stated that the forthcoming NCEW Congress is expected to thoroughly assess past performances, and, identify prevailing shortcomings in order to chart out effective and forward looking strategies.

Mr. Michael Mebrhatu, Chair-man of the Workers Federation of Tourism Services, submitted a re-port on various tasks accomplished by the union in the past years. The

Federation has implemented sever-al training programmes to upgrade the technical and administrative capabilities of its members. The Federation also focused on pro-grammes of raising productivity and organizational capacity so as to contribute to greater economic growth and higher income to work-ers in the union, Mr. Michael un-derlined.

The 4th Congress of the Work-ers Federation of Tourism Services adopted several recommendations and resolutions at the end of its session.

public of South Africa, Mr. Salih Omar, stated that the annual festi-vals were vital in strengthening the bondage of the Eritrean community in South Africa, in keeping abreast with development and trends in the home country as well as in conser-vation of their traditions and cul-ture.

Winners of the contests and competitions organized during the festival were awarded symbolic prizes.

seminar on harmFul

practices

neWs brieF

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Eritrea Profile, Wednesday,11 November , 2015 2

Mela Ghebremedhin

Mai metzia, mai metzia! Meaning: ‘water just arrived’! I hear the kids in my neighborhood shouting these words to warn their parents. We all rushed to fill up the water tank, feeling relieved that water finally appears. Water… this colorless, transparent, odorless, tasteless liq-uid that forms the seas, lakes, rivers, and rain… is the basis of the fluids of living organisms and yet dispar-ity in terms of access remains sig-nificant from one side of the world to the other. Having water shortages in many countries of the ‘South’ is, to some extent, common and people organize their daily life according to it. On the other side, water is even free and run all year round without any shortages. Some, even, never experienced any type of scarcity in their life. Well, I am sure they will panic if it happens…

Here, in Asmara, being located in the highlands at the top of the moun-tain, rainfall stays hardly on its soil but quickly move down to the Gash Barka region. In addition, Asmara’s soil has been overused for hundred of years, as a friend who works at the Ministry of National Development explained to me. As a result, the earth is hardly productive and prone to erosion. Adding to the population density, the increasing demand and changes in daily habits increase the burden in water supply.

Though, back from the Italian time, colonizers chose to settle in Asmara as the city is sitting on top

of water. It is true, that by digging a few meters down, you will find wa-ter across the city. As a result, many households constructed boreholes in their courtyard, which allow them to get groundwater throughout the year. However, despite having groundwa-ter, its quantity may not be sufficient to respond to the demand and be subject to variability from one year to the other. Accordingly, with the growing population, water supply remains a challenge especially to ur-ban dwellers.

Not solely urban population is facing challenges, but as the major-ity of the people is pastoralist and more than 80% depend on farming activities; their production will vary according to the rainy season. As you may be aware, the rainfall hap-pens between June and September followed by period of harvest until February/March. Rainfall is usually heavy and unexpected, nevertheless, for the last years, the trend is chang-ing with lesser certainty each year and drought happening on an aver-age of every three to five years.

Hence, as Eritrea is based on the Sahel rainfall zone, the country does not have perennial rivers and lakes, which could be reliable source all year round. In fact, apart from the Mereb-Gash and Tekeze-Setit river systems which drain into the Nile river, the eastern escarpment and the Barka-Anseba river draining into the Red Sea, plus, the river of a narrow strip of land along the south eastern

border with Ethiopia draining in the closed Danakil basin (FAO 2008); the region is prone to drought and depends heavily on variable annual rainfall patterns in securing access to water to livelihood and develop-ment. All other rivers in the country are seasonal and carry water only after rainfall, which means that they are dry most of the year (IFAD).

The access to water is, henceforth, one of the most daunting develop-ment challenges for the maintenance of good health, socio-economic growth and poverty alleviation (MoND, 2013:154). Consequently, in order to improve the health sta-tus and quality of life of its citizens, Eritrea depends on the extent of the access to a year-round reliable clean

water supply and appropriate sanita-tion systems.

The challenges around water se-curity are not solely for Eritrea but to the ‘South’ in general and in our region, the Horn of Africa. Certainly, it is on the table of richer countries digging into poorer states to fulfill their extravagant demands in water resources despite growing scarcity in poorer parts of the world. I would compare this search for natural re-sources as the ‘over-exploitation of the commons’. What does this term mean? It is actually the idea that population will ‘exploit and move on’ to the next area and so on. This is actually what may happen with the access to water. Indeed, many are now facing scarcity and people are trying to get their share of the pie at the expense of others. Many African leaders would sell water-rich areas to countries of the Middle East or India whom are looking for place to secure their future access to water. The issue here for the Afri-can continent, is the possible water-related conflict outbreak, as almost the entire 50 river basins in Africa are trans-boundary (Valerie Ndaru-zaniye, 2011).

The question of water security, thus, is at the centre of discussions as being part of the environmental challenges we are facing in today’s world. Once again, the question of environment has different impact whether or not you live in the de-veloped or developing world. In fact, the disparity within the share of resources is even greater when it comes to access to water and, more importantly, to clean water. To strengthen this, Homer-Dixon

(1996) said in his article, Environ-ment Scarcity and Mass Violence, that “ecological marginalization af-fects hundreds of millions of people around the world, across an extraor-dinary range of geographies and economic and political systems”. Certainly, water security is a combi-nation between availability, accessi-bility to water in sufficient quantity and quality to meet livelihood needs throughout the year. Therefore, the theory of ‘water security’ is at great risk of conflicts where more than 40% of the world’s population lives in the 214 river basins shared by more than one country (Homer-Dixon, 1996:208).

The Horn of Africa region is often portrayed as a place where drought and famines occur. As a matter of fact, this region has about “200 million inhabitants from which 70 million are located in areas prone to extreme droughts leading to wa-ter insecurity and food shortages” (Ndaruzaniye, 2011).

Nonetheless, there is great poten-tial in terms of rainwater harvest-ing and irrigation however, as Eric Van de Giessen (2011) argued, it is greatly underutilized. To give an example, in Kenya, only 9.6% of the potentially irrigable land is un-der irrigation (FAO 2011). In con-sequence, is water security only a question of natural circumstances? All these facts might sound depress-ing to some of you but are there any ways to enhance water security? The question of ingenuity is impor-tant here.

Let’s look at the Eritrean case; a place prone to drought has decided

Called “life”: Water… this Colorless, odorless liquid we can’t live without…

continued on page 7

Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, 11 November , 2015 3

Marriage is one of the main so-cial foundations of any society and one of the main social fabrics in our society. The Eritrean soci-ety is characterized by communal and consensual collective decision making. This is as clear in mar-riage as it is in other aspects of life. Marriage within the Eritrean soci-ety is a communal affair because of the functions it serves. In many in-stances, it is used to cement blood ties and solidify friendships, to set-tle communal disputes and feuds, which mean it is too important af-fair to be left in the hands of the partners or their family alone.

In all ethnic groups, the wed-ding proposal is made by the bride-groom’s family. And with the ex-ception of the Kunama, Nara and Rashaida, there are middle men who assist in finding a good part-ner on behalf of the bridegroom’s family. Usually such people know both families, either through afin-ity or friendiship. Knowledge of each other is a kind of prerequisite in case if things don’t work out as expected after marriage; one would have to take upon the responsibil-ity to mediate. Not only that, if the bride’s family refuses an offer, it might have serious implications on the bridegroom’s family who would feel degraded and indigni-fied. Thus, the middle men are always preferable to be wise and sociely observant.

Once the middle men are sure that they have found the perfect girl, the bride’s family conducts surveillance about her family and origins before asking her hand for marriage. The bridegroom’s fam-ily on their part takes their time to gather enough information about the people who are asking for their daughter’s hand. They don’t rush to accept or refuse. They tell their larger family and listen to their

views. As a result, they might re-fuse or accept the offer for a good reason raised by close relatives. They can’t afford to neglect the opinions of their clan members. If they do, it will be at the cost of their exclusion from any family is-sues.

In traditional Eritrea, if the two parents are close friends they might promise to inter-marry their chil-dren when they grow up, avoiding any middle men. In such cases, the couple might get engaged while they are children through their par-ents’ promises, which they are usu-ally unaware until adulthood. It is merely aimed at cementing the two families’ friendship. Since it was always the parents’ decision im-posed on their children, this type of arrangement does not make a dif-ference and it is even preferred.

Within the Tigrigna ethnic group, the engagement ceremony, which is conducted in the bridegroom’s home, involves only the closest relatives of the couple. It is usually their parents, uncles and one or two friends. Traditionally, the bride doesn’t attend the ceremony. How-ever, nowadays, things are chang-ing. First, wedding and engage-ment are being carried out on the same day, and when they are not, the bridegroom usualy acompanies his parents to the bride’s house on the engagement day, where the bride awaits the future groom with her friends.

Engagement ceremony gen-erally involves the formal offer and acceptance rituals where the groom’s family will stand up, greet the bride’s family and ask for their good affinity in marriage. It is commonly the elder of the group, which speaks first by choosing his words and compliments care-fully. The bride’s family responds

in conformity. The groom’s fam-ily, then, presents their gifts to the bride including jewelry, clothes and, in modern time, perfumes. The bride’s family might order for specific amount of jewelry or other gifts, which they would reimburse later through dowry. Thereafter, she is considered a ‘properly’ mar-ried woman in which she will have all the privileges of protection as a legally recognized wife.

Within the Tigre ethnic group, engagement in principle is con-ducted according to sheria. Sheria stipulates that marriage arrange-ment should be done entirely ac-cording to the couples’ choices. In practice, however, it is their parents who have the say. Engage-ment, as in the Tigrigna ethnic group, is conducted in the bride’s house. Her father might slaughter a goat or ship if he can afford or provide only coffee. The groom’s father, on the other hand, helps the bride’s family with some gift com-prised of grain which is called drar. The groom’s mother prepares a poridge from that grain and gives it to the groom’s father and his rela-tives. This is called a ma’kot. Eat-ing a ma’kot entails not to break the promise and the groom’s fam-ily promise to honor the marriage arangement.

As in the Tigrigna ethnic group, the bride’s family orders jewelry, clothes and other items destined to the bride, to be brought either during the engagement or wedding day. In some Tigre communities, they also bring gifts to the bride’s mother. For instance, in the Maria areas situated in the North to Keren, both families exchange gifts. After the engagement, the entire Tigre

Wedding & Engagement within the Eritrean Culture: The Mystery of Tradition

community is expected to help the bride’s family in harvesting or dur-ing the rainy season as much as they can.

Within the Beni Amir Tigre, the groom’s father should bring a gift called Krayat, which includes 2kgs of raw coffee, 2kgs of sugar, a kilo of ginger and 20 Nakfa to the bride’s family. If he fails to do so, even if her father agrees in word; it doesn’t constitute a legal engage-ment.

Within the Rashaida ethnic group, wedding and engagement arrangements resemble of the Ti-gre besides that the groom’s fam-ily traditionally pays for the dowry. The Rashaida people call this Me-har and it could reach up to 20.000 Saudi Rial. Here the amount is sub-stantial compared to that of their ethnic groups.

Within the Hedareb ethnic group, it seems that the role given to mid-dle men is bigger than the one in the above mentioned ethnic groups. Indeed, they give all the gifts to the bride and her family which comes from the groom to the middle man. Besides, the bride’s family gives any orders they may have to the groom’s family to be brought to him during the wedding day. An-other unique characteristic of the Hedareb is the fact that the middle men communicate solely with the bride’s grandmother or mother throughout the entire engagement process.

Within the Bilen ethnic group, once the two families agreed upon the union of their respective chil-dren, the bride’s family orders gifts to be brought on to the engagement day via the middle man. Those gifts usually include clothes to the bride,

her mother and grandmother, a sack of grain, a cow and other gifts called krmeri in bilen language and the ceremony is conducted on open yard. The middle man takes re-sponsibility of the precuders. He is the first one to stand up tell his role and call the two fathers to confirm their agreement for the engage-ment of their children. At the end of the ceremony the groom’s fam-ily presents a 12x1 meters textile to the bride’s family.

In a culture that is close to the Kunama, the Nara is the important role given to women in arrang-ing engagements. Habitually, the couples’ uncles and aunts along with the extended family members participate at the engagement cer-emony. Culture demands that the age of the couple to be 14-18 and 18-20 for the girl and boy respec-tively. The assumption here is that at this age they are capable of per-forming adult tasks. As it is in oth-er ethnic groups, the bride’s family doesn’t rush to respond if asked for their daughter’s hand. They take time to discuss with their close relatives. Once they have agreed to it; the bride’s parents visit the groom’s family alone. They usu-ally take with them some cloth-ing for the bride. The Nara ethnic group doesn’t organize public fes-tivity to celebrate the engagement. The bride’s family might ask for more clothes to be brought on for the wedding day. In addition, they ask for three goats to the father, mother and aunt of the bride.

Wedding and engagement within the Kunama ethnic group is highly influenced by their matrilineal so-cial organization. Engagement is done in two ways; the first one is arranged by the parents and matri-lineal uncles of the bride and the second one is arranged by the cou-ple’s choice. In the latter, the cou-ple meets and agrees to marry and they then notify their respective parents. Parents have the right to, either, accept or refuse the request. However, the Kunama culture en-courages it strongly. In testimony to this, parents prepare a separate house for their daughter once she has reached the marriage age, so that she might be able to cultivate relationship that will lead her to marriage.

After engagement, the groom is expected to visit the bride’s fam-

continued on page 4

Bride & Groom from a Tigre Ethnic group

Wedding ceremony in Tigrinya Ethnic group

Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, 11 November , 2015 4

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always enjoyed watching my mother and my aunts and the ladies in my house prepare coffee since I was a little kid.

From grinding the coffee grains to filling up the ‘Gebena’ (Eritrean coffeepot made exclusively from clay) with water and waiting for the coffee to be made.

The smell of fresh coffee filling up the living room is one of our country’s incredible invites for the people to come together and enjoy three cups of delicious coffee.

Traditional coffee really is a big ceremony in my country. A big cer-emony which never fails to excite, to bring with it laughs and chats, never fails to unite the family. The funny thing about this ceremony is that it is performed every day. I’m not joking. It is an everyday ritual.

The temptation is so great thaty-ou can’t refuse to drink and be part of this joyous ceremony.

Mothers and daughters and women in general have been mak-ing coffee the Eritrean way for de-cades.

Either after lunch or after din-ner coffee has been known to be drunk by many cultures all around the world. It’s no different in my country Eritrea.

The slight difference is that if you are going to drink the tradi-tionally made coffee you need to sit down and wait for it. It consists of three cups: each one less potent than the other. Sometimes people

will drink beyond the formal three cups.

The ceremony takes about a minimum of 30 minutes. That is why I keep calling it a ceremony.

Traditionally people drink cof-fee when they are happy here. So it is a celebratory ceremony.

As a kid I used to get so excit-ed because I knew that everyone would gather around in the living room and start talking and laugh-ing and the house felt so complete and so warm. Of course kids aren’t normally invited to drink coffee, but still as a kid it is pretty heart-ening.

People all around the world drink coffee. They drink it for dif-ferent reasons. Some drink it for the caffeine: usually in the west people use it to get that extra en-ergy required in the morning after waking up.

The British and the Chinese drink tea. Henry James the U.S. born British writer and critic once said that “there are few things in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.”

Drinking tea is a deeply religious ceremony for the Chinese.

The Italians have their famous Espresso;asmall quantity of a very powerful type of coffee that goes straight to your brain and activates every part of your body.

However although different people around the world drink cof-fee or tea and make a ritual of it,

health care professionals warn us that neither tea nor coffee are good for us.

We are told, and very plainly too, that hot drinks—tea, coffee, choc-olate, cocoa and all drinks of this kind are not good for man. And yet we keep on drinking, because what the health care professionals don’t understand is that we don’t drink coffee because we feelthe need to drink coffee. We drink coffee as a result of our need to sit down to-gether with our family and have a good time.

It’s almost a necessary evil.

Without it the house feels emp-ty.

Even so (coffee having deep roots in our culture) there are some people who never drink coffee. I’m not talking about the new genera-tion either.

My friend Ermias’s grand-mother, mother and sister don’t drink coffee. My own grandfather doesn’t drink coffee for health rea-sons (he’s 89).

Some people associate coffee with addiction. They say that the ceremony or the ritual of coming together as a family and drinking coffee leads to the addiction of caffeine. And they would have had a point if not for the fact that our coffee is not that strong to be that addictive. Of course kids shouldn’t drink it but to say that the whole idea of drinking coffee should be obliterated is just ridiculous.

I mean could you imagine a kid’s birthday, a national or reli-gious festival, a wedding or any ceremony without the traditional Eritrean coffee? Whenever you have guests come to your house what is the first thing you do? You make coffee. Any celebratory oc-casion in Eritrea is accompanied by coffee.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t be aware of our health and the dam-ages that drinking too much coffee can bring.

Just think of some families that drink coffee three times a day ev-ery day. Now that you can say is very unhealthy and unnecessary.

Coffee has in it a drug called caffeine which is a stimulant. It

stimulates the central nervous sys-tem, promotes urine formation and stimulates the action of the heart and lungs. It also increases blood pressure. It can be addictive and it can cause serious health problems from insomnia to heart attacks.

Therefore we should be careful not to abuse our lovely ceremony of drinking coffee to the point where it can turn from celebratory to a poisonous tradition of hurting one’s own body.

It is part of our culture and being so we should preserve it if for no other reason than for it being part

our Traditional Coffee Ceremony

ily with a red goat. If he fails to do so, he might be punished. Once it is agreed that the two couples can marry, the groom’s father asks formally the bride’s father. Yet, it is their mother’s that have the final say. If they agree the matri-lineal uncles will finalize the rest. Later on, the groom’s mother will visit the bride’s family with gifts of clothes and perfumes. Though, Kunamas are not against pre-mari-tal sexual relationship, they highly discourage pregnancy before mar-riage. If it happens and the couple doesn’t want to have a wedding, the groom will be fined which is called meshkebera and then, the couple can start its family.

As witness within other ethnic groups, engagement within the Saho is conducted at the bride’s house and through a middle man. Once the engagement request is ac-cepted, the groom’s family would bring gifts to the bride including jewelry and clothes. It requires two meetings by the middle man with the bride’s family before the engagement. The third time, which is the engagement, the middle man will bring the groom’s family with him. The tradition wants that after the engagement, the couple hides from their relatives or acquaintanc-es until the wedding day.

In a culture that is unique to them, the Afar conduct engagement cer-emony at the groom’s family. As a sign of respect, the bride’s family is invited as guests to the groom’s house. After the ceremony, the groom’s family will give gifts in-cluding money, goats and clothes to the bride’s family. The type and amount of gift given might vary from one locality to another.

With the exception of the Ku-nama, in traditional Eritrea it is the father who chooses the partner for his son or daughter. The Eritrean society has strong and reliable codes of conduct on marriage ar-rangements and relationships that guarantee security and continuity, which are the main concerns of many partners.

Nevertheless, some codes are wrongly adopted as values, which hinder arrangements without tak-ing into account timing and contex-tualization. The need for family’s approval of one’s engagement, in choosing the partner and timing as well as how to handle it are some of the many traditional codes. Parents’ and relatives’ consent, is, undoubtedly, invaluable and do contribute significantly in terms of advice. These days, however, cou-ples are getting married according to their own choices.

of our character and our society. For it being the very special Eri-

trean way of drinking coffee.

Yonatan Negusse

Wedding & Eng...continued from page 5

G. Damr

Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, 11 November , 2015 5

Big media versus the people

Attempts to break with neoliberal politics are spreading. After Syriza in Greece comes the surprise election of Jeremy Corbyn in the UK (see The unspun Jeremy Corbyn, page 4), and there may soon be an awakening in Spain. As the Greek experience shows, these developments do not always flourish, but at least some of the obstacles are now clear: the financial markets, multinational corporations, credit rating agencies, the Eurogroup, the IMF, the European Central Bank, Germany’s monetarist policy and its social-liberal acolytes. The power of these players and the convergence of their interests help explain the caution and capitulation of some, and the suffering and hesitations of others. But that is only a partial diagnosis; a critical element is missing. It is often discussed in Le Monde diplomatique, but mostly ignored elsewhere, especially by the political forces that should pay it the greatest attention.

That element was revealed in all its perniciousness in Greece when Syriza stood up to EU diktats; it was instantly unleashed in the UK against Corbyn as the new leader of the Labour Party; and it will be visible again if Podemos wins the Spanish election in December. It has been systematically reconfigured in France in the past six months — the steady advance of a media barrier able to block any project counter to shareholder interests.

Since media proprietors are also the architects of industrial concentration and beneficiaries of huge market capitalisations, this is hardly a surprise. In France, six of the 10 richest people now own media groups (1), and one, Patrick Drahi, has also recently shot to the top of Israel’s rich list (2). The media sector shapes public attitudes, the economy, culture, leisure and education, but it is hard to detect any political attempt to check the danger, as though politicians had other priorities and

emergencies, and were content to wait and see on this score.

We saw what happened when Alexis Tsipras’s government came to power in Greece in January, relying, rashly, on the solidarity of European peoples who had suffered from austerity policies, and thinking that would make it easier to resist German inflexibility. Many reasons linked to the fragmentation and weakness of Syriza’s allies, political and in the union movement, across Europe explain why those hopes have been dashed.

But an important factor should not be overlooked: media treatment of Greece distorted the terms of the debate and tried to create worry in European public opinion about what the cancellation of Greek debt would mean for “every French person” (or German, Spaniard, Italian, Slovak) (3). The main news outlets — including those with a taste for post-national sermonising — found a sure-fire way to contain a continent-wide movement of solidarity with the Greek left. In a different media landscape, Greece might not have been described as a debtor likely to worsen its creditors’ problems, but as the leader of a Europe-wide battle against a failed austerity policy.

There has never been a similar media fixation with precisely calculating, and stressing, the social cost of 30 years of lower tax rates for the richest, or bailouts for private banks, for “every French person”. Western creditors, inflexible over Greek debt, agreed on 27 August to a partial write-off of Ukraine’s debt, but the financial press did not calculate what this risked “costing every French person”. No TV channel broadcast street vox pop of the reactions of terrified bystanders to the dreadful personal effects of that debt relief.

‘We are not getting our message heard’

João Pedro Stédile of the MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra, Landless Workers’

Movement), interviewed in August about difficulties in Brazil caused by an economic slowdown and corruption scandals, said that “the people are worried when they watch news about the crisis on TV and see the lack of alternative [...] We are not getting our message heard, partly because the media is owned by the middle class.” He believes Brazil’s main media group, Rede Globo, functions as an ideological party, a place where the unity of the dominant class is cemented (4). It is like Fox News, the refuge and armed wing of the US Republican Party.

Fox News is owned by Rupert Murdoch, as is the Sun in the UK and the Wall Street Journal. At first glance, a rolling news channel that is a favourite with American retirees, a British tabloid until recently known for its bare breasts and scandals, and New York’s daily business newspaper have little in common. But Murdoch’s aim is not to be editorially coherent for the benefit of the public, but to be a force to be reckoned with. The only link between a mass market daily such as Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui en France, Radio Classique and Les Echos, the largest French business daily, is that they are all owned by Bernard Arnault. The same is true for Patrick Drahi’s Libération, RMC, L’Express and BFMTV; and

Direct Matin,Canal Plus and CNews (formerly iTélé) run, ruthlessly, by the French industrialist Vincent Bolloré. In the absence of resistance in jittery and silent newsrooms, or legislative intervention, each new concentration of ownership encourages the next. In May, François Morel, CEO of Les Echos, explained the purchase of the paper by Arnault’s Parisien-Aujourd’hui en France press group: “I’ve put Les Echos back on its feet, but that isn’t enough. One player cannot stand alone in such a highly concentrated world without putting himself at risk. Having analysed the market, the most logical choice was the Parisien” (5).

In August, Nonce Paolini, head of the TF1 TV channel, said the media sector, as divided among capitalist mastodons, was so consolidated that there was no reason to prevent his company broadcasting his LCI (La Chaîne Info) rolling news channel on TNT freeview: “There are no longer isolated, vulnerable groups, only powerful players who invest.

The fear of some players being weakened by the arrival of LCI on freeview is yesterday’s news” (6). Given the €30bn capitalisation of Drahi’s group (which has just acquired BFMTV) and the €9bn of Bolloré’s group (which has tightened its control

of iTélé), TF1 may soon look like a small, impoverished outfit. Any government insufficiently respectful of neoliberalism’s sacred cows would have reason to think twice before taking on these organisations.

Arnault was a witness at Nicolas Sarkozy’s wedding. Bolloré lent Sarkozy his yacht soon after he became president. It’s a safe bet that Drahi, a relative newcomer in France, will also soon be a familiar face in political circles.

Laurent Joffrin and Christophe Barbier, both newspaper editors in Drahi’s company, should be able to help since Joffrin is a friend of François Hollande and Barbier of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Such friendships aren’t hard to make with a press group worth several billion euros behind you. In June, Xavier Niel (tenth richest person in France and the partner of Arnault’s daughter) attended the wedding of Anne-Michèle Basteri, executive director of Niel’s personal holding company, and Pierre Moscovici, former French Socialist finance minister and current EU Commissioner for economic and financial affairs. He would have bumped into Hollande there.

our Small Calm Voice In

an angry Time

continued on page 6

6Eritrea Profile, Wednesday,11 November, 2015 ADS

THE STATE OF ERITREA EUROPEANMINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT FUND

.

Procurement– Notice

PROJECT: Support to the Agricultural Sector/ Food Security in Eritrea

Contract Title: Supply of ICT, LAN and WAN Equipment and Accessories

Publication reference: EuropeAid/137-329/ID/SUP/ER

The Ministry of Agriculture intends to award a supply contract for Procurement of ICT, LAN and WAN Equipment and Accessories in Asmara/Eritrea with financial assistance from the European Development Fund (EDF). The tender dossier is available from:

Ministry of Agriculture,Planning and Statistics Division Sawa Street P.O.Box-1048 Asmara-Eritrea

Tel. +291-1-181042, Fax. +291-1-181759Email:moaedf10@gmail.com

And will also be published on the Europe Aid website: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?do=publi.welcome

The deadline for submission of tenders is August 12th, 2015 9:00 hours local time

Possible additional information or clarifications/questions shall be published on the Europe Aid website:

https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?do=publi.welcomeand in the Eritrean newspapers: Haddas Eritrea & Eritrea Profile

And in the UK tooFrance is not unique. An official report in

2012 into happenings at Murdoch’s News of the World revealed that “the political parties of UK national Government and of UK official Opposition have had or developed too close a relationship with the press in a way which has not been in the public interest. [...] [The press] are also highly skilled, at the level of some proprietors, editors and senior executives, at subtle and intuitive lobbying in the context of personal relationships and friendships” (7). Corbyn, who avoids involvement with the media, must know what awaits him; Murdoch’s Sunday Times headlined his victory with “Corbyn sparks Labour civil war”. There is little hope, in such adverse ideological and media conditions, of communicating dissenting views to those not already attracted or committed.

I could cite failures of media propaganda in the French referendum of 2005 and the Greek one in July, where the indignation caused by the dominant media’s unanimity provoked popular mobilisation, and contributed to the simple refusal of the EU treaty and of the troika’s diktat. Stathis Kouvelakis, a leader of the Greek left, believes that “the fact that the yes camp mobilised hated politicians,

commentators, business leaders and media celebrities simply inflamed the class reaction” favourable to a no vote (8). Not engaging in the struggle against the dominant news system is a miscalculation as well as an intellectual failure, the more so as critiquing the media is often a way into politics for the young, who are bombarded with news and comment and mistrustful of professional journalism.

But potential victories will have no impact, and indignation will remain impotent, without a radical reconfiguration of the news system. Last December, Le Monde diplomatique proposed such a project (9). Now we have to move forward; we shall apply ourselves to the task, strengthened by our independence. The problems of traditional journalism will soon arise in the digital space — indeed, they already do. It is vain to imagine the web will create a new mass media, free of the logic of domination that applies elsewhere. A marginal site that we and our friends like has no special power, no impact, if it’s only us who read it; it’s still marginal even if it’s digital. Should we angrily tweet our social media contacts? Making ourselves angry by searching out unacceptable opinions on inflammatory sites is tiring — and futile.

Attempting to understand things is a better way to prepare to fight, although it risks Le

our Small ...continued from page 5

Monde diplomatique being misunderstood among media professionals.

Yet our originality does seem to resonate. Since 2009 we have made an annual appeal to our French readers to strengthen our independence through donations and subscriptions. There was an increase in both in 2014.

Donations in France of €296,000 (compared with €242,000 in 2013) through the Press and Pluralism association were more than triple our advertising revenue. French subscriber numbers increased by 8.7% in the 12 months from August 2014, and newsstand sales picked up, so it is probable that 2015 will be the first French circulation increase since 2008.

These results, if confirmed, will be all the more encouraging as they will buck the general trend (10).

Thanks to your involvement and donations, the financial situation of the French edition has improved. The continuity of our readers’ support enables us to start new projects — from this month, our French site has a new look, and soon it will have a multi-lingual archive — while trying to hold our prices at the same rates as for the past three years. It should also give us the means to expand

our editorial efforts, including analysing the ground shifting beneath our feet.

Our means may be modest, but our ambitions are large. In an angry time, a culture founded on speed, gossip, and approximation may serve the needs of business and industrial interests, but it brings huge social and political risks.

The dismantling of France’s labour legislation on the pretext of encouraging employment, building walls against immigrants on the pretext of preserving national cohesion, engaging in a new military campaign on the pretext of containing war: in such an ominous ideological climate, an independent publication is more necessary than ever.

It speaks to readers who demand perspective, who have had enough of being bombarded with trivial news and emotions meant to be consumed, digested and forgotten. It encourages resistance where so much is trying to crush it.

Sources: from the international pressBy: Serge Halimi

7Eritrea Profile, Wednesday,11 November, 2015

Job Title & number required Fuel Tank Operator (02)

Duties & Responsibilities

Receiving, storing, and issuing of fuel.Control for appropriate storage, removal, recording and reporting of any Hazmat and waste Fuel generated.Perform operational maintenance & pre-maintenance check service on relevant equipment (filter separators, fuel pumps, Nozzles & strainers, fuel pressure gages, fuel meters, hoses, valves etc.). Control of product quality in the tank through Water Testing, Temperature, Performs the frequent visual inspection of fuel samples daily. Manage bulk inventories through one real-time monitoring system.

Accountable for all systems used in the transfer of fuel from bulk storage to refueling other equipment. Ensure proper handling and segregation of products received and verifies quantity and quality. Keep detailed accounting records of all fuel transfers within the bulk storage systems for equipment / machine. Conduct inspections on the entire systems and identify any potentially hazardous conditions that could result in a catastrophic failure of any system. Adhere and obey to safety requirements based on the Company policy.

Knowledge & Skill Require-ment

English and local literacy to a conversational level.Excellent interdepartmental communication skills. Safety oriented. Able to work in height, and hazardous area. Physically fit and strong. Knowledge and skill of MS office.

Education High school completion, certificate in technical school.

Experience Required

Minimum of 2 years in a relevant work, preferable from oil company.

Physical Requirement To be able to pass a full Doctor’s examination. To be available to work in accordance with ZMSC rosters.

General Information and other requirements: Place of work: Koka Gold Mine Site. Occasional assignment to other locations. Salary: As per Company scale.

Additional Requirement for nationals: Having fulfilled his/her National Service obligations and provide evidence of a release paper from the Ministry of Defense. Having finished registration and duty performing for the National Army, and present the release paper or registration card issued by National Army. Provide a Clear-ance paper from office of the Eritrean Police and present Medical Certificate from Hospital. Present Clearance paper from the current/last employer. Only short listed applicants would be considered as potential candidates for an interview. Application documents will not be returned back to the sender and/or applications should be sent through the Post Office. Deadline for application: 10 days from the day of publication in the Newspaper.

Address: Please mail your applications to: ZARA MINING SHARE CO. P. O. Box 2393. Asmara, Eritrea.

Note to Eritrean applicants: Please send a copy of your application to: Aliens Employment Permit Affairs P.O. Box 7940 Asmara, Eritrea.

ADS

to adopt innovative measures to tackle these causal factors. As the country promotes the access to basic social services to all at equal level, the access to water is not an excep-tion. Certainly, access to water is a human right, accordingly, the Gov-ernment is embarked in an immense long-term investment programs to overcome its natural scarcity. By adopting innovative measures to al-leviate the effects of scarcity is what the GoE is focusing on for the last 7-8 years and we can see results. With about 7 major surface stor-age water dams constructed such as Gerset, Kerkebet, Gergera, Mai Nefhi among others, and with an increase of population with access to clean water from 14% in 1991 to 80% in 2014, the kinds of ingenuity in construction of these water dams will show its effects in the years to come.

Further, the Gash Barka region is showing greater amount of develop-ment where the vast soil remains un-used and with the irrigation systems being implemented would influence population to live and work the land there and ease the burden on already overused areas of the country. As Muluberhan Tesfay, surveyor in Gerset dam project explains in the documentary, The Other Narrative, by African Strategies (2015): “par-ticularly in this region [Gash Barka], we have built four enormous dams for water reservoirs, it is aimed at ensuring food security”.

Not only investments are ongoing in the construction of water dams but also at small-scale level by develop-

ing technical and managerial capac-ity to ensure proper and economical use of water and sanitation system, developing irrigation schemes to ir-rigate hectares from wells, small and medium dams. Under the integrated national water resource development master plan and policy framework: there is an enhancement of water harvesting through further develop-ment of water resources including through roof harvesting, cisterns, springs, hand-dug wells, ponds and micro-dam (MoND 2013).

Another important strategy against its water scarcity is spate irrigation, as an ancient and viable form of water management. It allows com-munities of farmers to support their livelihoods in arid and semi-arid ar-eas. This spate irrigation is the har-nessing of floodwaters and collec-

tion of run-off, which allow farmers to provide enough water for the crop season. Thus, the GoE, the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Land, Water and Environment in partner-ship with IFAD are also investing in the Gash-Barka livestock and agri-cultural development project in the construction of those spate irrigation systems in the region.

The Ministry of Land, Water and Environment (MoLWE) with the Water Resources Department (WRD) and its partners are, there-fore, working hard throughout the country in improving the access to water for both life and livelihood from a long-term approach. Clearly, the efforts in constructing small to large surface storage dams cannot be neglected. The genuine idea in overcoming its natural factors has long-term effects. The question now

is bringing the access of water from these dams to the local population to, subsequently, promote agricultural exploitation and boost the economy.

As my friend from the ministry of National Development mentioned, “we have about 80% of our people with access to water but it is not enough, we have to reach 100%”. Surely, with this ambitious aim, the country, with its great potential from its seawater, is going to enable all its citizens with equal access to this liq-uid called ‘life’.

For that reason, Eritrea is an ex-ample where natural disposition can be overcome by genuine, innovative and strategic long-term policies – to-wards sustainability for generations to come.

Called “life”:continued from page 2

Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, 11 November , 2015 8

The latest monetary policy de-clares that the previous Nakfa currency note is to be replaced by a new Legal Tender Nakfa cur-rency. Why now?

There have been constant dis-cussions of introducing new mon-etary transition ways since April. Now-a-days even most of the third world countries have introduced and are working on various money exchange systems such as check draft cards and so.

Mainly this new process that is being introduced is aimed to avoid spending millions of dollars in printing new banknotes. Secondly, it points towards ways aimed to ease direct banknote exchange be-tween consumers and providers, and lastly it is a matter of safety: the new route is designed to avoid hazardous situations in money transitions of a large sum.

It is safe, applicable and secure.

It has been proclaimed that the currency redemption will be done in the length of six weeks. How is going to be ensued?

Back in 1997 we located even in tents and carried out the exchange in 88 sites that extended to the out-most area. And now we will pro-ceed as our previous experiences. Only that now more than 88 gov-ernment offices are involved in the web, so even in the remote areas it is opted for a viable money ex-change process. The web that has been already arranged for this ex-change will avoid any form of pres-sure for the clients as we are taking in consideration time, reassurance and easiness for our customers.

Have arrangements been made for new bank booking system?

Certainly! The two main banks: Housing and Commercial bank as

well the Commercial Bank, took the task of assisting the entire big and small banks trough out the na-tion in providing a secure booking system for the clients. So we do not fear any obstacles while intro-ducing new bank books for the re-demption of the old banknotes with the new one.

Commercial Banks are to assume the task of opening new accounts for customers, redeeming the old Nakfa currency note with the new Nakfa currency note, ensuring that the forms are accordingly prepared and are properly filled, as well as make available clarifying receipts to customers.

About the amount of Nakfa Currency notes in circulation

The Bank of Eritrea has declared the period in which redemption is to commence and terminate. Dur-ing this time, any individual, entre-

preneurs or companies can through the commercial banks, translate the previous Nakfa currency notes in circulation with new legal tender Nakfa currency notes.

It is undeniable that at the mo-ment the commercial banks are at the moment mostly assisting busi-ness owners, nevertheless given the situation it has been made pos-sible for small banks to cash in up to 1 million Nakfa.

If the amount exceeds the one million perimeters, customers will need to get service from the central banks. Moreover we have timely accurate customised service for costumers with a sum surpassing 5 million.

About withdrawals

During redemption, individuals or entities will be allowed to with-draw from their accounts only up

“Redemption of the old currency notes, for secure monetary exchange”

The Bank of Eritrea has officially issued the commencement and termination of redemption of the Nakfa currency notes in circulation in accordance with Article 3 (1) of Legal Notice no.124/2015 on November 4th 2015.

Today’s Q & A section will host Mr. Kibreab Weldemariam, Governor of the National bank of Eritrea.

to twenty thousand in new Nakfa currency notes. Any transactions in excess will be solely settled through checks or other bank in-struments. Otherwise we won’t be able to be precise in introducing the new system.

As for foreigners

Any foreigner requiring swap-ping of old Nakfa currency notes for the new Nakfa currency notes, are allowed to do so after clarify-ing the legitimacy of the means of obtaining the currency. If they had acquired the currency in the black market, then the bank won’t be able to assist.

What about individuals abroad with Nakfa currency?

There is no basis that can autho-rize or excuse Nakfa currency cir-culating abroad. Nakfa was meant to circulate only and exclusively with in the nation. As such, the bank or the Government will not be taking any responsibility for the Nakfa currency circulating outside of Eritrea and/or for the sum OF Nakfa that has been kept camou-flaged to the National banks.

But of course, cases in which in-dividuals tagged some very small number of Nakfa can be worked on as the official proclamations have been made in media outlets and our websites.

Can you please elaborate on the Article concerning currency Re-demption time limits?

The process will undergo in six weeks time length. Individuals or entities may, during the first two weeks, are required to deposit any amount of money in their accounts, as for the final four weeks, howev-er, they will be allowed to deposit or exchange up to twenty thousand Nakfa only.

Thank you Mr. Kibreab!

Billion Temesghen