World Bank refutes connection to Dubai agreement [Archives:2006/960/Local News]
SANA'A, July 2 ) Michel Richards, a senior official on the Corruption Combating Committee (CCC) of the World Bank affirmed that the institution has no relation with the agreement upon which Dubai International Company (DIC) was granted the right to operate Aden container port.
In reply to a message sent by Lutfi Shatara, head of the Yemeni Group in Britain and head of the Yemeni Organization for Monitoring Human Rights (YOMHR), Paul Wolfowitz, World Bank Chairman, and Susan Rich Folosom, Richards mentioned that the “Corruption Combating Committee stresses that WB has no tie with this transaction, and WB does not finance and has no intention to finance the project.” Yet, the Yemeni government stresses that the World Bank is a key party to the agreement.
Lutfi Shatara welcomed the immediate response of the World Bank in reply to a query by the YOMHR to ascertain the alleged involvement of the World Bank with the agreement concerning Aden port.
“This message is considered an official document received from the World Bank, determinedly denying its relation with the deal, of which a number of Yemeni officials misled the people,” said Shatara.
Lutfi Shatara asked World Bank officials to reveal the nature of the role played by Mohammed Zimam, representative of “Coast Cities Development Project,” the project financed by World Bank, particularly when he was among the members of Technical Committee formed by the Cabinet in the Resolution no. 188 in 2005.
The YOMHR intends to present the case file, supported by documentary evidence, to Judge Anees Al-Samawi, Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, to prove the independence of the Yemeni Judiciary and its role in protecting the public purse and properties. The file confirms the involvement of high-ranking officials in misleading the Yemeni people by granting the DIC, along with its partner Abdullah Buqshan, the right to run the Aden container port.
According to Al-Shoura.net, the YOMHR intends to present a copy of the file to the International Organization for Combating Corruption and to another file to the London Conference of Donor Countries that is scheduled to be held in November.
Shatara declared that the deficiency in Yemen is that of authority and not the shortage of resources and any financial support for Yemen that will lead to the accumulation of debt will be to the detriment of the Yemeni people.
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