Economic recovery plan fails to appease Cabindans

The unveiling of a socioeconomic recovery plan for Angola's troubled Cabinda province this week received a lukewarm response from civil rights groups, who claimed it was an attempt to divert attention from ongoing government abuses in the northern enclave. On Wednesday the Luanda-based government announced it would spend some US $370 million on economic and social development projects in the province over the next six years, the official news agency, Angop, reported. The development plan is expected to improve infrastructure and boost social service delivery. According to Angop, one of the major projects will be the construction of a deep water port to facilitate trade and create much-needed employment. For more than 40 years the oil-rich province has been the site of ongoing hostilities between government troops and separatists. Local and international NGOs have raised the alarm during the past two years over allegations of rights abuses, mainly perpetrated by the Angolan army. Agostinho Chikaia, who heads the Cabinda-based Mpalapanda Civic Association, told IRIN: "It is irresponsible of the authorities to make promises they cannot keep. Two years ago the government said it would spend more in the province, but that never happened. The political difficulties should be resolved before we talk about economic development." Chikaia alleged that the local population had not been party to planning the province's economic recovery. "The government can expect a lot of difficulty in implementing the plan - if it does materialise - because Cabindans were not consulted," he said. Rafael Marques, the Angola representative of the pro-democracy NGO, Open Society, said the move was "orchestrated to deflect attention from the real problem" in Cabinda. "The government has not addressed the fundamental frustration in the province," he remarked. "It cannot hope to win over the people of Cabinda by building roads."