Nation to use oil wealth wisely, says Deby

Chadian President Idriss Deby has asked residents of the oil rich Logone Oriental District to join him in developing the country and to shun war as a way of achieving their goals.

State owned Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne reported on Tuesday that in a recent visit to the district, Deby outlined his vision for development of the country following the US $3.7-million World Bank loan approval this month to build the oil pipeline from Doba, in southern Chad, to off-shore loading facilities in Cameroon.

The 1,070-km pipeline project has met with strong resistance from Chadian opposition parties and insurgents, who come under the umbrella Coordination des mouvements armes et partis politiques de l’opposition. They fear possible government corruption in the project, embezzlement of public funds and drug trafficking.

However, Deby has promised to manage oil proceeds transparently, build schools, hospitals and modernise agriculture and animal husbandry.

“We need to create higher institutions of learning so that our children and our brothers can stay home to learn what is needed instead of going to the four corners of the world to look for knowledge,” he said.

When it approved the loan, the World Bank saw the project as presenting “an unprecedented framework to transform oil wealth into direct benefits for the poor, the vulnerable and the environment”.