Mohammed Hatem Al-Qadhi
Yemen Times
Six years ago, Anne Rappel, a German tourist, visited Yemen along with two other friends. They were subjected to a kidnapping attempt by armed tribesmen in Mudyah, Shabwa governorate. Their driver, Sadiq Abdulwahed al-Mikhlafi, was able to bear the trouble and escape the trap. The kidnappers fired at his car but he fled and saved his people at the risk of his life. They continued driving until they reached Sayoun in Hadhramaut. One of the tourists went back to Sana'a by plane. The other two went back with Sadiq through Aden and Taiz back to Sana'a. When they reached Taiz, Sadiq decided to go to his village in Al-Mikhlaf, 20 km north to Taiz to see his family, lest they be scared if they knew of the incident. The two German tourists decided to go with him to have a look at his village. When they were back in Sana'a, the German embassy had already arranged with the then Governor of Marib how to reward Sadiq. The embassy offered him DM 15,000 and that he would also be rewarded by the tourists himself. But, he refused. They asked him what he wanted. He said he needed their help in erecting a hospital for his poor people in the village of al-Mikhlaf. Here his trouble with the Ministry of Health starts.
Anne has said to me that she went back to Germany and asked her friends to help her establish a hospital. However, they told her she was crazy, as they did not have enough money to build a hospital. Furthermore, they already helped her by sending medicine to a hospital in Shabwa. However, they told her to open a bank account in the name of the village hospital of al-Mikhlaf and ask people contribute to the charitable project. Her friends promised to help her if the ideas went through. "I went to a newspaper in my home town and appealed to people to help," Anne said. She added, "Some weeks later, I had about 35,000 marks. I took the money and went back to Yemen and started working in 1999." Also, she said that the Social Development Fund (SDF) helped them a lot.
The hospital is now complete. It has 14 rooms, plus a flat for doctors and other facilities. The hospital is provided with advanced medical equipment from Germany. "It can carry out different kinds of medical operations and provide service to thousands of people in this poor area." Sadiq said.
Anne said that presently around $250,000 has been channeled into the project. There are now two containers of medical equipment at Hodeidah port valued at $100, 000. The SDF paid the expenses for shipping them from Germany to Yemen. The first container, 40 feet, will go to the leprosy center and Mother's Treza hospital in Taiz. The second one, 20 feet, is meant for al-Mikhlaf hospital. Sadiq said the total amount of the hospital can be put at YR 70 million. Of that amount, 10 million was contributed by the SDF. He said he himself spent 11 million out of his own pocket. He even sold some of his properties to complete the project.

What is the problem then?
Some people in the Taiz Health Office (THO) are not happy with the project being installed in al-Mikhlaf. Therefore, they have refused to provide it with medical staff. Also, it seems that the government officials and high ranking dignitaries in the area work to stall the project. "I was here last year. The officials at the THO promised to send us doctors, nurses, etc., but nothing has happened so far. I don't know what the problem is. In Germany, we vote for people in elections as we believe they will work for us, not for themselves, but here it is different."She summarizes our problems in Yemen in two plights. "I believe corruption and qat are the major headaches for you." Anne said.
The THO sent a doctor to the hospital, but he was a very busy person working in different places. He came up to the hospital for a few weeks, and then went away. Another doctor came to the hospital and asked for a house for his family, a car, a bodyguard, and extra salary from Germany. He also wanted the people in al-Mikhlaf to bring his children to Taiz in the morning and bring them back in the evening. "I told them it was impossible to meet his requirements." Then, he went away.
Later Sadiq was able to find an Iraqi doctor. He has been told by the THO officials to sign a contract with him, mentioning that he would give him a salary of $2000 for him and his wife, so that the government can make sure that he can stay in the country as he has got a job. They told Sadiq it would be just a formality. When he signed, the Iraqi doctor came and asked Sadiq to pay him a salary as mentioned in the contract, otherwise he would take him to the police. Sadiq managed to pay him $2000. The doctor took the money and went away.

"It is a shame that your government is not able to spend some money for the medical staff of the hospital"
The hospital is not operating now. It has no doctors. The people of THO want to take the hospital and run it themselves. "The people of al-Mikhlaf and I don't want this, as I have seen many government hospitals in Taiz and Sana'a in a very poor situation. I never want to see the same situation in this hospital," Anne said. "The former health minister has given us a letter, authorizing us to run the hospital. He promised to provide it with medical staff," Sadiq observed.
Anne said that, "the next option the THO offered is that the hospital will be provided by medical staff on the condition that 60 % of the income of the hospital should be given to the THO." It seems that these guys do not know that health service should be made free to all people in Yemen without exception.
The third alternative suggested by the THO is that it can be made private and the people of the village should manage everything themselves. "They are very poor. What shall they do?" Anne exclaimed, adding, "somebody in the THO told me that it was a shame to bring the hospital to al-Mikhlaf. But no! I told him that it is a shame that your government is not able to spend some money for the medical staff of the hospital."

Dr. Ghurbani needs a plane to fly to al-Mikhlaf
Anne Rappel is struggling very hard to operate the hospital. She is running after our officials in the health ministry to beg for doctors for the hospital in al-Mikhlaf. She said she met the former minister of health, Dr. Abdullah Abdulwali Nasher, who accepted Sadiq al-Mikhlafi to be the manager for the hospital and promised to provide it with medical staff and medicine. She also met the new minister, Dr. Abdulnaser al-Munaibari, at his house in the presence of Dr. Abdulwahab al-Ghurbani, THO manager. The minister told her to fix everything with Dr. Ghurbani, but Ghurbani told her that the people of the village should create their own association to run the hospital. "I do not know what kind of association he wants," Anne said. She added, "I told him that even if we make it private, his office should monitor what is going on. But he told me that he had no plane, no helicopter, no car, nor horse nor camel, to come up to the area. Then, I was very furious and went out of his office without even saying goodbye."

Yemen needs honest rather than educated people
Anne also said that the new health minister refused to accept Sadiq as the manager of the hospital. "The minister told me that it is not good for Sadiq to be the manager, as he is not well-educated, but I believe he is the right person to run the hospital. I trust him. I told the minister that Yemen needs people like him. It is not important what kind of education they have. It is important that they are honest, want to work, and will work." Anne said. She pointed out that Sadiq will not look after patients. He will only make sure that everybody is doing his job well. "He worked very hard to build the hospital without pocketing money. I saw his family before we started the work and now. The situation has not changed. He is even getting poorer as he sometimes has to pay from his own pocket. He has to sell things of his own to get money for the hospital. He even went to Germany and walked in streets in snow, begging people for money for the hospital," Anne said.
"We will not give them the hospital. It is a reward for me. I can run the project, as I have a secondary certificate and I have taken training courses in Germany." Sadiq said, adding, "The people of Sharaab now are establishing a charitable society. I can give the hospital to them to run. It is important that it works. The Germans promised to expand it if it works well."Anne now feels very frustrated with our officials in the health ministry. She said she would contact them again. "If things do not work, I will go and speak to the German media about what is happening." However, she said she felt very embarrassed to go back and tell her friends that the hospital is built now but it is not working because it has no doctors. The Germans can not pay even a single dollar for medical staff. "I got the money from different places including the German embassy in Sana'a. How can I explain to them the problem? They want to know what is happening," she said.

Urgent appeal to PM & health minister
I do believe the problem here is clear - the THO is the stumbling block preventing the charitable project from working. I also believe their bureaucracy is a shame and crime for which they should be held accountable. They have given a clear-cut example to foreigners that corrupt and crooked people are the major headache of Yemen, stalling any effort for development. Our problem is not shortage of resources at all.
I think this story should cause all hell to break loose and invite the attention of PM and health minister. They should act and stop the farce of THO before such irresponsible behavior is publicized in the German media. Shame on these guys!

Imad Al-Saqqaf
Yemen Times
Taiz Bureau Chief
The National Bank of Yemen, cement plants and the Grain Corporations are all successful public enterprises which might be privatized by the government. This in spite of the fact that they play a significant role in economic development, generate great revenues and provide the government with millions of Riyals on a monthly basis. Thus, many people have been surprised by the random decisions like privatizing the National Bank of Yemen, which is one of the most important economic enterprises of Yemen which finances and implements many development projects. The Yemeni government has been severely criticized for going ahead in implementing the privatization program without taking into account the financial, administrative and legislative disturbances the Yemeni economy is going through. The privatization program can never be successful for a deteriorating economy since privatization should be accompanied by an economic, administrative and educational reform. Moreover, privatization can never succeed in an environment dominated by defraud and favoritism, and this necessitates a political reform to prevent the abuse of power.
What is the advantage of privatization?
For a deteriorating economy like that of Yemen... Will the privatization program succeed? And what are the benefits the Yemeni government is going to gain from privatizing the light industries such as Awssan Biscuit Factory, the textile factory or the Ice-cream Factory. Likewise, why is the government privatizing successful enterprises?
Dr. Mohammed Qahtan Associated Professor of economics at Taiz University said: Privatization is part of the economic reform program which Yemen has been implementing since 1995. As the Yemeni economy is suffering from significant economic disturbances which can not be solved by the government alone. Thus, the Yemeni government has asked the help of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which are supporting the economic & financial reform program through carrying out what is called the economic doses. Therefore, we can say that the Yemeni government has never thought of the advantages of privatization and it is merely implementing economic procedures imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Hence, the economic reform program has produced an economic recession and a scary rise in the rate of the unemployment and people living under the poverty line, and this is the cost of adopting the economic reform program which relies on a series of financial and monetary policies without taking into consideration the living conditions of the country. Thus, I think that privatization is mostly imposed by the adoption of the free market economy and for the government it does not matter whether it has advantages or not. In economic terms, I think that privatizing the pubic enterprises is a necessary step towards adopting the free market economy and should be assessed from an economic viewpoint so as to know the advantages of the process of privatizing in ways that ensure qualitative and quantitative development for these enterprises in cooperation with the private sector.
Mr. Abdulmalik Mansour, Director-General of al-Barah Cement Plant said: First of all I would like to correct the second part of your question, you said that the economic situation is deteriorating and unstable and this is not true. Yes, we have some economic problems as any third world country and the government is working hard to overcome these problems. Let me go back to your question concerning the privatization whether it is in the interest of the society or not. In fact, the government has no big enterprises which need to be privatized, as what the government has is just a few cements plants and service corporations operating to meet the society needs.
As for the cement factories these three cement plants are owned completely by the government and are successful ones, providing the market with about 65% of its demands. In addition to that they provide the government with hundreds of millions of Yemeni Riyals in profits. Therefore, from my own point of view as a citizen of this country, I see no reasons or need to privatize these cements factories. Instead of privatizing these cement plants, that is, transferring public enterprises to private ones. So why don't we let private sector invest in the field of cement industry in order to bridge the existing gab between production and consumption, which in fact exists and represents about 35% of the markets.
Ahmed Salem Shamakh, Managing Director of Shamakh Company for Tanning & Leather Industries said: Looking back to all the industrial and agricultural projects implemented within the last couple of years, they are so few owing to the economic recession the Yemeni economy is going through. From this perspective, I think that privatization in Yemen has no viability since the enterprises that are going to be privatized are outdated ones and have no economic advantages such as reputed trade marks, modern equipment or a unique product. Furthermore, theses enterprises are over-staffed and are undergoing various other problems. I think that the only advantage these enterprises have is their very good locations, however, the terms and methods of sale for these enterprises will not attract anyone except the adventurers and swindlers who might accept these terms for the sake of the location and then they will not abide by the stipulations of sale agreements, depending rather on favoritism and on their personal influence. If these public enterprises must be privatized then they should be put for a transparent public auction along with their assets with the view of having a good pricing for them without any reservations or terms. The only countries that succeeded in privatizing their pubic enterprises are the ones which upgraded their enterprises prior to putting them up for sale. Honestly speaking, such a move can never be achieved in a country like Yemen which is suffering from corruption, instability and various economic and political problems. Thus, there is no solution but to sell them in auction without exaggerating their value.
Mufeed Abdusaif, Director-General of Chambers of Commerce & Industry in Taiz, thinks that the aim of privatization is to support the state's budget or for covering its public expenditure. However, amid the current situation of the industrial sector in Yemen there is no benefit from privatization and I don't know what we are going to privatize! There is no big enterprises that can be privatized, and if we privatized some industrial plants or service providers, for sure, the government will fail to expand the base of beneficiaries of these plants since favoritism will dominate the situation. It is advisable for the government to follow the policy adopted by the former British prime minister, Margrette Thatcher who made some public enterprises for public auction by shares.
Privatization in Yemen... Very slow!
There are many reasons obstructing privatization in Yemen such as economic and financial disturbances, the existence of defects within the regulations and the lack of a timetable for the implementation of privatization. Dr. Mohammed Ali Qahtan believes that the reasons behind the slowdown in the privation process are as follows:
- The aims of privatization are not yet clear on the part of the government
- Public sector enterprises up for privatization have not been economically assessed since these enterprises are undergoing different problems and corruption is widely prevalent, therefore, this might have an impact on them even if they were transferred to the private sector ownership.
- The economic power of the private sector in Yemen is financially and administratively weak.
- Investment in Yemen is mostly weak.
- Corruption is prevalent at most of the government departments concerned with privatization.
Abdulmalik Mansour comments at this point saying, "I agree with you that privatization is moving slowly, because it is an new experience for the government and society alike. It contributes to regulation regarding privatization. Moreover, it contributes to the government economic policy to take such measures.' While Mufeed Abdu Saif said that we have no new information about the progress of privatization as the government announces its steps and not about the results of the committees which have been set up for implementing these plans.
Is the private sector capable to run the crippled public sector enterprises?
The private sector in Yemen is incompetent to run the enterprises put by the government for privatization since this sector has a different and a weak experience in investment as a whole.
Mohammed Qahtan has a different viewpoint to that of Ahmed Shamakh who believes that the private sector is capable to run these enterprises, particularly regarding the utilization of the site of the enterprise for different investment activities. Similarly, Mufeed Abdu Saif thinks that the private sector corporations are not charitable societies since they mainly seek profits, thus they search for successful and not crippled projects. Thus, it is better for the private sector to construct new projects instead of purchasing crippled ones. However, the private sector can upgrade the crippled public sector enterprises through replacing the outdated equipment with new equipment.
Successful projects
Most countries of the world privatize crippled enterprises, but in Yemen it is the opposite as the successful enterprises are the ones being made for privatization. Cement plants were among the enterprises put for privatization. A committee has been set by the parliament to visit these plants, which stressed the importance of these enterprises for the Yemeni economy and that the should not be privatized. Economic sources expressed their worries about the intention of the government to privatize the al-Barh Cement Plant which is the biggest cement plant in Yemen.
Abdulmalik Mansour, Director-General of al-Barah Plant said: al-Barah Cement Plant is not absolutely one of the crippled projects as you mentioned in your question. The plant produces even more cement than is its capacity, making hundreds of million Riyals in revenues, assisting hundred of families working in this plant, contributing to the development of Taiz Governorate and seven more other governorates around the country in the form of development fees. It is unfortunate for this plant that it has lacked its own power station since it began operating, so it has to pay more than one billion Riyal for electricity bills. Moreover, the plant stops three to four hours three times a weak due to electricity black-outs. Also, the plant must pay billion and seven hundred million Riyal every year as loan installments plus interest and compound interests since 1998. Despite of all these obstacles the plant is operating well, making a lot of revenues and its production reaches maximum capacity. As far as the power station is concerned, we are on the final steps of achieving this project whose capacity is 20 megawatt.
As matter of fact, President Ali Abdulah Salleh himself is paying significant attention to the three government-run cements plants ( al-Barah, Amran and Bajel cement plants). By doing this, we as a people working in these plants will be able to double the production and improve its quality to introduce this material to the final consumers in a low price and high quality.
The general Corporation for foreign Trade and Grains is one of the successful government-owned corporations, which is making a lot of profits and has been supplying consumers with bread, particularly in the wake of the civil war of 1994. Regrettably the name of this corporation has been listed among the other public enterprises made for privatization and the administration of this corporation has been forced to evacuate its building to be the headquarters for one of the new ministries, while the building of its branch in Hudaidah has been taken by the Marine Forces. Also, in Taiz the lands and properties of the corporation have been sold to some official bodies.
The National Bank of Yemen has played a significant role in implementing and financing different development projects as well as been making profits. According to statistics, the total capital of the bank has reached to YR 1.6 billion on the last July, while the monetary reserves has reached 32 YR billion.
Up till the cabinet issued law No. 5 concerning the privatization of the National Bank of Yemen, one of the most significant economic enterprises, this is undoubtedly a wrong decision and requires reviewing, since the bank is a successful enterprise and should not be privatized.
As a whole, the implementation of privatization in Yemen amid the current economic conditions is a random and illogical decision, which will have, for sure, very negative consequences.

Nada Mansour Al-Shamiri
Yemen Times
We all know about the suffering of handicapped children, who demand nothing but to be treated as humans. What the physically and mentally handicapped children lack is the ability to learn some practical skills to maintain themselves properly. Thus, they need a special training in order to acquire the required communication skills they need to gain self-confidence and to get rid of irrational fears. Likewise, they have the right to inquire about their rights and duties within their family and society, since these two entities should render care to them and empower them to be able to assume an active role in the development process. Consequently, handicapped children are entitled to have access to education, to practice their hobbies, to live a normal life and to be productive individuals in society.
This call is voiced by nearly all the physically and mentally handicapped people without the exclusion of any single segment of them. All of them hope to live a normal and a decent life depending on their own abilities to earn their livelihood. The Coordination Board for Yemeni NGOs is one of the entities responding to the call of handicapped children through organizing the first program for handicapped children nationwide. The program aims at enhancing cooperation among the different bodies involved in rendering care to handicapped children in Yemen, on the one hand, and integrating handicapped children with their non-handicapped brothers through organizing an orientation program for this end, on the other. Similarly, the program aims at introducing handicapped children to society and introducing them to the organizations and societies supporting them. The program played a significant role in providing handicapped children with valuable information on different disciplines and also gave them the opportunity to make wise use of the summer vacation.
Wajeha Mohammed Qarhash, coordinator of the program said that the preparations for the program started in mid-June and that the aforementioned committee was elected from the societies interested in taking part in this program. The second meeting was held at the premises of Radda Barnen, a Swedish organization deeply involved in rendering care to the handicapped in Yemen, with the view of working out the summer camp. We decided to find a place close to the Physically Handicapped Society, so as to facilitate the transport of computers, typewriters and some sports materials to the location of the camp. The executive committee of the program consists of Wajeha Qarhash, coordinator of the program, Muna al-Ghashmi of al-Aman Association for Blind Females, Khaled al-Haimi from the Physically Handicapped Society, Mohammed al-Faqih from the Orphanage Care House and Bashir al-Bahluli from the Deaf & Dumb Society.
Al-Qalam Model School was chosen to be the location of the camp, due to the availability of a spacious area within its grounds, which is a necessity for holding the camp. The program included trips, field visits and classroom activities chosen by the children themselves, and the participants were divided into three groups according to their ages. Moreover, the weekly assessment plan was made by the children, teachers, and administration and as a pilot project the persons in charge of the program expressed their concerns on how to gather children with different disabilities in one classroom and how to deal with the administrative team.
Some of the general objectives of the program are to entrust each society with a particular program such as the one adopted by al-Aman Association for Blind Females which mostly focused on training on typing. Similarly, different activities were included in the program such as cultural information classrooms, sports activities and theatrical performances which aim at discovering talented children. Since this is the first program of its kind in Yemen, it was natural to face many obstacles, particularly the issues related to discipline, food provision, and transportation. Likewise, there have been many problems pertaining to the delay in implementing the program and not completing some activities due to the short span of the program. However, the program has many positive aspects, despite the existence of some sensitivities among the participant societies since the teachers and children were able to work closely without any problem. The program has come out with many recommendations, underlining the importance of establishing close contact between the participants after the program, creating a special premise for hosting the different meetings and activities of these children, attaching care to the talented handicapped children and conveying their views to the concerned authorities.
The concluding party was attended by Ali Salleh, Deputy Minster of Social Affairs for the Development Sector, Nassir Mohammed Humaid Chairman of Yemeni Federation for NGOs, Trigvie Nickle regional representative of the Sweden-based Radda Barnen, Khaled Assal Program Officer of the Swedish Organization for Child Care in Yemen, chairmen of the societies, and the children along with their guardians.
The concluding party began with a recitation of the Holy Quran followed by a welcoming word delivered by Wajeha Qarhash, Director of the center in which she briefed the audience on the objectives and the idea of the program. The participant children then welcomed the attendants by a song expressing their happiness to take part at the program. Dr. Mohammed Humaid then delivered the word of the attendants in which he spoke on behalf of the federation which was founded in June, 2000. Dr. M. Humaid talked about the importance of having qualified handicapped people who can earn their livelihood independently, adding that the federation has created a special department for children and women so as to assume monitoring the issues related to children and women. Thus, the federation will attach importance to the major problems facing the handicapped, especially legislation that has to do with the handicapped. Dr. Mohammed expressed his thanks to Radda Barnen, the Swedish organization which exerts great efforts to assist the handicapped in Yemen and takes part in the demining program. Thereafter, different students showed their abilities, everyone in his respective field like Quran recitation, painting and typing.
The active participation of the children was one of the most important evidences of the success of this program, which was very rich in its diverse parts. All the participants came out happy with what the program has achieved.