Mon, 08:02 28 Apr 2008 GMT17

 
Peter Bosshard
Peter Bosshard is policy director of the U.S.-based non-profit group International Rivers, which works to strengthen the social and environmental standards of governments, financial institutions and the dam industry. Before joining International Rivers in 2002, Peter was director of the Berne Declaration, a Swiss advocacy group. His favourite river is the Albula in the Swiss Alps.
Power sector scandal leaves Nigeria's poor in the dark
01 Apr 2008 09:42:00 GMT
Author: Peter Bosshard

In January, Nigeria's new President Umaru Yar'Adua announced that between 1999 and 2007, the administration of his predecessor Olusegun Obasanjo spent $10 billion on the power sector without building any new power plants. A leading legislator soon raised the figure to $16 billion and started a parliamentary investigation into the matter.

The scandal is now unfolding. It shows how corruption results in mega-projects that benefit the powerful but neglect the needs of the poor. Many Nigerian homes and businesses are forced to rely on generators for electricity because of lengthy and frequent power cuts in the oil-rich nation.

 ... 
 
VIEWPOINT: West's 'dirty work' fuels China's resource spree
11 Feb 2008 15:40:00 GMT
Author: Peter Bosshard

China's quest for resources is stretching the planet's ecological limits. But whose fault is it?

China is rapidly buying up the world's resources. The new global superpower is exploring oil fields in Africa and Central Asia, drilling for gas in Burma, building hydropower dams in the Mekong region, prospecting for minerals in the Congo and cutting down forests in Indonesia. China's hunger for raw materials is pushing up the price of oil and other resources, and stretching the ecological limits of the planet.

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