Morning all,
The Government have not made the promised payment to our client whose incredible level of patience has now run out.
As of today, we are putting a halt to the project and we are pulling out of Niger.
This could be only a temporary thing though I suspect it may be more permanent.
I’d love to be proved wrong on this though, and having just got back from discussing it with Larabas, I do feel a little more confident that we could be back to finish what we’ve started.
Today we poured the final base slab as planned- see photo 94 of it being flooded to prevent cracking.
We also poured our second strip of what will be dunnage blocks and we did a couple of abattoir wall sections.
After the guys had all left for the day, I also took photos 110 and 115 which show the site looking south and north respectively.
Personally I prefer it when there are loads of people and a bit of gear around doing some work but I thought an empty site might be more symbolic.
And yes, I have since washed my footprints off the roof and bonnet of the landcruiser.
Tomorrow will be spent packing up any power tools, hand tools, printers, computers etc along with all our files which will be taken to villa 3 for safekeeping as we have paid six months up front for it.
We’ll also secure all our other materials as best we can inside the compound, in the storage compound and the main building.
The guards and Police will hopefully be kept on if there’s any chance of us coming back as if they go as well, within days everything will be stripped bare no matter how well we secure it.
We’ll then get all our guys together for one final barbeques, that will possibly involve another geep or a shoat.
Or maybe I should try for a cow as it’s our last day.
It’ll be hard telling our guys that it is all over before it is complete though, I’m sure they’ll take it in their stride as they do with all adversity.
Some may not find work for a long time and here, that is a very big issue.
Telling our guys won’t be nearly as hard as it will be to tell the teachers and Kids at Gamkalle 4 school that we possibly won’t be back and therefore won’t be able to do the things we have talked about.
Once the guys have been sent on their way, we will lock everything up and head back to the villas ourselves.
I have the accountant coming back in on Monday and we’ll get all the guys to come in and be paid up to date, and will also double check we have everyone’s contact details just in case we do come back.
We’ve put a lot of effort in to getting our team skilled and we don’t want to have to do it all again.
I’m not sure exactly how I’ll feel when I leave site for the final time, but it will probably be a mix of disappointment, sadness and immense frustration.
There’ll probably be a fair bit of anger that so much effort from so many people here and around the world will have been wasted because of what is essentially an admin issue.
I always think to do something is more effective than doing nothing at all but here they prefer the opposite.
If we do not return then the loss of workload and loss of profit for not only us but all the other companies involved is obviously incredibly important but there is a bit more to it than that.
We started off with simply another project and another challenge but it has developed into something a lot more significant for me and I’d like to think for others working on it as well.
We have commenced an important and at times very difficult undertaking which has tested everyone over here and also you guys back home.
Due to some political lack of decisionmaking and a complete absence of forward vision, we are being forced to walk away from a great project.
The abattoir and the associated pastoral and animal breeding programmes would have been of huge benefit to the state and people of Niger, which is exactly what they need right now.
We have met some lovely but incredibly unfortunate (by virtue of the location of their birth) men women and children who are desperate to get themselves out of poverty and this project, and the future operation of the plant would have made a big difference to them for years to come.
I don’t say this lightly but to some, their very lives depend on exactly this type of investment.
I feel immensely proud of what everyone working on this has achieved so far, and of the enthusiasm shown by everyone on the team who has in the past, or is currently working on the project.
Thank you to everyone involved, I know we would have done something really worthwhile had we been allowed to. We still could do.
Thanks especially to the guys who were trusting and adventurous enough to come over here and also their wives and girlfriends who let them. I know it’s been bloody hard.
Especially when your house is burgled and your husband isn’t there to give support, or when your daughter gets a new boyfriend and you are unable to vet him thoroughly!
Also thanks to the people who have put up with their partners/husbands in NZ and elsewhere being at work till all hours to get things done for us.
I sincerely hope we can return to finish what we have started but even if not, I’m confident that there will be another one of these.
Somewhere.
Sometime.
After all why would we want to stop when we’re this close to getting the hang of it.
Finally, thanks for reading,
Me
PS Apologies for this sounding like an Oscar acceptance speech, it’s not meant to be.
PPS Don’t call us over the weekend, because after we’ve packed up we’re selling the satellite phones and we’re off down the bush bar with our emergency funds to get hammered.........
