Director,
T.E.(Terry)
Manning,
Schoener 50,
1771 ED
Wieringerwerf,
The Netherlands.
Tel:
0031-227-604128
Homepage:
http://www.flowman.nl
E-mail:
(nameatendofline)@xs4all.nl : bakensverzet
and
"Money is not
the key that opens the gates of the market but the bolt that bars them"
Gesell, Silvio The
Natural Economic Order
Revised English
edition, Peter Owen,
“Poverty is created scarcity”
Wahu Kaara, point 8 of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, 58th
annual NGO Conference, United Nations,
Home
lighting in the project area is usually fuelled by kerosene lamps the average
cost of which is about Euro 3,50 per month, but can be higher in case of
shortage of fuel. This outgo constitutes a serious financial leakage from the
project area which should be stopped. Some families may be able to finance the
purchase of solar home systems through savings effected on the costs of
petroleum and, for instance, batteries consumed for radios.
The
central project management may set up a separate cooperative interest-free fund
under which solar home systems can be installed and more efficient radios
purchased. An amount of Euro (give amount) has been reserved for this purpose
under section 6.15, item 61501 of the budget for this purpose). This is a seed fund, to get the purchasing
groups off the ground. It is enough to cover a first lot of 297 pilot installations to set an example in
each tank commission area and launch the
system. The rest of the money must come from the cooperative contributions made
by the users participating. The purchasing cooperatives will repay the funds
included in budget item 61501 into the Cooperative Local Development Fund once
every family in the group has a photovoltaic lighting system installed. When
this repayment is made, the activities of the tank commission level purchasing
group will be automatically terminated. Each tank commission decides
independently when it opens its group purchasing facility for solar PV
lighting.
An choice may be expected to be made in favour of LED lighting systems.
Users will usually set up self-terminating cooperative buying structures
for the systems at tank commission level. In such cases it is expected that all
families served by a given tank commission or well commission will participate
in the cooperative. The tank commissions
may decide the social priorities for the gradual distribution of these systems.
They may for instance decide priorities by drawing lots. In that case, the speed of the distribution
of the systems will depend on the time required by the individual families to reimburse credits received. A family
accustomed to paying Euro 20-
Distribution of solar home systems is expected to commence in the last
phase, phase 4, of the project. Various activities currently cause of financial
leakage from the project area will then be taking place under the local money
(LETS) systems, and it is conceivable that (some) users have more formal money
available than before. Formal money funds may then be available for
contributions to buying cooperatives for solar home systems. Where each family
in a group formed contributes Euro 10 each month into its cooperative lighting
fund, one extended family out of 25 should be able to install a system each 4-6 weeks. This would
mean that each extended family in that tank commission area would have a solar
home system installed within about 2-3 years after the start of the
cooperative. The elimination of financial leakage from the project area due to
lighting and radios would become a reality within 4-5 years from the start of
the project.
Financial leakage through the use of inefficient battery-driven radios
could also be limited or stopped by the
use of high efficiency radios and/or mechanical wind-up radios. It should be
possible to recover the cost of the new radios through savings on batteries
within one year.
Next file :
05.61 Institutional developments.
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