I previously wrote about the situation revolving around Sudan's oil wealth. I saw a letter to the editor in the Economist, challenging some of the points raised in the Economist's previous article on the subject. The letter was from Dr. Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani, parliamentary leader of the National Congress Party in Sudan. While I question some of the veracity of his points, it is always good to read the other side of the story. He took issue with the Economist's position that the national government failed to share the great oil wealth with the masses. In his letter, Dr. Atabani states that Sudan has doubled its spending on poor citizens lately and that because of spending on poor areas, the country has fallen into deficit. He also states that with the National Petroleum Commission, there will be "sustainable, equitable and transparent oil development." Further, Dr. Atabani claims that 70% of Darfur is secure and that it has "bustling local markets, streets and farms" and that people in the area are able to harvest much more food than previously.

While there may be some validity to Dr. Atabani's arguments, it seems to me that this position is a type of smokescreen for the reality that most of the Sudanese people endure tremendous poverty and that the oil dollars are just not being spread equitably. If this tremendous wealth was being spread around the country as it was coming in, then why would the national budget have to go into deficit? Perhaps the deficit is a result of too few funds remaining after the small wealthy oil beneficiaries take their cuts and leave little on which to run the country's economy. Even if the situation in Darfur has improved (which in my mind is still questionable, at least in terms of the picture painted by Dr. Atabani), the glaring disparity between these people, whose world has been turned upside down, and those who have taken most of the oil wealth, is evident. How can Dr. Atabani claim that anything about the oil industry in Sudan will be "sustainable, equitable and transparent." It appears that the where great oil wealth lies, some of the greatest poverty and inequity also seems to exist.