VOA常速英语2008年-Senegal Prepares for Spotlight in Major Islamic

By Naomi Schwarz
Dakar
06 March 2008

Senegal has undertaken huge preparations for a major Islamic conference in an effort to transform the country into an international hub for business and diplomacy¹. But major roadway overhauls² and hotel construction are not yet complete and have led to questions about the government's competence³. Naomi Schwarz has more from Dakar.

Senegalese officials say they have staked their plans to become an international hub for conferences and business on the success of a major Islamic conference scheduled for next week.

The capital, Dakar, has spent years as a gridlocked construction zone while new roads, hotels and conference centers were built.

Commercials have been broadcast on Senegalese television for weeks, proclaiming Senegal's progress.

The announcer says Senegal will welcome the delegates in "its new clothes".

Karim Wade⁴, Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade's son, is the head of the organizing committee.

"Dakar now has a lot of modern infrastructure⁵," he said. "We have revamped more than 78 kilometers of road. We did substantial investment in the infrastructure. We upgrade(d) with new generation infrastructure, like bridges tunnels, and also on the hotel side, we have built a lot of hotels, we have a brand new convention center, which will host all the delegates for the OIC and which will turn Dakar into a major hub for business tourism."

The conference is a summit of leaders from the Organization of Islamic Conference, known as OIC. The organization brings together more than 50 majority Muslim countries. This is the second time Senegal has hosted the organization's summit.

The summit in Dakar in 1992 led to the construction of the city's most luxurious⁶ hotel, but plans were much more ambitious for this edition.

Senegal has received millions of dollars in investments for new infrastructure improvements from other member countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Wade says he hopes such assistance will continue after the summit. He talks about the umma, which means the Islamic community.

"I think that it will enhance the cooperation between Islamic umma members and especially between Africa and the non-African members of the Islamic umma," he said. "Today, many people in the Islamic umma consider that we need to enhance cooperation. We need to develop economic exchange, cultural exchange. And I think the summit in Dakar will be a major step."

The summit is also an opportunity for leaders from majority Islamic countries to present a united statement on issues relevant to the Islamic community, such as Palestinians' rights, and the representation of Islam in the media.

But uncompleted projects have led some critics to wonder whether Senegal is ready to host a conference of this magnitude.

Men with shovels⁷ work alongside bulldozers on one stretch of a new road from the airport.

Mamadou Gueye says he has been working long hours the past two weeks to try to finish. But he says the work will not be completed before the summit.

Nearby, a billboard⁸ marks the location of a brand new luxury hotel. But the lot is empty and construction has yet to begin.

Several large luxury boats, including one paid for by Morocco, are setting up anchor near the seaside capital to serve as extra lodgings⁹. Private villas¹⁰ are also being used. Some will be rented for very high prices, while others have been offered for free, as the government scrambled¹¹ to find enough rooms for an estimated 5,000 delegates arriving for the conference.

Wade admits that some of the funding has not yet been used. He says it is because there were some projects they knew they could not finish in time. He also said usually it takes five years to build a road in Senegal, and there are sometimes too many vacation days to make efficient progress.

Still he says he is not nervous for the conference.

"It is always harder than you expect, but so far we are very proud of what we have achieved," he said.

One major concern as diplomats¹², world leaders and foreign ministers arrive in Senegal, is security.

The government has announced several strict security measures to reduce the risk of any incidents. Delegates and journalists are being fingerprinted¹³, and asked to submit what it called a declaration of moral standards. The government will also forbid the sale of gas and other flammable products during the conference.

And a large portion of the city around the conference center will be closed to all circulation, unless you have a special badge.

Mamadou Diop works in a cell phone shop in the area to be closed. He is sitting in an outdoor stall getting breakfast.

He says he went to the police station to get the badge to allow him to cross into the closed area to come to work.

But the other patrons of the breakfast stall say they have not heard of the badges and do not plan to get them. 

Many residents of Dakar say they are not impressed by the summit preparations.

In one residential¹⁴ neighborhood, the sound of a garbage truck announcing its arrival with honking¹⁵ brings out many women with trash cans. Cleaning, painting sidewalks, and garbage collection in the summit area is taking place like never before.

Mounass Thiam, a maid in a nearby house, says you never know when the garbage truck will come and it does not come enough.

But the women say that for the last week, it has come every day.

Abdou Ndiaye, a resident of this neighborhood near the main road that links downtown Dakar to the airport says this is typical in Senegal before a major event.

He says, after the conference, the garbage pick-ups will stop again.

He says the government does the same thing for elections, to make the population happy for a few days. But he says Senegal needs something regular, not just now and then.

But the current government of President Wade says Senegal's clean-up is a long term project and that it will attract much needed outside investment.

Senegal has a reputation as one of West Africa's most stable and democratic countries, since it has never experienced a coup¹⁶, but more than half the population still lives on less than $2 a day.

1 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

2 overhauls   

v.彻底检查( overhaul的第三人称单数 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• The plant overhauls 8 locomotive, manufactures and repairs 100 train vehicles annually. 年机车解体大修8部，修、制各类型铁路车辆百余辆。 来自互联网
• The wind turbine generator overhauls what is the standard flow? 风机检修的的标准流程是什么？ 来自互联网

3 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

4 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

7 shovels   

n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
• In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天，我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句

8 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

9 lodgings   

n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍

参考例句：

• When he reached his lodgings the sun had set. 他到达公寓房间时，太阳已下山了。
• I'm on the hunt for lodgings. 我正在寻找住所。

10 villas   

别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅

参考例句：

• Magnificent villas are found throughout Italy. 在意大利到处可看到豪华的别墅。
• Rich men came down from wealthy Rome to build sea-side villas. 有钱人从富有的罗马来到这儿建造海滨别墅。

11 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 fingerprinted   

v.指纹( fingerprint的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The criminal was fingerprinted in the sheriff's office. 罪犯在警长办公室里被取下指纹。 来自辞典例句
• They were then taken to be photographed and fingerprinted. 然后，他们被带去照相、留指纹。 来自互联网

14 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

15 honking   

v.（使）发出雁叫似的声音，鸣（喇叭），按（喇叭）( honk的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Flocks of honking geese flew past. 雁群嗷嗷地飞过。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。