VOA标准英语2009年-South Sudan Reacts Angrily to Report of Po

A senior leader of South Sudan's ruling party says its suspicions of foul¹ play on the part of the North have been confirmed by a new report that finds discrepancies² in the oil figures reported by Khartoum. Oil revenue sharing is a crucial component³ of the North-South peace agreement signed in 2005 and accounts for nearly all of the South's income.

The report released by resources and conflict research group Global Witness says that the oil numbers released by the North simply "do not add up."

The group says it found figures reported by the North do not match the figures reported by the oil companies operating in the South, potentially costing the Southern government significant portions of its annual oil revenue.

The secretary-general of the South's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement, Pagan Amum, told VOA the Southern government has been completely locked out by the North in all of the oil production processes within its territory.

"After four years of our sole, lonely voice, it has been confirmed that there has been serious discrepancies that might mean that the government of South Sudan has been cheated for hundreds of millions of dollars," he said. "We need transparency, and we are calling for transparency now."
　
Pagan Amum (file photo)

Mr. Amum said that his party will raise the issue with the National Petroleum⁴ Commission to undergo a comprehensive review of the North's accounting⁵ methods as well as Khartoum's relationship with the oil companies.

But he said the international community may have to intervene.

"In the end of course we may need to resort to third-party international bodies to audit⁶ the petroleum revenue so that the Sudanese people really know how much of it has been used to their benefit," said the SPLM secretary-general.

The Global Witness report found that while the figures from northern oil fields, which are not subject to the oil sharing agreement, roughly matched those from the oil companies, the numbers from southern oil fields showed an under-reporting of oil production ranging from nine percent to 26 percent on the part of Khartoum.

The group notes that just a 10 percent fudge in the oil numbers would cost the Southern government $600 million a year, a sum great enough to cover the budget of multiple state ministries⁷. The South gets 98 percent of its funds from the oil sharing revenue.

China receives five percent of its total oil supplies from Sudan, while the Japanese also import a significant share from the Horn of Africa nation. The group is calling for the two countries to apply pressure on Khartoum to institute transparent⁸ methods of dealing⁹ with its Southern counterparts.

The North and South are co-partners within a coalition¹⁰ national government set up by the 2005 peace deal.

The SPLM secretary-general said that the purposeful undercutting of the peace deal by the North is making the forced marriage between the two parties increasingly difficult.

"We have problems in the implementation¹¹ because the National Congress Party is obstructing¹² the full implementation of the [Comprehensive Peace Agreement], which causes tensions and difficulties in our relationship because this relationship is based on the peace agreement," he said.

Global Witness says inquiries¹³ made towards the Khartoum government on the accounting methods for the nation's oil production were left unanswered.

1 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

2 discrepancies   

n.差异，不符合（之处），不一致（之处）( discrepancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• wide discrepancies in prices quoted for the work 这项工作的报价出入很大
• When both versions of the story were collated,major discrepancies were found. 在将这个故事的两个版本对照后，找出了主要的不符之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

4 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

5 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

6 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

7 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

8 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

11 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

12 obstructing   

阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车，你挡住了我家的车道。
• He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。

13 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》