ALGERIA: Kabylie region wrestles with stigma of war as support for Islamic insurgents wanes but youths continue to be frustrated at the lack of local jobs

Record ID: 573514

  • Title: ALGERIA: Kabylie region wrestles with stigma of war as support for Islamic insurgents wanes but youths continue to be frustrated at the lack of local jobs
  • Date: 6th April 2009
  • Summary: ZEROUALI WALKING DOWN STAIRS OF HOME (SOUNDBITE) (French) DELLYS MAYOR, RABAH ZEROUALI, SAYING: "We can envisage a museum, or a house, which can be visited by Algerian or foreign tourists. This can be a tourist opportunity for the town of Dellys." MORE OF DAMAGED HOUSES VARIOUS OF INDUSTRIAL ESTATE (SOUNDBITE) (French) DELLYS MAYOR, RABAH ZEROUALI, SAYING: "It's an industrial area without any activity. Work is vital for Dellys because we have an imbalance that cannot create new jobs. The only solution to creating jobs for the youths is by restoring these areas." INDUSTRIAL BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (French) DELLYS MAYOR, RABAH ZEROUALI, SAYING: "Everybody must play their part in order for us to solve these problems. It's not a difficult problem and it can be solved easily, all we need is the willpower." ABANDONED INDUSTRIAL BUILDING VARIOUS OF SCENIC VIEWS
  • Embargoed: 21st April 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Algeria
  • Country: Algeria
  • Topics: Employment,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9AQMTSL2SO3T6PHF38Y2EPFGG
  • Story Text: The 15 police checkpoints on the road from the Algerian capital to Dellys are reason enough for an eerie atmosphere hanging over this Mediterranean port town.
    Pristine, empty beaches, pine forests and a rambling 2,000-year-old casbah should make it a tourist hotspot, yet Dellys is isolated as it tries to recover from a brutal civil conflict that engulfed the north African country in the 1990's.
    Many towns in the restive, mountainous Kabylie province are still struggling to shake off the legacy of violence. With its tourism potential and proximity to Algiers, only 130 km (80 miles) away, Dellys might have hoped to fare better.
    Fisherman Toudji Omar says many of the coastal town's residents depend on the sea for their income.
    "I don't know what the solution is, they should protect the sea by placing special regulations to end industrial fishing and keep traditional fishing. This is, if they want to preserve the sea and allow locals to make a living from it," he said.
    Many Dellys residents joined the Islamist insurgency in the 1990s, but now say militancy has given way to a stifling isolation.
    The government is back in control of Kabylie's towns after support for radical Islamism waned among a war-weary population, and a succession of official amnesties prompted thousands of rebels to lay down their arms.
    But ongoing clashes between government troops and insurgents, poor infrastructure and cumbersome bureaucracy have blocked investment in the region.
    The road from Dellys to Mizrana in the mountains remains closed for security reasons and locals say bored, frustrated youngsters are turning to drugs such as cannabis and amphetamines in growing numbers.
    Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has overseen the north African country's retreat from chaos since 1999, has promised a 150 billion dollar national development programme if he is re-elected this month.
    Few weighty opponents have emerged to challenge the 72-year-old Bouteflika, who is widely tipped to win the April 9 polls and extend his tenure to 2014.
    Mayor Rabah Zerouali had expected improving security would spur inward investment and job creation in the town of 29,000, where traditional industries are sardines and grapes. He has been disappointed.
    "The infrastructure that was available in the '70's is no longer available. There was no tourism projects, you cannot have tourism without tourist facilities. The reason is the period of instability that had a severe affect, especially the ten black years. Currently, we are trying to modernise tourism here by working with a variety of sectors, we have a number of priorities here in Dellys," he said.
    Much of the town's homes are crumbling and the mayor says there is an opportunity to reserve their old state to attract tourists looking for a sense of history.
    "We can envisage a museum, or a house, which can be visited by Algerian or foreign tourists. This can be a tourist opportunity for the town of Dellys," he added.
    In towns like Dellys only a decade ago, rival loyalties split friends and families while rebels battled government troops for control of the mountainous region east of Algiers.
    Schools and hospitals closed and curfews cut residents off from the outside world. Militias intimidated residents and used murder to settle scores.
    Violence returned to Dellys in September 2007 when a truck packed with 800 kg (1,800 lb) of explosives destroyed a barracks at the port, killing 37 people, damaging several houses and shattering windows in nearby streets.
    It was one of a series of attacks by Islamist rebels after they adopted the Al-Qaeda name and began to mimic the group's tactic of devastating urban bombings.
    But despite the recent setbacks, Zerouali says he is determined to turn the town's fortunes around, beginning with a widely abandoned industrial estate.
    "It's an industrial area without any activity. Work is vital for Dellys because we have an imbalance that cannot create new jobs. The only solution to creating jobs for the youths is by restoring these areas."
    "Everybody must play their part in order for us to solve these problems. It's not a difficult problem and it can be solved easily, all we need is the willpower," he added.
    Companies that used to employ tens of thousands have closed because heavy bureaucracy made it impossible for them to continue functioning.
    Some investors who tried to start business saw their projects scuppered by bureaucracy and a lack of timely credit.
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