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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1984, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby Voice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess, Publisher- Managing Editor The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents It has drawbacks, but we need the GO-ALRT ard On two senarnta an-I I ...i .no , .e . - mu area nave protested the develop- ment of a maintenance yard to service the GO- ALRT (Advanced Light Rail Transit) system that le On September 20, 1960, a group of newsmen were sittingIn the Delegates' Lounge at the United Nations ln New York. Several new nations had just been admitted ta the ON, among them the cçntral Af rican country of Chad. One of the reporters, a bored and cynical American, then working on his third martini, was reading aloud the list of new members. He paused. Now what the hell is a Chad?" he*said. Hed have had an answer of sorts in a recent Globe and Mail. Chad, according to one of the Correspondent's sources, is Bangladesh and then some. Chad had gained its independence from France just days before It became a UN member. Clearly, it was l -prepared for national status, or it wouldn't be n this kind of shape a quarter century later. This year, because of drought and civil strife, Chad's food production is expected to drop to about'300 thousand tonnes, about half what its four or five million people need to survive. Despite the best efforts of the international agencies, Chad is starving to death. The problem this year is complicated by the fact that food deliveries are threatened, because of low water levels in a key border river. If the water gets too low, the ferries won't be able to operate, effec- tively cutting off food convoys. The Globe was highly critical of the role played ln all of this by the Canadian International Development Agency, CIDA for short. The Globe accuses CIDA of providing direct food aid of only 550 tonnes, about a twentieth of what the Americans send. Wrong, says CIDA. The real direct aid figure is almost four times that, and the bulk of Canadian food aid is sent indirectly through the World Food Program, for a total of 10,000 tonnes. The Globe also charged CIDA with "dithering" over an agreement in principle to supply Chad with about three-quarters of a million dollars wor- th of bridge parts to span the falling river. CIDA says wrong again. There has been no agreement, in principle or otherwise. The request was for an entire bridge, worth three million dollars and the response was a flat and rapid "no", for a variety of what appear to me to be very good reasons. Having said that, we as a nation do bear some responsibility for Chad. Like other liberal nations, we applauded the death of colonialism and sup- ported the mad rush to independence by nations which were not ready. We were instrumental in lowering the flood gates at the United Nations. Chad Is still not a household word in North America, but it may bë - to our sorrow - before much longer. c w r: ý - -- ---- -ýpoqýAf la &W iasi wee Kt residents C)f thR r.r-irrirf^r A 1 ýÀV a will be operating in this area in a couple of years time. While the residents, represented by the Corridor Area Ratepayers Association, have said repeatedly that they do not oppose the extension of the GO commuter system they are not pleased that the maintenance facility which will be located on Champlain Ave. between the Cadbury-Sch- weppes plant and the Oshawa border - not 300 metres from the nearest home. In addition to increased noise and other en- vironmental problems, the residents maintain that such a facility will have a detrimental impact on the value to their properties. GO-ALRT officiais and their supporters, most notably Whitby Town Council, have said that these impacts will be kept at a minimum for a number of reasons. Firstly, the advanced light rail transit vehicles are almost 50 per cent lighter than conventional railway cars. Since they are built to transport people, they will be more quiet and comfortable. It has also been pointed out that during the initial stages there will only be about 22 of the vehicles stationed there. Furthermore, when the project is developed ta its fullest potential, there will oniy be about 150of them. However, the residents have countered that the vehicles are still on steel wheels and will travel on steel tracks. In other words, they will still be noisy. Town officiais have also noted that the property in question hMs an Ml zoning which permits out- side storage even for heavy industrial uses. This community has waited for a long time for he expansion of the GO Transit system. We belleve it will have many positive benefits for the own. Among these are the attraction of new C îeople to our town. These new people will buy lomes here, shop here, send their children to chool here and help bolster Whitby's economy. It is a long awaited shot-in-the-arm. t 9 m