I'd like to start with a brief recap of your professional and political background. You come from the part of the UNITA party which has continued on in the process of national reconciliation despite its leader Jonas Savimbi choosing to go back to war against the ruling MPLA party. What are your views regarding the state of the national reconciliation process in Angola?
My name is Jorge Aliceres Valentin, I was born in Lobito on 29 may 1937. I went to primary and secondary school in Angola; I then went to university at the University of Brussels. I was committed to the struggle for independence very early on; therefore as a student I was engaged in helping organise UNITA.
I can say that the process of national reconciliation is very old, we tried many times to reach some kind of agreement between the different liberation movements FNLA, MPLA and UNITA since 1975 when we negotiated independence.
In 1991 thanks to the Bicesse agreement, we went to elections. My party, UNITA lost the election and the leader Jonas Savimbi refused to accept the result and pushed us back into conflict. We ended that conflict with the Lusaka agreement on 20 November 1994.
These agreements were the most adequate agreements for all political parties. I was one of the essential negotiators on the UNITA side and we were thinking at the time that we could reach total peace in Angola.
Doctor Savimbi, the UNITA leader, then delayed sending UNITA party members to Luanda to participate in the GURN (Government for National Unity and Reconciliation). They were supposed to arrive in January 1995 and they only arrived in 1997. He sent 70 members to the National Assembly some of his generals to join the national army, the FAA (Forcas Armadas de Angola). He sent some party members to join the GURN such as me, as minister of tourism ,the minister of commerce, minister of health, minister of geology and mines as well as seven other vice ministers.
Unfortunately at the time, Dr. Savimbi was not committed to peace. He had a kind of Pol Pot mentally: full power or nothing. This is why, going straight to your question, I can say that the process of national reconciliation is working with members of UNITA within the government and in the army. However, very unfortunately Dr. Savimbi is staying in the bush, still fighting for total power despite having lost the military capacity to overthrow the government. Currently there are some pockets of resistance but they do not challenge the government.
We are living in two realities: the GURN, National Assembly and National Army on one hand and bush warfare on the other.
However this is not a serious issue any longer, it is simply a psychological war with Dr. Savimbi.
The majority of UNITA is committed to peace. Dr. Savimbi now only represents a minority within his own party. I can say to the international community that we are in a true process of national reconciliation. We are working together in one acceptable political system, participating in government, participating in elections, participating in the welfare of the country and including economic actors into the development process of Angola.
I believe that President Eduardo Dos Santos is a good willing person. As a member of UNITA, I can say that communication with him is good. Recently I was part of his delegation when he went to the DRC (Ex Zaire) for president Kabila's funeral.
We will have an election next year in Angola but I am more committed on how to achieve total national reconciliation in this country. Unfortunately, Dr. Savimbi still does not believe in the democratic process but he is completely isolated.
It seems quite fitting that as a member of the opposition within the GURN you are appointed to run the ministry of tourism, a ministry associated with peace.
You have inherited a sector of the economy that has suffered enormously since the war began in 1961. What are your top three priorities for this industry?
When I started as minister of tourism in May 1997, I came in with one philosophy: tourism is an important factor for developing a country; it is a source of income and it creates jobs.
To be minister of tourism in Angola is to be a preacher of national reconciliation. Tourism should be a catalyst for the Angolan people. Maybe we do not know each other so well in Angola; therefore, sometimes we see differences where there are no differences. We did not travel between regions during the colonial times and so it was very easy for political parties to push people in different regions up against each other. Now, through tourism, I have become some kind of minister of national reconciliation.
People say we have no war. I say in Luanda there is no war and the entire coast of Angola is completely safe.
Therefore, my priority has been hotel infrastructure and convincing people at home and abroad to invest money in hotels in Angola. I have been to tourism conferences in Chile, Turkey, Spain, Nigeria and South Africa Republic with the same message: people can invest safely in the hotel industry in Angola.
The first new hotel is the Tropico hotel in Luanda. The Portuguese Construction Company, Teixeira Duarte, built it. It is a high-class hotel of the same standards as in South Africa. The second hotel will be a four star international hotel called the Alvalade hotel. Situated in Luanda, it will be built by the same company.
On 3 February, we had inaugurated the Mundial Hotel, fully renovated by local investors.
We believe other companies from here and abroad will follow.
We are now encouraging international conferences to come to Angola. In fact, President Eduardo Dos Santos has already announced that a meeting of the Portuguese speaking countries' heads of state will take place later this year in Luanda because we have the hotel capacity for such an event.
| The next step is to have tourist resorts along the coast.
So far, have any international chains shown any interest in investing these resorts?
Yes the South Africans, the French and the Americans want to invest. However, the problem has been what they read about Angola on the Internet. Some pages on the Internet are wrong about Angola. We need to maintain publicity about Angola in such a way as to attract investors here.
The third step is developing eco-tourism. We are rehabilitating the Kisama reserve and we are getting help from the governments of South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia to encourage their private investors to come here.
Another step is to open a tourism school in Angola. We need the expertise amongst the people to run our new hotels. We discussed during the last cabinet meeting the opening of a school for professionals in the tourism industry.
So you are going to try to get this project approved by parliament?
Yes, We hope so. Now it is a question of getting the budget approved.
So to summarise our priorities: we have started by hotels in Luanda and rehabilitating Kissama park, then we will concentrate on the development of coastal resorts and then a school for the tourism industry.
You mentioned investors from abroad showing interest in constructing coastal resorts. Has construction started yet?
The tendency is the following: when a country is a former colony, foreign investors expect the former coloniser to lead the way. Now that the Portuguese have started investing here, other countries such as the USA will follow. The Alvalade Hotel is a 27 million dollars investment. If the Portuguese invest that kind of money here, others will agree that it is time to do the same.
The Americans are very involved in the petrol industry here. Hundreds of technicians work on offshore oil platforms but they do not know Angola. If we organise the tourism industry, I am sure a hotel chain, especially an American one, will come here to build hotels and golf courses for these people.
Have any already shown interest?
Yes and now the Americans want to send a delegation to discuss not only oil in Angola but also commerce and the hotels industry. Already a charter airline flies directly from Texas. We hope to get Sheraton Hotels or Holiday Inn to invest. If they come now it will be easier, if not they will get stronger competition. The first one to arrive in Angola will get the advantage.
Have the French been expressing interest in Angola's tourism industry?
Via Total Fina Elf, the French have very big oil extraction and exploration interests here. I remember when President Chirac visited Angola, he assured that the French would build up a hotel on the island of Luanda. Then there was some financial problem and the project failed. However, for the honour and dignity of France, which I respect so much, I think they should go ahead with the project.
Let us talk some more about eco-tourism and more precisely the rehabilitation of the Kissama national park. At what stage is this project?
The project is already underway. We have already organised two flights to bring animals there and we will be adding to that with animals from Zimbabwe and Botswana.
Is this a state project?
No, this is a private project. The government helps by bringing in animals by plane and sea.
Who are the investors?
There is an Angolan foundation chaired by a South African professor and there are other personalities involved as well.
What are the priorities for rehabilitating tourism related infrastructure?
The Panorama Hotel, Katekero Hotel and Tourism Hotel in Luanda need renovation.
We also need an investor to construct a hotel with a conference room. Now, conferences are held in the parliament building so we need a conference centre in Luanda. We also need a casino and a golf course.
We are appealing to foreign investors from any country. We are prepared to let them import the necessary construction materials free of import duty, bring their own technicians in from abroad and repatriate their profits. We are doing all this to encourage investors to come to Angola.
To conclude this interview, what message would you like to send to our readers?
I wish to add that I was one of the founding member of the opposition UNITA party therefore I visited Washington many times with UNITA delegations. So when it comes to Angola - US relations I know what I am talking about.
I also know France very well; I visited many high ranking officials there, analysing very thoroughly the Angolan situation. I conclude for them that Angola is a safe place to put their money. This is the right time to invest now, lets build up a new Angola, a country open to everyone in peace, prosperity and dignity. |
