Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-24-Speech-4-085"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050224.8.4-085"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, like my colleague, Mr David Martin, I found this to be a difficult vote. I voted against this resolution with a heavy heart but I did so for practical and sensible reasons. I was very disappointed by the Commissioner's lacklustre explanation and her rationale for rejecting Parliament's amendments. They were amendments that would have moved the vote in the right direction. Nevertheless, I believe that the proposal was a flawed gesture from the EU and not the sort of aid we should be intent on sending.
I was in the north and east of Sri Lanka recently. I saw at first hand the devastation. I saw boats ruined and lives devastated, but I saw nothing to make me believe that discarded, old, unwanted European vessels would be of use to them. Nor can I believe it is economic to try to transfer them: a few hundred boats to replace thousands that were lost. The people of Sri Lanka and elsewhere in South Asia need real help. Eight-and-a-half weeks on from 26 December, here we are offering a few clapped-out boats.
I believe in real aid; helping the people to rebuild their lives themselves. Give them the tools to build their own boats, suitable vessels. Lend them the labour, by all means. Help them make nets for continued fishing and everything else that they need. At the moment that aid is not getting through in the way that it should. We should not be in the business of just making gestures, however well-meaning they are."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples