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Dear Editors,
I was caught off-guard and was disappointed with
your unusual cheering and fawning in the news report
on the meeting of government representatives and
visiting Diaspora headlined, “Meles Surprise
Appearance at Government-Hosted Diaspora Gathering”,
[Volume 8, Number 386, September 23,
2007]. Everyone, including a newspaper such as
yours, is entitled to take a positive or negative
view of the work of the government and of the
attitudes of the visitors at the gathering.
In defence of the government’s import tariff
structure, you wrote, “Still, Ethiopia’s tariff
structure has dramatically changed over the past 15
years, after being revised almost three times. The
tariff ceiling has fallen from 230pc in the early
1990s to 35pc now, bringing down the average tariff
rate for nearly 5,000 items from 41.6pc to 17.5pc
today.”
What does “almost three times” mean in this
context? Does it mean it was revised twice and you
wanted to stretch it to three? If the maximum tariff
on any imported product (ceiling) has fallen to
35pc, how is it possible for a car bought for 3,000
dollars to be subject to duties amounting to
440,000.00 Br? Had you followed your usual style,
you would have reconciled the visitor’s claim
against the policy or practice and explained to your
readers what is going on here.
Perhaps you are still celebrating the
Millennium. Here is looking forward to the
resumption of your sober style of reporting.
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