Florida

Just saw the interview we did with the new President of Kirghizia, Rosa Otunbayeva while she was in a regional cooperation meeting in Astana. You can see it here.


http://www.euronews.net/2010/07/16/roza-otumbayeva-we-have-the-nation-waiting-to-reconstruct-itself/

I'm looking into doing a story on the oil spill but as it has been plugged, the interest for world news has diminished. But, a good story on the clean-up and the long-term effects on the people here would be interesting. The local press talks about how it is difficult to get pictures of the spill because BP doesn't want those pictures in the press. I want to do a story about how BP is hiring fishermen and their boats for the clean-up. Our neighbor, who's brother has a charter fishing boat is now working for BP. He says for his brother, it is a big help. Although he really doesn't do much cleaning up, he is still paid $1200 a day for 2-weeks a month. He won't loose money this year, but signing up to BP employment, he gives up his right to sue or receive any other compensation. For the immediate future, it might not be too bad for him and his colleagues. They receive their money right away and don't have to wait for maybe years going through the courts. The question still is of course, how long the clean-up will take and how long such programs will last.