South African President Thabo Mbeki beat a giant wooden drum to open a "friendship village" ahead of the UN Earth summit in Johannesburg as activists slammed US President George W. Bush for boycotting a conference dedicated to reducing mankind's vandalism of the planet.

Around 100 heads of state and government from other countries are expected Tuesday, including the leaders of Britain, China, France, Germany and Japan, but Bush announced he would send Secretary of State Colin Powell in his place.

South African president Thabo Mbeki, left, rides on a merry-go-round, which pumps water at the same time, while on a visit to the Ubuntu Village Tuesday Aug 20, 2002. The village is an exhibition center and one of the several sites which will house the World Summit for Sustainable Development starting next week, in Johannesburg, (AP Photo/Schlak van Zuydam)

The US team will be carrying "concrete and practical proposals" on clean water, modern energy, good health, and productive agriculture, Bush said.

That did not wash among the tens of thousands of activists who have descended on Johannesburg to lobby official delegates to the 10-day World Summit on Sustainable Development, which opens on Monday.

"I think it is a big mistake and a shame for the summit," Greenpeace climate policy advisor Stephen Sawyer told AFP.

"I think the president of the richest country in the world could spare a few moments of his time to come to the world's poorest continent and show he cared and that the rest of the world did not just represent markets to exploit, resources to rip out and cheap labour for American companies."

Sawyer said "the best chance of any US flexibility" on issues like the Kyoto protocol on climate change -- which the Bush administration rejects -- would have been if Bush had had to sit down with leaders like French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder "who could put pressure on him."

WWF director of international policy Gordon Shepherd told AFP the organisation was "disappointed" that Bush would not be attending.

"We would have hoped that at the end of the day, the United States would have come along. It's disappointing that they are not going to," Shepherd told AFP from Geneva.

Preparatory talks have yielded little so far -- with blame focused on Washington.

A final conference in the Indonesian resort of Bali in late June failed to put together an action plan for the Johannesburg parley in what some delegations attributed to the US position.

Informal consultations since have yielded some progress, but the gap between the United States, Europe and developing nations has not been bridged on a number of crucial issues.

In Johannesburg, some 40,000 members of non-governmental organisations are holding workshops and exhibiting their causes.

The Ubuntu Village is home to hundreds of exhibitions -- showcasing ways of protecting the environment and reducing poverty -- by non-governmental organisations, governments and international agencies.

"This is a magnificent demonstration of what is meant by sustainable development," Mbeki said.

Among its attractions are the largest tent in the world filled with stalls and an arts and crafts centre and a community kraal promoting rural concerns.

The role of Africa, as the host continent, is celebrated at several stalls including a colourful African Union (AU) stand, alongside one for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

The AU, loosely modelled on the European Union, was launched in South Africa in July and will drive NEPAD -- an African initiative offering good governance in return for increased aid and trade opportunities from industrialised countries.

Numerous bins for recycling waste around the site beside the Wanderers cricket ground, are a reminder to delegates to practise what they preach.

© 2002 AFP

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