CONGO: Congo's massive mineral wealth provides few rewards for the country's people due to political instability and insecurity

Record ID: 452196

  • Title: CONGO: Congo's massive mineral wealth provides few rewards for the country's people due to political instability and insecurity
  • Date: 17th November 2006
  • Summary: PEDESTIANS AT SIDE OF ROAD AND VEHICLES DRIVING DOWN ROAD IN BUNIA CONGOLESE SOLDIERS PATROLLING BUNIA VARIOUS OF UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPERS DRIVING THROUGH BUNIA
  • Embargoed: 2nd December 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Congo
  • Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of
  • Topics: Economic News
  • Reuters ID: LVA6Q879UBXS74FO2A7AFB3FBPF9
  • Story Text: At the bustling Iga Barriere outdoor market, gold traders spread plastic sheets on the ground and tip piles of shiny yellow nuggets onto home-made aluminium scales.
    With handfuls of grubby U.S. dollar bills changing hands at a frantic pace amid fierce haggling, it could be California 150 years ago. Except for the mobile phones, calculators and women in brightly-coloured dress balancing baskets on their heads.
    This is the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as it emerges from a decade of chaos and mineral-fuelled bloodshed.
    Merchants in its gold-rich but violence-prone northeast hope a final round of historic elections held in late October will wind up a peace process and end years of instability that have turned their once lucrative business into a hazard.
    The gold traders here claim they can each move about a kilogram of gold per week which grosses about 20,000 US dollars. It may sound like a lot, but they say they are lucky to be left with even 500 dollars as profit, once they are through with all their costs.
    "We are hoping and praying that these elections done will help us by giving us a leader who will guide us," said Christophe Lonema, president of Bunia's gold traders' association.
    But their dreams of an end to violence and a functioning economy may not be coming true anytime soon.
    Congolese former warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba vowed on Thursday to challenge "by all legal means" a presidential election result giving victory to his rival, incumbent President Joseph Kabila.
    Vice-President Bemba, who led a rebel group in Congo's 1998-2003 war, rejected the announcement by the electoral commission late on Wednesday (November 15) which gave Kabila victory with 58.05 percent of the votes against 41.95 percent for Bemba.
    Some of Bemba's youthful supporters stoned police and cars in the riverside capital Kinshasa yesterday (November 16).
    The northeast Ituri district was heavily fought over and occupied several times by neighbouring Uganda during Congo's 1998-2003 war which spawned a continuing humanitarian disaster in which an estimated 4 million people have been killed.
    Ituri has since hosted frequent battles between rival militia and ill-equipped government soldiers.
    Even after successfully navigating the dangers of war-torn eastern Congo, making a living can be tough.
    At nearby Nizi Pkata gold mine, men and boys covered in mud from head to toe submerge themselves in deep caverns, scraping out plastic bowls full of silt which are then meticulously sifted through for precious yellow flecks.
    A good days work will only bring them about 5-10 US dollars each.
    And the latest news from the capital Kinshasa will not help to lift their spirits as they eke out a meagre living here.
    Some of Bemba's youthful supporters stoned police and cars in the riverside capital Kinshasa yesterday (November 16).
    Anticipating possible trouble, U.N. and European peacekeeping troops and local police deployed in force in Kinshasa on Thursday (November 17) to prevent any violence stemming from the outcome of Democratic Republic of Congo's historic elections.
    Congo's war spawned a humanitarian crisis that has killed 4 million people. Aid workers estimate 1,200 still die daily from violence, hunger and disease.
    Soldiers loyal to the two political rivals fought days of street battles in August in which at least 30 people died. Four more were killed last Saturday (November 11) when the two sides clashed again.
    It seems that the gold miners of Ituri will have to keep digging and sifting in the mud for the glittering crumbs that keep them alive and fed for a lot longer than they hoped.
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