A deadly landslide at a gold mine on the Cameroon-Central African Republic border has triggered calls for greater oversight of mining operations, after dozens of people were killed and many more were reported missing.
The accident happened on Tuesday at the Zamboye mining site, about 50 kilometres from the Central African town of Baboua, near the border with Cameroon.
Local residents said nearly 500 people were working at the open-pit mine, which is known to be particularly dangerous.
Such accidents are not unusual during the rainy season, but the scale of the disaster is unprecedented, Samuel Nguiffo, director of the Centre for Environment and Development and a specialist in mining issues in Cameroon, told RFI.
Many young people had gone to the site to earn money ahead of the new school year, making it busier than usual, he said.
“This accident was a wakeup call not only for the authorities but also the companies that buy the gold,” Nguiffo warned. “They will be obliged to invest to improve the working conditions.”
People operating the mines have so far focused on making money quickly and have not invested in infrastructure or equipment, he added.
According to the Central African authorities at least 49 people lost their lives, including Cameroonians and Chadians.
The government has ordered the temporary closure of the mining site until further notice and the prosecutor in Baboua has opened an investigation.
However, the death toll is disputed by witnesses and the victims’ relatives, who report around a hundred deaths.
Mines Minister Rufin Benam-Beltoungou visited the site on Wednesday and held a meeting with some of the artisanal miners who acknowledged instances of indiscipline among their fellow miners.
“The Central African Armed Forces (FACA) asked them to get out of the pit because the soil was very loose; it had been raining here for practically 72 hours. Unfortunately, these compatriots did not comply – as they themselves admitted. They kept digging, and eventually, the ground gave way and collapsed on top of them,” he told RFI’s Bangui correspondent Rolf Steve Domia-Leu.
The Cameroonian government confirmed the deaths of at least four of its citizens and reported other injuries.
Gregoire Mvongo, governor of the eastern Cameroonian region, said on public CRTV radio that they were “working in close collaboration with our Central African colleagues to deal with the aftermath of this tragedy”.
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A quick reminder that gold mining in the Central Africa, Cameroon, and Congo is heavily controlled by Chinese companies and individuals, while even the most basic social and environmental standards in the mining sector are frequently ignored.
In March this year, for example, Cameroon’s gold miners’ union revealed that nearly 200 sites were being operated illegally by Chinese nationals, showing the extent of weak state control.
… Corruption is also a factor, with many Chinese companies protected by powerful elites in Cameroon … Artisanal [informal] gold mining in Cameroon is characterised by Chinese operators working alongside officially registered companies. Most sites lack effective state regulation, community involvement and equitable benefit redistribution …
Local communities’ farmland and equipment are being destroyed, and toxic substances like mercury – used for gold extraction – are polluting rivers and agricultural land. Media reports reveal arbitrary arrests and violence against residents and artisanal miners, allegedly perpetrated by security forces, mining operators or people linked to mining activities …
Similar problems regarding Chinese activities and related environmental and social issues have long been known not only in Africa but across the entire Global South.
