Business Defeats Petty Locals Again
Sierra Leone can’t escape the Resource Curse - as long as capitalism is around anyway. This time it’s the largest iron ore reserves in 20 years.
As usual, the people pay.
Massive iron ore project brings mining tensions back to Sierra Leone - CSMonitor.com
“Tensions spilled over into violence outside Kemedugu on the evening of Nov. 25. According to the same NGO report, a group of youths upset over the bulldozing of a particular plot of farmland barricaded a road near an African Minerals’ worksite, effectively holding hostage a small group of the company’s staff.
After initial negotiations failed, local police blasted the crowd with tear gas and shot live rounds into the air. Several people were badly beaten; at least one woman was hospitalized.
Later that night, another group of locals did $400,000 worth of damage to African Minerals’ equipment. The clash died down soon afterward, but underlying tensions remain high.
Despite the flare-up, African Minerals continues its work apace. The company plans to ship its inaugural batch of ore in the first quarter of 2011.”
