‘There are constant conflicts between Cameroonians and the Chinese’
Tensions and violence are rising in eastern Cameroon as Chinese firms take advantage of a regulatory twilight zone to mine gold, amid killings, land grabs, corruption.
“There are constant conflicts between Cameroonians and the Chinese” over gold mining, said Narma Ndoyama, a farmer in Longa Mali, a small village in the middle of the mining area.
At the beginning of April, four companies were banned from mining in East Cameroon, according to Foder, a group that campaigns for protecting the environment and rural development.
One of them was the Chinese firm Lu and Lang, which is notorious in the region after one of its employees allegedly killed a Cameroonian who was looking for gold on land claimed by the company, according to Foder.
“Villagers rioted and killed the Chinese man” by stoning him, said Ndoyama.
The mining company resumed its activities at Longa Mali after a brief halt.
The Chinese “killed my son, but they did nothing” for me, said Philippe Balla, the victim’s father. “They are working and no one bothers them.”
Anger still simmers among locals over companies buying agricultural land “for crumbs”, said Michel Pilo, who is the village elder for Mali, the area which encompasses Longa Mali.
“They devastate our fields,” he said, saying a patch of land worth 500,000 CFA francs (US$925) was purchased for 80,000 CFA francs.
Farmers feel they have no choice but to sell, said a local official.
“You can’t refuse because if you do your land will be dug up without the payment of any compensation,” said the official on condition of anonymity.
Ndoyama is one of the few farmers to still have cultivable land.
