CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Léa Ratsiazo, Madagascar, August 1999
THEME = ECOLOGY
The sapphire rush: forecast of an ecological disaster
Madagascar's subsoil is full of mineral riches and new deposits have frequently been discovered in recent years. Only a few people, however, benefit from the resulting wealth. About 100 million dollars worth of precious stones and gold are smuggled from Madagascar every year and damage to the environment caused by mostly chaotic exploitation is considerable.
Madagascar has no petroleum, but is well-known for its mineral produce, especially gold and precious stones. Diamonds are the only precious stones not yet discovered here. Emeralds, rubies, gold and semi-precious stones have been exploited for a long time. However, new deposits of sapphires have been frequently discovered in recent years.
The authorities simply can't cope with what's happening. They either lack the necessary means or the administration is sometimes downright corrupt and so has let things go; yet, a solution could be found. Madagascar has had some previous enough experience in this matter, but nothing like what's taking place now. In the early nineties, deposits were discovered in Andranondambo in the southern part of the island, then, around 1995, in Ambondromifeby, in the north, followed, at the end of last year, by Ilakaka in the south. Except for some details, the story is always the same: discovery, rush, chaos, considerable environmental damage, emergency measures, official suspension of mining activity, riots ...
Apart from the circumstances just mentioned, prospecting, especially for precious stones, used to be rare or almost non- existent. In fact, Madagascar's most up-to-date mining map dates back more than thirty years. Discoveries were always made by accident. So what happens these days? While ploughing his land, a farmer discovers some precious stones. He immediately informs those around him and, immediately, everybody leaves farming and schooling to help with the exploitation.
The main thing to do first of all is to take over the best diggings and that's a matter of pure luck! And there's no time to be lost because, within a week, the whole population of the neighbouring villages and towns will be on the spot. The information travels by hearsay and, one month later, the whole island - if not the whole world via the media - knows about it: the rush is on.
The news that sapphires have been discovered has spread like wildfire all over the country and there's a real "sapphire rush" on. It doesn't matter you're race, age or sex or where you come from, - even from abroad. Most prospectors are from Madagascar; foreigners (Europeans, Asians and other Africans) come along mainly for trading and buying.
Let's take a look at a typical sapphire rush. Here we've got a small village - be it Ambondromifehy, Andranondambo or Ilakaka - villages with a population of some 200 people each. News leaks out that sapphires are to be had and what happens? Within a few months everywhere is overcrowded. Anything to do with city life is now part of these villagers' daily life. You can find night clubs, video shows, bars, hairdresser shops ... and a market offering radio cassettes, cloth or any kind of groceries. Sapphires are on sale wedged between cassavas and tomatoes. The new town now becomes a tourist attraction; it's worth visiting because it's a genuine "western" town - Malagasy style.
In no time, carrier firms are everywhere in the village, plying to and fro between the village and the nearest town. There's even taxi drivers looking for fares. In fact, everything's become chaotic. Nothing's been done to cater for such a crowd: no infrastructures, no drinking water, no electricity, no sanitation services, no schools. On the contrary, in Ambondromifehy, the village's only local authority primary school had to close, as all the pupils were helping their parents in and around the mines. There's also a serious danger from epidemics as no attempt is made to follow basic sanitation requirements.
Everybody works his "dig" in his own way, no standards exist. In the beginning, precious stones could be found merely by scratching the surface, but as time went by, one had to dig deeper and deeper. Holes may be several meters deep and people work protected by makeshift scaffolding. Miners are only poor peasants and work at their own risk. When one of the sites is exhausted, they go a little further on to another, leaving behind gaping holes and total desolation. Ambondromifehy and Ilakaka are situated near conservation areas and, as time goes by and the number of miners increases, some are tempted to enter the protected areas. Century- old trees have been uprooted, because the famous blue stones are caught among their roots. The police then have to intervene and that's the signal for rioting to begin. The peasants have given up everything to make their fortune from the blue stones, so they've nothing to lose. They've put everything they've got into their mining activities so it's no easy matter to call them to reason.
1998 official figures for gross sapphire exports were 2,547 kg, 36 kg having been extracted from Ilakaka region in November and December. Everybody knows that larger amounts of precious stones and gold have left the country illegally.
For the first time last year, the World Bank assessed that precious stones and gold smuggled out of the island amounted to approximately 100 million dollars. And yet, the Malagasy people's average income is among the lowest in the world: 250 dollars per capita per year. In other words, all these riches in no way benefit the country's population. Some economists, however, reckon that, if Madagascar's mineral wealth was properly managed and legally exported, the Malagasy people could even be exempted from taxation.
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