Neither superpower cared enough to bankroll the state. A few entrepreneurs effectively run their own mini countries.Ĭentralised planning during the years of the cold war ruined the post-independence economy. The south-east, verging on famine and expecting an emergency shipment from the World Food Programme today, is largely beyond the central government's control. On an island two and a half times the size of Britain, prone to cyclones and political upheavals, things are seldom straightforward. The British still associated mining with the industrial horrors of the 19th century, he said, but the rest of the world had moved on, recognising that mineral extraction could be progressive. Mr Lachapelle expected a hard public relations fight with the environmental lobby but was confident Rio Tinto would win. "We will keep going, no matter what," said Serge Lachapelle, executive director of QIT, the Canadian subsidiary of Rio Tinto, which is leading the project. Madagascar's government has given the go-ahead and the company has spent $41m (£24m) in anticipation of work starting in 2005. Rio Tinto claims the mine will be a model of green capitalism and a tonic for the world's fourth poorest country. Environmental groups are preparing for fresh challenges. In an age where ethical investment has become common the proposal seems to be a throwback to Africa's plunder by grasping Europeans and greedy multinationals. There will be a new port and breakwater, ships, roads, trucks and strangers.įor the flora and fauna of what is classified as a bio-diversity hotspot, an ecosystem which could hold cures for human diseases, the impact will be dramatic. Life will change utterly in the town most affected, the coastal community of Fort Dauphin. It will mean carving an artificial lake in what is left of the woodland and moving it, at about a metre a day, while a machine sucks up the earth and another sifts the ilmenite. The world's largest mining company, Rio Tinto, intends to dredge hundreds of millions of tonnes of soil over 6,000 hectares to extract ilmenite, a mineral used to make paint and toothpaste.
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