Deal #5035 Version #70787

QMM failed to provide adequate information for local people about the mine development, with many local people having “ no, or only very little, idea about the dramatic changes taking place and the reasons for them”

Local inhabitants armed with spears and slingshots have been protesting since Wednesday against the low prices the company paid to buy their land. The protesters in Fort Dauphin say the mine exploited them, a charge the company denies.

The company displaced local people from their land. An estimated 6000 people live in rural villages in and around the forest and heathland area which is to be removed to make room for the mine. People allegedly have lost access to the food, firewood and medicines they had relied upon from the forest.

The plots went for between 100 and 6,000 Malagazy ariary. Many community members received either inadequate compensation or no compensation at all for their customary land rights.