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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: TV Ivory Coast Gold Rush - Ciyow
HEADLINE: Gold Rush in Ivory Coast Brings Money, Illegal Mining
PUBLISHED AT: 11/17/2022 at 8:30am
BYLINE: Yassin Ciyow
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Abidjan, Daoukro, Ivory Coast
VIDEOGRAPHER: Thomas Diego Badia
VIDEO EDITOR:
POST-PRODUCTION PRODUCER: Betty Ayoub
SCRIPT EDITOR(S): KE, MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA original, ________
PLATFORMS: Web __ TV _x_ Radio _x_
TRT: 3:47
VID APPROVED BY: KE
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES))
((INTRO))
[[For ten years, Ivory Coast in West Africa has been experiencing an unprecedented gold rush. And while it is a quickly expanding market for this historically agriculture-based nation, it is also causing a surge of illegal mining. For VOA, Yassin Ciyow has more from Ivory Coast.]]
((NARRATOR))
In the Daoukro region of Central Ivory Coast, these gold miners are illegally digging.
Bawentol is a 25-year-old farmer who arrived four months ago from neighboring Burkina Faso.
((Bawentol – Gold Digger)) (in French)
" As there is often no rain, there is not enough water at home. So I decided to come and work in gold, because it is in the gold that we can get ahead more quickly.”
((NARRATOR))
A gold miner can sometimes earn around 450 U.S. dollars a month. It can take a farm worker a year to earn the same amount.
((Sebastian, Gold Digger)) (in French)
"I used to work in my parents' field. We planted eggplants there, but it did not bring me any money. Gold is worth a lot more than eggplants."
((NARRATOR))
This landowner, Gaston Koukaminan, is a rubber planter, like his father and grandfather before him.
A few years ago, this land was a natural rubber plantation.
In 2017, he abandoned the family business to embark on illegal gold panning.
((Gaston Koukaminan - Landowner)) (in French)
" My rubber plantations get destroyed every year because of bushfires. I decided to stop cultivating rubber trees to search for gold instead."
((NARRATOR))
In 2021, the State began trying to stop illegal gold prospectors by creating a special brigade that has run some high-profile raids on illegal gold mining sites.
Koukaminan is aware of the risk he runs by illegally mining and says he is taking steps to turn legitimate.
((Gaston Koukaminan - Landowner)) (in French)
I'm going to do the paperwork for the gold mine because I see it's important to do so. If I manage to get the papers, at least I won't be afraid.”
((NARRATOR))
Lassina Sacko is the co-owner of this semi-industrial mine and works legally. He legalized his mine operation in 2015, when the Ivorian State issued a new mining code.
((Lassina Sacko, Semi-industrial Gold Mine Operator)) (French)
"Today, Gold is good business, especially since the government has made many efforts to regularize the sector; it allows me today to be an entrepreneur, it allows me to work freely, it allows me not to worry about bandits."
((NARRATION))
Advocates say bringing gold miners under a legal umbrella will benefit the whole country.
((Rodrigue Koné, Gold Panning Specialist)) (in French)
"At the local level, the populations do not have the technical expertise to preserve the environment, the fauna, and the flora. They also do not have the capabilities to manage revenue to create added value in local development.”
((NARRATION))
And government officials clearly realize the money being made could make a real difference in the economic lives of Ivory Coast citizens.
((Christine Logbo-Kossi, Professional Mining Association of Côte d'Ivoire)) (French)
"There is room to promote this sector more, so that it is better known and understood and continues to contribute to the national economy."
((NARRATOR))
Helping millions of clandestine gold miners become legal without depriving them of their source of income is no easy task.
Especially with the promise of gold money pushing more people into the illegal mining business every day.
((Yassin Ciyow, For VOA News, Ivory Coast))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Abidjan, Daoukro, Ivory Coast
BylineYassin Ciyow
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
