Spectre of conflict threatens the future of CAR ‘sandfishers’
Sand extraction provides a lifeline to many in impoverished CAR, but the industry faces a growing threat of violence.
Bangui, Central African Republic – As if summoned by the setting sun, dozens of wooden canoes laden with a precious cargo come in to moor on the shores of the Ubangi River.
Young men disembark from the boats and converge in the cool shade of a mango tree, while porters begin to unload their catch. A sweet palm wine makes the rounds as the smoke of cigarettes billows into the air.
Although they have spent their day out on the water, these men are not after the river’s staple fish, the capitaine (Nile perch). Rather, the men known locally as “sandfishers” dive to collect sand from the riverbed for construction.
This decades-old industry provides essential sand to builders, who mix it with cement to fuel Bangui’s construction industry. It is also a lifeline for hundreds in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, where poverty is rife and work scarce.
“In one day, I can make up to 30,000 francs ($50) when the price [of sand] is very high,” a sandfisher named Achill told Al Jazeera, although he said his typical daily earnings are closer to 12,000 francs ($22).
“The porters who unload the canoe can make up to 5,000 ($9), but you must be strong to do this work,” he added.
But the livelihoods of these men are at risk by a resurgence in violence that is threatening to once again engulf CAR, a resource-rich but poverty-stricken country where armed groups control large swaths of territory.
On January 13, an assault on Bangui led by a new rebel coalition vying to overthrow the re-elected President Faustin-Archange Touadera saw the labourers abandon the river and flee the city, leaving families without a daily income.
As a diver, 30-year-old Achill earns a decent living when compared with the meagre wages earned by most in CAR – where some 71 percent live below the poverty line of $1.90 per day – a wage reflective of the hardship of his trade. The legacy of decades of instability means people must find employment wherever possible.
“Look at our capital. There are no jobs here, so you find whatever work you can,” Achill said.