Congo-B: villagers in the dark despite the presence of oil and electricity
Electricity problems are commonplace in Brazzaville.
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Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Pointe-Noire, in the south of Congo-Brazzaville, may well be the economic heart of the country, but some surrounding villages are still completely without electricity.
This is the case for example of Tchicanou, 700 inhabitants, about forty kilometers north of Pointe-Noire.
No electric wire connects them to the network, a situation all the more surprising as they live next to a power station and are surrounded by pipelines which transport oil.
In Tchicanou anger is brewing.
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With our special correspondent in Pointe-Noire,
Loïcia Martial
Tchicanou is immersed in the foliage of fruit trees.
Part of the village overlooks National 1. Standing in the courtyard of his house, built of planks, Sony Pambou, 50, looks into the distance at a flare that gives off smoke.
His house is only separated from the pipeline by a small bush.
The pipe is supplied by an electric transformer, but it is not entitled to current and its household appliances are only used for decoration.
“
We have freezers and television sets in our homes.
But we don't have the possibility of supplying them at all, for lack of power
, ”he laments.
Almost every day, Sony Pambou and his neighbors travel several kilometers to recharge their phones in another village.
There someone who owns a generator sells them electricity for a few euro cents.
The situation of Tchicanou angers the inhabitants.
“
Since I was born, I am 68 today, I live only in darkness.
It's very very nasty.
I think that my mother and my grandfather had a better life during the time of the AEF (French Equatorial Africa) than now
, ”says an angry resident.
“
We are really suffering.
The electric cables pass zero meters from our house, just behind our houses.
But, those who manage the current are not doing us a favor
”, storms a housewife.
Tchicanou is not an isolated case and several villages in the region are also deprived of electricity.
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Congo Brazzaville