GOMA, 28 July 2009 (IRIN): Charcoal profits are helping to fuel the conflict in the eastern part of DR Congo, where militia groups and some segments of the national army control the production of and trade in the commodity, say officials.
– All the armed groups, including the FDLR (Forces démocratiques pour la liberation du Rwanda), and some individuals in the army are implicated in the traffic of makala (charcoal = trækul), said Emmanuel de Merode, director of Virunga National Park.
– Illegal trade in makala generates sale of up to 30 million US dollar (ca. 160 mio. DKR, a huge amount in a poor country) per year. A large proportion of this money goes to the armed groups, said De Merode.
Charcoal trade is common in the eastern part of the vast country. On the roads leading to Goma, North Kivu Provinces main town, lorries and bicycles are often seen stacked with sacks of charcoal sourced from militia strongholds.
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