Ilakaka : le Far-West à Madagascar (EXTRAIT)
Le 28 février 98, alors qu’il faisait boire son troupeau, un paysan découvrit une pépite de saphir près du petit village d’Ilakaka. Sans le savoir, il venait de mettre à jour un merveilleux filon. Dans les mois suivants, la fièvre du saphir gagnait tout le pays. Venus de toutes les provinces malgaches, des centaines, des milliers de personnes s’installaient ici en plein désert, tout près de nulle part. Venus de toutes les provinces malgaches, des milliers de personnes s'installaient ici, en plein désert, tout près de nulle part. Sept ans plus tard, la ferveur n'est pas retombée. Fuyant la misère et attirés par l'espoir d'un improbable joyau, des paysans, petits-commerçants, forestiers, fonctionnaires abandonnent chaque jour leur travail et leur région pour se faire mineur à Ilakaka. Quelques uns y font fortune mais la plupart y perdent tout, même leurs illusions.
On February 28th 1998, as he was watching his herd of cattle drink, a farmer found a sapphire nugget near the small village of Ilakaka. Without knowing it, he had just struck gold. Within the following months, “sapphire fever” spread over the whole country. Coming from all the Malagasy provinces, hundreds, even thousands of people settled down there, in the middle of the desert, in the middle of nowhere. Seven years later, the fever is still at its peak. As they hope to find an improbable jewel, farmers, shop keepers, wood cutters, civil servants are leaving poverty behind, giving up their job and their region to become miners in Ilakaka. A few of them succeed in making their fortune, but most of them loose every thing, even their dreams.
On February 28th 1998, as he was watching his herd of cattle drink, a farmer found a sapphire nugget near the small village of Ilakaka. Without knowing it, he had just struck gold. Within the following months, “sapphire fever” spread over the whole country. Coming from all the Malagasy provinces, hundreds, even thousands of people settled down there, in the middle of the desert, in the middle of nowhere. Seven years later, the fever is still at its peak. As they hope to find an improbable jewel, farmers, shop keepers, wood cutters, civil servants are leaving poverty behind, giving up their job and their region to become miners in Ilakaka. A few of them succeed in making their fortune, but most of them loose every thing, even their dreams.