BEMBOU SILATY — Mamadou Aliou, an environmental health worker and community activist in Bembou Silaty, Guinea, has criticized bauxite mining operations for displacing farmers and contaminating local water sources. The Indian mining company operating in the village began work in 2019 under an exploitation concession valid until 2034.
Aliou, who works in the environmental health and safety department for a bauxite mining company while also advocating for his community, described the loss of agricultural land as devastating. "Before these companies arrived, we cultivated our land, and it sustained us. We could cover our daily needs, especially food. But now, when a piece of land is registered and belongs to a mining company, you have nothing there any more." He added that compensation payments are insufficient and often quickly depleted. "They give you compensation for your land, but it’s not enough, and in the end, it’s mismanaged. Within a month or two, someone who received 50 or 100 million Guinean francs ($5,700–11,400) has nothing left. No land, no money. They have to start over, from below zero."
Residents of Bembou Silaty, a village of about 5,000 people in the Kindia region, continue to grow rice, cassava, peanuts, and cashews but report shrinking farmland and declining agricultural productivity. Locals blame mining companies for contaminated water, loss of farmland, and reduced crop yields. Although a new communal water tap installed since the mining company’s arrival serves most residents, Aliou says the water contains iron due to contamination.
Other community members echoed these concerns. Fatoumata Binta Bah, whose family once relied on cashew cultivation, said the compensation offered for their productive land fell short. "The land they took from us was productive. That’s what we lived on. In the end, it wasn’t enough." Trader and farmer Tala Oury Sow questioned the mining company’s impact on daily life: "Do you think we can live like this? We had hoped the mining company’s arrival would improve things, but it has gotten worse."
The Indian mining company did not respond to questions about land purchases or environmental practices. Across Guinea, more than a dozen bauxite projects are active, and the country has increased production tenfold over the past 30 years. Guinea holds the world’s largest bauxite reserves, with most exports going to China, which produces 60% of the world’s aluminium.