Daphne Wysham: World Bank Takes the Money and Runs From Chad

By ACAS | 15 September 2008

Bendib on Chad

Now that the World Bank has announced its withdrawal of support for the $4.2 billion Chad-Cameroon pipeline, I can’t help but remember the eyes of that boy. We were racing back from the Doba oil fields to the Chadian capitol city of N’Djamena in July 2006, traveling by van after dark. We were doing it against all of the advice of our colleagues, but we had a plane to catch early the next morning. There were three of us Americans, traveling with a Chadian activist. And we had spent a longer day than expected interviewing villagers and non-governmental organizations about the Chad-Cameroon pipeline, a high-risk, World Bank-financed oil pipeline project in the southern part of Chad, and its impact.

Chad is a dangerous country, where entrenched poverty can contribute to a state of lawlessness after the sun sets. “Coupeurs de route,” bandits who block the main road with logs or broken-down cars and who usually allow you to escape with your life - but little else - were common in this part of Chad.

As we raced down the all-but-abandoned highway, sure enough, there was a truck up ahead, trying to flag us down, bricks around his vehicle signaling mechanical failure. Should we stop? Our driver slowed, while our Chadian friend urgently insisted he race on. Later, in his haste, the driver failed to swerve around a dog meandering across the road. We heard a sickening thud under the car and we continued on, as its dying yelps faded behind us.

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