Locality: Mashamba West Mine, Kolwezi District, Lualaba, Katanga Copper Crescent, Katanga (Shaba), Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire)
Description: Mining Films – Kolwezi Mines Empire of Dust is a documentary about the problems the Chinese Railway Engineering Company (CREC) encountered in constructing a 300 kilometer sealed road connecting Kolwezi with Katanga’s capital, Lubumbashi, formerly known as Elisabethville. The road was originally built by the Belgians in the 1950s but was neglected and had deteriorated since independence like the rest of Congo’s infrastructure. Lao Yang, who works for the company is repeatedly stunned at the level of incompetence, laziness, lack of organization and forethought of the local workers. Even the simplest tasks become extraordinary challenges for the Chinese engineers. It is a very amusing film, and highlights many of the problems people face in the Congo. (Dust jacket photo courtesy of Bram Van Paesschen)

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