A video posted on social media network on the so-called mega Gara Djebilet project has gone viral as it showed a bare land with a medium-size pit and no activity on the site contrary to the false propaganda produced by the state-owned Algerian media on the giant iron mine.
During a visit to the site, a Qatari youtuber who travelled to the mining project on the back of his motorcycle was shocked by the hard reality on the ground belying the misleading campaign launched by the Algerian regime to sell their public opinion hot air.
In a desperate attempt to conceal its diplomatic setbacks and deflect attention from the deepening political and socioeconomic crises, the Algerian rulers have trumpeted the project as a strategic step that will enable the country to reduce dependence on oil revenues, diversify its economy and become a major mining player on the international scene.
The Gara Djebilet mine, located in Tindouf province, is estimated to contain 3.5 billion tons, approximately 1.7 billion of which are exploitable. To overcome logistic hurdles, the delusional Algerian authorities pushed their game even further with the announcement a 950 km long Béchar-Tindouf-Gara Djebilet railway line amid skepticism about viability of the project.
Some Algerian economists and analysts were arrested for casting doubts over the cost-effectiveness of the undertaking with substantial expenses of Iron-ore processing and transportation.
The Algerian regime knows it is a losing bid but its end-game is just to provoke Morocco as the Gara Djebilet mine is located in Tindouf, once part of Moroccan Eastern Sahara which was unfairly ceded by France to Algeria during colonial era.
In 1972, Algeria and Morocco signed an agreement for joint development of Gara Djebilet mine, including transport of iron through Moroccan territory to the Atlantic. The agreement has not been implemented; but remains a legally binding contract by the signatories. And all the Algerian show was just a smoke-and-mirrors to hide the ruling junta failures and their losing battle against neighboring Morocco.
