[Angola] Church denounces oil-rich Angola's crippling poverty

from Yahoo News

LUANDA (AFP) - The Roman Catholic church in Angola deplored the extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa's second largest oil producer where some 70 percent of the population earn less than a dollar a day.

It called for stepped up social spending and a more equitable distribution of wealth to uplift the masses, struggling to eke out a living after a 27-year civil war ended in 2002 and left the southern African nation in tatters.

"We are blessed with fertile land and other resources, we are the second biggest oil producer in Africa, but at the same time we are one of the world's poorest nations," a joint statement by Roman Catholic bishops said.

The statement condemned this "paradox" and denounced the "great social inequalities" in a country where the vast majority live in crippling poverty while a tiny fraction has a wildly ostentatious and luxurious lifestyle.

"In 2005, the Gross Domestic Product of Angola was over 2,000 dollars per person but 68 percent of the population earned less than a dollar a day," it said.

The bishops called upon the state to ensure "economic justice" by significantly increasing spending on health, education and farming.

Despite its vast mineral riches, including substantial reserves of oil and diamonds, a new United Nations-sponsored report earlier this month said 70 percent of Angola's 14 million population make do on 1.7 dollars a day or less.