MADAGASCAR: Slum dwellings destroyed in Madagascar ahead of international sports competition

Record ID: 456743

  • Title: MADAGASCAR: Slum dwellings destroyed in Madagascar ahead of international sports competition
  • Date: 1st August 2007
  • Summary: TEMPORARY HOUSING TENTS PUT UP FOR THE HOMELESS NARINJA MIHIRANTSOA WALKING TOWARDS HER TENT MIHIRANTSOA WALKING INTO HER TENT (SOUNDBITE) (Malagasy) SLUM DWELLER, NARINJA MIHIRANTSOA, SAYING: "I'm not happy here. I want to have a house of my own. We have to share with many people in this tent. There are 14 people sharing this tent and it isn't big enough. I want a house of my own with my family." MIHIRANTSOA'S NEIGHBOURS WOMAN AND BABY BABY SLEEPS AND COUGHS CHILDREN PLAYING IN THE RUBBLE A CHILD PLAYS WITH A STICK NEXT TO FIRE A SHOE IN THE RUBBLE
  • Embargoed: 16th August 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Madagascar
  • Country: Madagascar
  • Topics: Domestic Politics,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA6XGI66Z4V9WWKNADOXNNSP2LM
  • Story Text: Hundreds of illegally built slum houses have been destroyed in the Madagascan capital of Antananarivo. The action was taken over the weekend to give the city a facelift ahead of the 7th Indian Ocean Islands Games, scheduled to take place in Madagascar between 9 - 19 August.
    More than 170 houses situated next to the Olympic-size swimming pool in the downtown area have been destroyed, leaving 1,234 people homeless. The Ampefiloha canal settlement as it is known, has existed for almost ten years.
    Yet, none of the houses were built with permits or planning permission, and as such are illegal.
    Fahry, a mother of five who has lived by the canal for four years, has returned to look for some of the possessions she lost during the demolition.
    She makes a living buying and selling scrap metal and has had to move her family in with relatives nearby. She says that in the days leading up to the recent demolition, conflicting messages had been issued by the local government.
    "Two days before, we heard of a letter but the president of our area said that we didn't need to move, that we could stay here, we didn't need to pack and leave. I wasn't home when the demolition happened. Someone came to tell me my house was gone. It was a shock," said Fahry.
    Illegal settlements like this are usually built in low-lying areas of the city that are at a high risk of flooding and cannot receive construction permits.
    Although this is part of an ongoing project to clear the cities' illicit housing developments, Mr Elyse Razafinahefa, Director of Urban Infrastructure and Development in Antananarivo, said that demolitions have been brought forward at the central government's request, due to the Indian Ocean Games.
    "All the construction there was illegal and at the same time they were right next to the Olympic swimming pool and also they are in the way of the flood path of the canal," said Razafinahefa.
    Under the original time frame for the housing project, the settlement would not have been demolished until new homes had been completed so that the residents could be relocated immediately.
    "We would have demolished the houses after completing our project.
    But at the moment the project has not been finished. That is why we are taking a step back to see what happens after the demolition. The central government committee wanted us to do it immediately so it was like that," added Razafinahefa.
    The government provided tents to house those recently made homeless by this demolition. However, some people like Narinja Mihirantsoa have found themselves sharing tents.
    "I'm not happy here. I want to have a house of my own. We have to share with many people in this tent. There are 14 people sharing this tent and it isn't big enough. I want a house of my own with my family," said Mihirantsoa.
    Madagascar is the world's fourth largest island and home to some 18 million people, many of whom live in poverty. Poverty and competition for agricultural land have put pressure on space in the capital city and on the island's dwindling forests.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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