* REPORT : 15

The South African exchange to Madagascar.

26 May – 2 June 2001

PART 2 - Summary

Participants:
Nongazi Magwashu, Kenneth Mokoena, Nokangelani Roji, Sweetness Fana & Shawn Cuff

This brief summary of Trip II is a continuation of Joel and Fr AnzorenaÕs visit to Madagascar in January this year. I have included JoelÕs report below as a comprehensive introduction to the country, the city, the support organisation and the fledgling Federation. I say fledgling because it was only started following the suggestion to do so by Joel and Fr Jorge i.e. it is less than six months old! Compared to South Africa and even more so to Asia, it is in its infancy and understandably needs support in establishing a clear direction or understanding of federation activities as we know them.

EVICTIONS IN MADAGASCAR
A Brief Report (Joel Bolnick)

Madagascar, the EarthÕs second largest island, is also one of its poorest countries. More than seventy-percent of the population of about 14 million inhabitants live on less than US $1 per day.

Antananarivo (Tana) is the capital. It is located in the middle of the island. Today it spills out from the hills where the city was originally founded in pre-colonial times. Land has not really been a problem for poor people. Most land is public land and until recently poor people have been able to settle on public land without serious fear of eviction. This is graphically reflected in the fact that although people are very poor most houses are formally built, either from fired bricks or from compressed earth block.

Things changed dramatically for a few hundred families in October last year. The newly elected Mayor of Tana ordered the demolition of buildings along several roads leading into the city. This was part of a project funded with grant and loan finance from the World Bank, European Union and Japanese Government. The new mayor accelerated the implementation of a plan that has been on the drawing board since 1997, whereby the international donor agencies would invest in infrastructure upgrading – especially roads – in order to stimulate tourism. Tourism was seen as the engine that could drive development in the country.

It is estimated that about five hundred families were affected by the first wave of demolitions. Alternative land for resettlement was not provided, nor any compensation, except in the case of the people living in the slum of Andohatapenaka, who received about $15 (US) compensation each.

The people of Andohatapeneka also received some support from an NGO called CDA (Conseill Development dÕAndohatapeneka). This is a very well established service organization that was started by a charismatic Jesuit Priest in the mid 1980Õs. CDA only operates in Andohatapeneka. The agency runs a lot of interesting programmes for the poor in the settlement. These include infrastructure upgrading projects and water provision projects that CDA run in conjunction with community based organizations in the slums.

When the people were evicted they came to CDA for assistance. CDA made accommodation available to them in a village that CDA owns and that was built as accommodation it training institute. The families who were evicted were given until the end of January to remain on the CDA premises.

In November the Director of the programme went to Europe to meet with some of their Northern partners. In Germany they met with Misereor who suggested they get in touch with Shack Dwellers International (SDI). In the first week of January Joel Bolnick, Secretary of SDI and Fr. Jorge Anzorena of Selavip travelled to Tana to meet CDA and the people who were evicted.

During that week we got the opportunity to learn about all CDAÕs programes. We linked up with several of the committees that were managing the water project and one or two other that had involved in road construction together with CDA. We also met the Director and his staff. Of course we met with the people who had been evicted as well.

CDA was unsure about ways in which to deal with the problem of the evictions. The agency has a good relationship with the city authorities and is recognised for the work it does for the poor in Andohatapeneka.

We felt that it was almost certain that all donors involved in the rehabilitation of the roads would have some conditions in their contracts with the city to guarantee that peopleÕs situation would not deteriorate as a result of these developments. At the very least they would not wish to be seen to be funding a project that evicts poor people without the provision of reasonable alternatives. It was our suggestion that CDA assist the people living on their property to conduct a survey of all the families that have been affected by the eviction and try to make contact with other families who face a similar fate in the future. Thereafter we felt that the leaders of these evicted families could accompany CDA on meetings with the bilateral agencies involved and with Minister of Urbanisation and Development. We offered that a team from South Africa could come to Madagascar to assist the evicted families in their information gathering exercise and their negotiations.

The Director of CDA then raised the problem of finance. Even if alternative land was provided (which he thought was unlikely), where would the money come from to build affordable houses. It was then that we suggested that he should accompany some of the evictees on an exchange programme to India and Thailand to see how attempts are being made to address this problem in these countries.

Whilst the Director was cautious, the community leaders responded to these suggestions with enthusiasm. They prepared to set up a committee and begin linking up with other evicted families there and then. They also decided to go to CDA and ask permission to remain on CDA land until an alternative was negotiated.

This was the situation when we left Tana on January 5th. It was now up to the community to begin to organise itself and CDA to provide support. Understandably the communities enthusiasm was not matched by CDA. The service organisation felt a little unsure about its role and a little uncomfortable with the idea of acting as a support organisation to the evicted families.

We still await a response from CDA to our two exchange proposals.

Madagascar – Antananarivo – Trip II
26 May – 2 June 2001

Well, the response came and I was invited by SDI to accompany 3 members of the SAHPF and Nongazi Magwashu of PeopleÕs Dialogue, to visit Antananarivo. The main focus of our visit was to assist the Federation in strengthening their existing membership, expand their membership, conduct an enumeration exercise and to assist them in meeting with some of the relevant officials if at all possible and simply to share experiences.

In order to give the Madagascan Federation some direction and leadership, as previously suggested by Joel, a committee was formed. The committee has 12 members the majority of whom are women but with a male president. Unfortunately, as is often the case, this committee have become fairly strong and now act as the gatekeepers, spokespeople and decision makers for the entire federation.

I discussed this issue with Jose and the committee members themselves and pointed out the potential problems, the inherent dangers and the huge responsibility that they were taking upon themselves by adopting this approach. It is always crucial that the members have their own voice and make their own decisions!

Once our team got an audience with the Fed members, Nokangelani and Sweetness, ably supported by Kenneth, launched straight into the enumeration exercise. In the time available, it was impossible to complete the process with all members. Jose also mentioned that some glaring mistakes were obvious on checking just a few of the forms, particularly with regard to income levels. This was inevitable within the time available and I would suggest that the entire process should be redone with more diligence in the near future. I also suggested that they may need to adapt the questionnaire (not simply use a translated version of the SAHPF form) to provide answers to questions that may be more relevant to the Madagascan context.

The notion of why their savings and this enumeration is so important was explained to the members and an informative session of questions and answers then followed. Interestingly enough, during our meetings later in the week with both the Secretary General of Land Dept and the Deputy Mayor, this question was raised.

I also believe that the issue of savings needs to be addressed in more detail. At present, all 175 families (only those evicted by the new road development) are expected to save MF50 000 per month – not more and not less. The money saved cannot be accessed by members and no loans can be made in emergencies. It is brought to CDA and a paid staff member has the responsibility for recording all information and depositing the money in a commercial bank. The systems are rigid and well recorded. Should a particular family not have the full amount to save in one month, they are expected to make up the shortfall the following.

These savings are to be used solely for the purpose of either purchasing land or providing collateral in the hope of accessing additional funds, form donor agencies, in the future, or the purchase of building materials for houses. The real dream is that land will be made available by the municipal authorities and this money can then be used for the purchase of materials.

As discussed in more detail in the diarised report (Part 1) of the trip, one of the biggest hurdles that face this new Federation, as it strives to grow and gather more members, is that the income levels of the members differs greatly. From the Òpoorest of the poorÓ, which certainly represent the majority of members, to almost Òupper middle classÓ – quite obviously their aspirations are very different.
We were taken to see the railway scavengers during the course of the week. This was poverty on a scale that I have only previously experienced in certain parts of Asia. We walked (like tourists, I felt!) between shacks, while families tried to continue with their daily living in the filth and squalor on the disused railway line in the middle of town. The river (canal) alongside provided the receptacle for all sanitation and any other refuse. Our team encouraged the committee to introduce the concept of the federation to these people and encourage them to join. From the response that I witnessed, it may take a while before this happens – time will tell!

Interestingly enough, all of the officials that we met encouraged the Federation to expand and incorporate as many of TanaÕs homeless people in their plans for the future. They strongly suggested that more support would be forthcoming if the Fed was more inclusive of other homeless people and not only those that were evicted during the road construction!

Access to acceptable and affordable land appears to be the biggest problem in Tana. Considering that all of the ÒevicteesÓ, some for as long as 30 years, have lived in or close to town and the fact that their entire lives, social structures and places of income generation have been in town, any alternative would be difficult to accept.

The common message at all of our meetings with the various officials was that no land was available in the town itself but possibilities did exist Òin the suburbsÓ. The impression that I got, although never clarifed by those who I questioned, was that municipal owned land, Òin the suburbsÓ, could be made available at a nominal cost.

For future reference, I should include the list of meetings that were held:

Secretary General of Dept of Public Works – Mr Richard Randrianarisoa
Technical Advisor to SG of Dept of Land
Secretary General of Dept of Land Affairs
Deputy Mayor of Antananarivo

Unfortunately it was not possible to meet any of the donor agencies to enquire about contractual clauses pertaining to the evicted people during the road redevelopment. With the contracts in hand, we were hoping that pressure could possibly be brought to bear on the relevant officials or government agencies. Interestingly enough, Jose has also been unable to access these documents.

If nothing else, I believe that these meetings were a big step forward for the local Federation – they certainly opened future doors. It gave them an opportunity to introduce themselves, their activities and their needs, to (potentially) the correct officials. It also gave them the first opportunity of presenting themselves as a Federation. I do believe that Jose, in both his personal capacity and as Director of CDA can make many useful introductions, although it would be up to the Federation members themselves to initiate these meetings.
A common question that kept arising from the officials was how much land was required? Nobody was able to provide a calculated answer. We encouraged the Federation to use this time while they were identifying acceptable land and negotiating around these issues, to start addressing the issues of appropriate plot sizes. Only with this information could they start calculating how much land, including roads and other public facilities, would actually be required. Were they only going to negotiate around land for the 175 families that presently form the Federation, or should they first expand their membership to be more inclusive of others before deciding how much land should be requested?

The question of land size is also directly related to house size and design. Considering the non-availibility or exhorbitant cost of land, we encouraged people to consider double (multi) storey or terraced houses in order to save costs. Although this is not at all uncommon in Tana, the response to this idea was not very positive. Single storey, free standing houses are still the dream at this stage!

Regardless of the house types, maybe block or brick making would be a good programme to introduce to the Federation. This activity is not at all uncommon among the local people and literally hundreds of small enterprises can be seen along the banks of all rivers

A lot of work lies ahead and I believe that SDI and its affiliates have a lot to offer the Madagascan Federation. I would strongly suggest an exchange programme - in the near future to maintain the obvious momentum – either to South Africa or to Asia. If SA was the destination, I would suggest that they visit more than one settlement – with the E Cape being one destination where ntsuku zonke (daily saving!) is now happening.

I would also support an exchange to India but the contexts are so different that the potential gains might be diluted – maybe later! From the questions raised during this visit, it is obviously important to this relatively new group to work in a context that is familiar to them and I believe that a relationship is already developing between themselves and the SAHPF.

The Madagascan Federation needs exposure to and support from other federations of homeless people. Jose and the CDA have provided incredible support thus far and will continue to do so, with the clear understanding that they are simply supporting and not driving the activities of the Federation.

The Federation have also to realise the distinction of CDAÕs role. As an NGO that enjoys considerable support and goodwill from local politicians and officials, they have a lot to lose by potentially antagonising their allies. They do understandably not want to jeopardise this goodwill by being seeing as the driving force behind the Federation – particularly since the issue is so sensitive and the elections are looming!

I believe that the Federations foundations have been laid and with ongoing support could become a strong peopleÕs movement in the context of Madagascar.

The rivers form an integral part of the lives of the local people – it provides a venue for socializing and laundry, as well as a source of income for those prepared to work.