Tuesday , 19 March 2024
enfrit

Social

Nosy Be: an island without fishermen would not be worth the name, would it?

As a consequence to the shutdown of the main fishery of Nosy Be island, fishing activities unexpectedly resume and expand, be it outside every regulation. The paradoxical matter of fact has its source in the latest economic downturn and gets materialized by job losses affecting various other fields like tourism or sugar production industries. The Perfume Island actually happens to be more of a consumer than a producer of fishery resources mainly supplied from areas like Ambanja and Ambilobe. Fishing boats and artisanal fishermen have nonetheless always been part of the picture of Nosy Be island. Read More »

Education: The striking teachers not remotely intending to give ground

Over the recent weeks, public school teachers not yet contracted by the state, have been tackling a strike of their own. They require no less than their full integration into Civil Service. Talks were tackled on September 17th between the strikers, Permanent Bureau members from he National Assembly and the Minister of Education, yet, the public school teachers decided to keep on with their claim. Read More »

Easy going regarding licensing, unfair competition, botched up transition to digital TV: storm brewing over corporate media

Private media group owners had a skull session and jointly protested at the local government's lack of transparency over some of its, no challenged initiatives deemed to affect local commercial broadcasting as a whole. Their joint statement addressed the emergence of the new television and radio stations answerable to the city council of Antananarivo, the irrational assignment of broadcasting licenses, the striking unequal of treatment in face of treasury and the common resistance to a forced switchover to digital broadcasting. Even though his name was not mentioned at any time, the Minister of Communication may consider his very authority as challenged in this issue. Read More »

Swarms of locusts bring a wind of panic with them over the City of the Thousands

They have been framed for several major offenses at a time in Antananarivo: unauthorized gathering, desecration of national State sovereignty, coercition to jeopardize State food security, terrorism… a sharp and colorful sense of humor proved to be the single back to back reaction to the invasion of swarms of locusts on that day. Later on, the FAO and the local ministry for agriculture jointly sustained in a common speech that this invasion of Antananarivo was no evidence of any collapse of the long term fight against locusts at all, and that control is no longer to be recovered but over a mere percent of the infected areas. Read More »

The “free education for all concept” sold to pupils’ parents

On a background of unceasing social tension, public primary school teachers, whose wages happened to be paid by the pupils' parents, put demands forth, which are nowhere near to be met someday. The national education minister said to be not able to afford to do so. So what to do with some 65 000 teachers frustrated by their insignificant salaries, and impoverished parents no longer able or willing to pay in the state' stead? There is apparently nothing of any use to do... except pointing at an alleged politically motivated scheme, as per usual. Read More »

The capital city’ slums not yet on the mend

The Massive Commitment of Labor Force (locally called HIMO) strategy found its first application field into a waterwaste channel purification project in Antananarivo city's low level districts. Hundreds of people have been tasked to proceed to cleaning over 20 days. The administration displayed satisfaction as a result. The local population has it however quite a different way. Read More »

Internet: Madagascans watching their freedom of expression winding back

The ruling power in Madagascar definitely has the web in sight. It is blamed for having allegedly fueled a poor portrayal of the transitional ruling power and ultimately contributed to spoil its conquest of international acknowledgement. News websites, blogs, forums and social networks are from now on summoned to mind their words. In order to dodge the expected accusations of will to take on freedom of speech online, the Kolo government's justice minister denied any personal involvement in the issue of the particularly harsh terms of the law against computer crime. Read More »

Freedom of the press: predators and victims

Is Hery Rajaonarimampianina possibly a predator to the freedom of the? The Head of State has quite cleverly managed to capitalize on the problematic situation he unwillingly got engulfed in by his State Minister, party leader and friend Rivo Rakotovao. For neither judges nor public prosecutors are blamed by the people in first line for sending reporters behind bars in general. Empowered politicians are. Read More »

Laws against computer crime: big big figures as deterrent

The hacking - official version term - of the Foreign Affairs Department's website, which recently led to the issue of a fake authorization to recover home soil for former president Marc Ravalomanana, did actually not prove a large enough scoop to highlight the fact that Madagascar now issued a law against computer crime. The act establishes penalties as harsh as a 10 years imprisonment sentence plus a Ar 100 million high fine. Loging in with password not one's own, facebooking or simply reacting on online forums are all ordinary things which Madagascans might eventually have to pay dearly. Read More »

A million children in need of schooling

The National Education department works on the way to enter nearly a million children who had too drop off school over the latest years because of the political crisis which has been taking its toll on the population back to the education temple again. Read More »