There is no hygiene to speak of in the city of 190,000. Dark, filthy water stands idle where children play. The smell of raw sewage fights the acrid smell of burning charcoal. Officially, some 100 people die from the plague every year and once again, say local reporters, the real figure is much higher. Even at the posh Sunny Hotel in Mahajunga, rats run across the patio between the dining area and the swimming pool at sunset.
Rats carry the plague-transmitting flea.
However, US officials point to some improvements in opening the economy to foreign investment and commitments to greater democracy even if corruption remains a major source of frustration. NGOs complain that too much importance is being put on foreign trade zones and free ports and not enough on raising the standards of living for farmers and educating people in the countryside where there is little clean water, few schools, no electricity and total ignorance of the human disaster just a few years down the road if this ecological suicide is not stopped. Georges Kazolias is an American journalist based in Paris and a Professor of Journalism. In his 20 years on the job he has covered events throughout Africa, the turmoil in the former Soviet Union and the changes in Eastern Europe. He has also spoken out against the misuse of the press and is often cited for his testimony at the War Crimes Tribunal organized by Ramsey Clark in Brussels in 1991.