Antananarivo municipality cracks down on illegal construction

The Commune urbaine d’Antananarivo (CUA) is increasing inspections of illegal buildings in the capital of Madagascar to improve urban planning.

Urban planning services reported that only 20 percent of buildings in the city currently hold a construction permit. Officials now identify roughly 100 violations every week. To address this, the municipality launched a month long campaign on November 10 at the Analakely square to help owners regularize existing structures.

Hery Lala Andriamanalinarisoa, the director of urban planning at the CUA, warned that owners who continue work despite prohibitions face penalties that can include sealing the site. The inspections specifically target buildings constructed over canals, which can block water flow and hinder the maintenance of the sanitation network. Municipal technicians are checking these sites to see if they can divert the canals. If a diversion is technically impossible, the municipality will decide on other measures.

The current campaign aims to speed up the processing of applications and prevent new violations while the city maintains long term oversight of construction projects.