The joint management team is currently working on the recovery of the Fianarantsoa Côte Est (FCE) railway line. This structure was established in March 2023 following problems related to the management and operation of the line. In November 2021, the BB 246 locomotive, which was the only one in operation, broke down, and the company was severely impacted. Rail transport was completely halted from November 2021 to June 2023.
The reopening of the Fianarantsoa – Manakara line was officially announced on June 15, 2023, while the section connecting Fianarantsoa to Sahambavy and Manampatrana had already been operational since April 10, 2023. The train departed from Fianarantsoa on June 15, 2023, at 9 a.m. with around one hundred passengers on board. It arrived in Manakara at 3 a.m. on June 16. The 163 km journey took 16 hours. Moreover, the train derailed three times during the trip due to the poor condition of the tracks, according to a passenger’s testimony, which was confirmed by two other members of the recovery committee. “This derailment highlights the extent of the recovery needed after years of mismanagement,” emphasized a member of the FCE joint management team who wished to remain anonymous.
Corruption, abuse of power, nepotism, embezzlement of funds, and misappropriation of company equipment and assets—these are the causes of the management problems of the FCE railway line cited by our sources. But what is the true extent of these issues ? We conducted an investigation from February 2022 to June 2023. Most of the people we interviewed agree that wastefulness has plunged the FCE into a vast abyss. However, many remain reluctant to name the culprits openly, fearing the loss of their small benefits in the schemes, while others are afraid for their professional futures or even their lives.
The High Cost of Inactivity: FCE Loses 1.6 Billion Ariary
The FCE railway line serves 19 rural communes between Fianarantsoa and Manakara. Seven of these communes—located between the Ampitambe and Tolongoina stations, and between Manampatrana and Sahasinaka—are completely isolated without rail transport. The lives of millions of inhabitants depend on the FCE service, especially for transporting local products and facilitating medical evacuations. Revenue from freight and passenger transport, along with the rental of FCE-owned land and premises, has always been the two main financial pillars of the Fianarantsoa Côte Est railway, explains a former FCE financial officer.
During the company’s prosperous years, freight and passenger transport alone accounted for 80% of its income, while 20% came from land and property rentals.
Previously, FCE earned 21 million ariary in profit per week from freight and passenger services alone.
The train made three round trips per week—each loop between Fianarantsoa and Manakara generated 12 million ariary in revenue. Operating costs amounted to 5 million ariary, mostly due to fuel expenses. According to calculations, the company made a profit of 7 million ariary per trip. Based on this, the estimated total loss in revenue during the 19 months of inactivity, starting from November 2021, amounts to 1,596,000,000 ariary.
The company, however, is not the only party affected. The local population has also suffered from the suspension of rail service, as tons of local products have perished due to the lack of buyers on local markets. “It’s not only the farmers who benefit when the railway is functional. Consumers in Fianarantsoa also profit from lower prices, since the market would be flooded with goods—basic supply and demand,” says Claude Ranaivojaona, vice president of the FCE Stakeholders Association (ADI-FCE), which brings together the beneficiaries of the FCE line. He is one of the few sources who agreed to be named in our investigation.
“Tears, Silence, and a Broken Railway”
In addition to his role within the ADI-FCE association, our interviewee Claude Ranaivojaona is also an entrepreneur in the tourism sector based in Manampatrana, in the district of Ikongo—one of the 19 rural communes served by the FCE line. Since operations ceased, Claude has had to change professions and relocate to Fianarantsoa. “I have no reason to be afraid to speak with you. I’m simply doing my duty by sharing my testimony,” he responded when we requested an interview, which he granted in his home in May 2023.
After two hours of conversation, around 12 :30 p.m., an emotional Claude continued to share his account while pacing and mimicking the gestures of FCE line conductors who used to throw illicitly transported goods overboard before reaching the Fianarantsoa station. The fees from those goods were pocketed directly by the conductors and reportedly shared with other administrative staff, including a former director who was part of their network. Suddenly, he stopped moving and sat back down in his armchair. Out of breath, Claude removed his glasses, letting his tears show as he tried to hide his pain. Words failed him in describing the chaotic state of the FCE.
Clues and Complaints
Claude shared one of the many schemes that had plagued the FCE for years—a claim confirmed by two union members within the company who asked to remain anonymous. According to them, the network had been protected and backed by a former director who ensured its continued operation.
These individuals were, in a sense, untouchable, despite the fact that their actions were far from discreet. They were, quite literally, the hands that fed the former director himself. “How do you explain that, with the salary of an ordinary director, he could afford a luxurious villa worth several hundred million ariary in Fianarantsoa, along with other buildings in his native village ? And even worse, isn’t it suspicious that FCE employees who constantly complained about low wages managed to give the former director a 4×4 vehicle as a birthday gift ?” questioned one of the union members, pointing to signs that cast serious doubt.
According to both of our sources, formal complaints have already been filed against this former official and his close associates at the FCE for corruption and theft of various kinds. Yet these cases have seen no follow-up.
Nepotism in recruitment, an ongoing investigation into a shady fuel purchase contract with a petroleum operator, the resale of that fuel to FCE, repeated theft of spare parts and their resale to the company at inflated prices, opaque management of land and property rental contracts—the list goes on. The situation has created such a climate of fear that other employees have refused to speak out.
When questioned, several of our sources confirmed that complaints had been filed with the Independent Anti-Corruption Bureau (Bianco), Fianarantsoa branch, concerning the allegations against the former FCE director.
In May 2023, Malina journalists were granted an interview at Bianco’s Fianarantsoa office in Tanambao. Olivier Ratsimbazafy, regional director of Bianco Fianarantsoa, dismissed the claims made by employees, stating that his office had received no such complaint. “It is true that there is a case against this director at Bianco, but it has nothing to do with the FCE company,” he clarified.
Contacted by phone, the former director at the center of the accusations was asked to comment on the matter. He firmly refused to have any of his remarks published. “If you dare to publish my words, I will categorically deny that this conversation ever happened,” he warned at the end of a thirty-minute call.
What About the Construction of the Cotisse Building
According to the acting director of the FCE in office as of March 2022, the rental of land and premises is a legitimate and regulated source of income for the FCE. These rentals are governed by formal contracts with tenants, but on a precarious basis. In theory, the FCE can terminate such contracts at any time, and the land reverts to the company if needed for operational development purposes.
However, the allocation of a plot of land within the FCE station grounds to the Cotisse transport company has raised concerns. Cotisse is currently constructing a large building on the site. This plot is part of the property known as “La Vallée,” land title no. 611-V, which belongs to the Malagasy State and is not subject to any transfer or subdivision procedures, according to our verification at the land registry office in Fianarantsoa in June 2023. This raises questions about whether the lease agreement with Cotisse is truly precarious and compliant with required conditions.
During our field investigation in March 2022, we gathered information indicating that a construction permit had allegedly been issued by the urban municipality of Fianarantsoa through its urban planning department. A sign posted at the construction site confirmed the issuance of this permit under municipal decree No. 35 CU/F/CAB, dated June 14, 2017.
For the purpose of the investigation, we conducted a verification at the urban planning department of the Fianarantsoa municipality. It turned out that the decree in question was fictitious. The permit number did not appear in the authorization register corresponding to the date of June 14, 2017.
The head of the urban planning department categorically denied any involvement in issuing the building permit. “According to Law 2015-052 of December 16, 2015, on territorial planning, urbanism, and housing, the municipality is not authorized to issue a building permit for a structure like the Cotisse building, with a land coverage exceeding 1,000 square meters. The permit should have been issued at the ministerial level,” the department head explained. The urban planning department immediately ordered the removal of the authorization plaque from the construction site.
Cotisse Did Not Respond to the Committee’s Call
Despite the absence of a formal recovery plan, initiatives have been taken within the FCE recovery committee to begin the process of cleaning up the company’s internal management. The first step was to gather all tenants renting FCE land and premises to update the related records on June 14, 2023.
According to a source within the committee, 194 tenants from both the urban commune of Fianarantsoa and the rural commune of Ambalakely attended the meeting. According to inventories, 163 of them had paid their rent regularly, while about thirty tenants were in arrears since 2016 and 2017.
Based on this initial inventory, questions arise regarding Cotisse’s situation in terms of rent payments, assuming it still holds a lease contract with the FCE. Is the company solvent ? Does its absence at the meeting confirm rumors circulating behind the scenes that a 30-year emphyteutic lease agreement was concluded between the Malagasy State and Cotisse ? These questions remain unanswered locally.
Drowning in Billions of Debt
The current joint management team of the FCE is struggling to steer the company’s recovery, despite the financial success of the inaugural trip on June 15, 2023, which yielded a profit of 7 million ariary. According to a member of the management team, maintaining this pace remains uncertain due to the dilapidated state of the tracks. “Technically, complete rehabilitation work on the tracks should be carried out at least every 50 years. Yet ours has never undergone such work in 87 years,” he admitted helplessly.
“Moreover, several billion ariary in debts caused by mismanagement must be repaid. FCE’s current debts amount to approximately 2 billion ariary, including 105 million ariary owed to the petroleum company Galana and 35 million ariary to Jirama. Unpaid staff salaries total 1.6 billion ariary for 16 months of work,” the official confided.
As of mid-June 2023, no recovery plan has been established or approved, although the recovery committee—a body responsible for monitoring and overseeing necessary work—has already been set up. Implicitly, no financial plan is yet available to ensure the recovery. “It must be admitted that we are navigating completely in the fog, with no visibility whatsoever,” concluded this member of the FCE joint management team.
87 Years of History and Devotion
The FCE is a state-owned company and currently the only one operating within the Malagasy National Railway Network (RNCFM), following the concession of the Antananarivo–Antsirabe (TA), Antananarivo Côte Est (TCE), and Moramanga–Lac Alaotra (MLA) lines of the northern network to the Madarail company.
The construction of the FCE railway line lasted seven years, from 1929 to 1936, during the colonial period. Beyond its economic significance, the FCE also holds historical and cultural value. It is distinguished by its engineering feats, notably the Ankarampotsy tunnel—the longest tunnel in Madagascar—measuring 1 km between the Madiorano and Andrambovato stations. Historically, 5,000 men lost their lives during the tunnel’s construction. These men were forced laborers under the Public Works General Interest Workforce Service (SMOTIG) during the colonial era. This is one reason why the local population attaches great importance and even affection to this railway line. Beneficiaries regard it as a collective heritage.
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