Ruin and revolt at uni

ANGRY: GEN Z STUDENTS LEAD THE WAVE OF PROTESTS IN MADAGASCAR >>> Dormitory dwellers are 'literally living in filth'.

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ROTTING. A student walks past a pile of rubbish accumulated in front of the university dormitories at the University of Ankato in Antananarivo, Madagascar, on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

(AFP)

There was a stagnant puddle in the hallway of the university residence that opened only two years ago, but the rainy season had not yet started in Madagascar.

"Come see our dormitories," student Ulric Sambizafy offered at one of a wave of protests that have rocked the Indian Ocean island nation since September 25.

Trash floated in an open-air wastewater drain two metres from his back door.

"During the rainy season, we'll have sewage up to here," said the 24-year-old master's student in renewable energy, pointing to his mid-calf. "That's what justifies our revolt," he said.

Originally from eastern Madagascar, Sambizafy is among the educated Malagasy youth swelling the ranks of the Gen Z movement behind the protests that led President Andry Rajoelina to dismiss his entire government on September 29.