A land transformation survey scheduled yesterday morning on a plot in Tsarahasina Ambohimangakely was cancelled at the last minute. An hour and a half after the time specified in the notice sent to the fokontany chief, the surveyor announced to the assembled groups that the survey could not proceed. "The necessary administrative documents are not yet ready at the Topography service, as the file must go back to the commission. Since the plan and file background are not yet available, we cannot conduct the survey," he explained, attempting to ease tensions. This survey takes place in a particularly tense climate. The legal status of the land is the subject of a dispute involving three distinct groups. A family present on site opposed the survey to defend what they consider their family property. "This land belongs to our family. Our parents lived there and our family home is located there," protested a representative of the group. For their part, new buyers have retained a lawyer to demand execution of a "grosse." The lawyer for another group of buyers argues, conversely, that no operation should take place until judicial proceedings are definitively closed. Furthermore, the woman claiming family ownership states she has filed a cassation appeal, which keeps the file in abeyance. In the absence of a compliant topographic file and faced with this judicial complexity, the operation has been suspended pending further notice.