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{
    "id": 136230,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/136230/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 473,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "in the city when we have so many human beings unsettled? This is actually a challenge that the Government cannot wish away. It is something that really needs to be thought out more critically. The other issue that needs to be considered by the Ministry is developing a policy that will comprehensively address the challenge of settlement in terms of why we are attracting so many people to the city. In the long run, if we continue with that kind of attraction, it is not sustainable. The resources will not be there. Could the Government also think about coming up with policies that will help retain a majority of the population in the rural areas? That can be done by simply ensuring that there is fair distribution of resources between urban and rural areas. When you concentrate resources in urban centres the result is that you end up attracting everybody to the city. This will require more resources for housing and so on and so forth. If the problem had been checked before, the people would be comfortably settled in rural areas and accorded services from there. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is also very clear that some of the challenges such as scarcity of water, electricity and other amenities, even though they may be said to be more viable within concentrated settlements; the rate of development of cities, particularly in Third World countries has been noted to be very fast. It happens within a short time span making resources completely inadequate. The Government cannot mobilize these kind of resources to sustain these settlements. The ultimate solution, if we will have anything that will amount to a genuine solution, is to plan the human settlement to be balanced between the rural and urban centers. What they are doing, therefore, is clearly a crisis management. The kind of resources being allocated to this sector can be compared to throwing peanuts to a starving population. The Government needs to demonstrate some seriousness and come up with a policy that is adequate to the challenges and problems that are posed by the settlement of many people. An urban population where over 70 cent of the people is living in slums means that you cannot provide them with proper services for human settlement. That poses all other challenges like crime and a lot of instability. The amount of money being allocated for slum upgrading is not adequate. It appears as if it is not being spent to lift up very insignificant minority to stop being slum dwellers of the city but to benefit rich people who can afford these houses. This is evidenced by the fact that even the structures which they have come up with are very expensive and slum dwellers cannot afford them. With those comments, I beg to support."
}