Editorial
Rehabilitating slum-dwellers
Make it part of overall vision for urban development
The government's plan to rehabilitate at least 7,000-8,000 evicted slum-dwellers through constructing buildings on two plots of the works ministry land in Mohakhali and Mirpur areas in the city is a welcome step, if only because it is for the first time that an initiative on such scale has been taken towards providing concrete roofs for the homeless to live under. Whilst the move is reflective of the decision makers' concern for an essentially humanitarian issue, we have a long way to go in alleviating the housing problems of the numerous people who turn to the capital for making a livelihood. We believe the government needs to take a serious look at the urban slum issue and deal with the matter on a long-term basis. First of all, there should be growth centres developed in the outlying areas to hold the people to their rural habitats. Secondly, what do we do with the existing slum-dwellers or the 40,000 evictees who are not covered by the first phase of the housing programme? The problem with slum-dwellers in our context is that they have always been looked upon negatively. However, quite a few examples can be cited to prove that these people are providing both skilled and non-skilled labour in many sectors and making significant contributions to the service sector and the economy as a whole. One can hardly overlook the garment workers in this respect. There are good examples of how developing countries have provided low-cost housing for the urban poor initiated on the basis of pragmatic plans under public-private sector collaboration which attached due importance to the slum-dwellers' role in an urban setting. Shanty owners and middlemen exploit the urban poor and finally they are evicted from their homes when the land under their occupation is earmarked for real estate development. So, the latest government move has to take into account the vulnerability of the poor and leave no loopholes in the plan to transfer the buildings to the homeless at a nominal cost payable at easy installments. Obviously, piecemeal efforts will not bring about the desired change in the lot of the urban poor. The plan of creating housing facilities for the slum-dwellers, evicted or otherwise, has to be included in the overall urban development scheme of the government.
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