The fact that more than 10,000 Fijians are living in 23 informal settlements within Suva is deeply concerning.
This was according to the newly launched Suva City Council (SCC) Voluntary Local Review (VLR) report. It revealed that over 16 percent of the combined Suva-to-Nausori population live in slums, informal settlements, or inadequate housing conditions. This will obviously raise many questions.
Addressing the issue at the launch, permanent secretary for the Ministry of Local Government Seema Sharma suggested a lack of long-term urban planning may be a key contributor to the housing crisis.
The problem, she said, wasn’t just about housing shortage. It was also about the absence of proper urban planning.
Informal settlements, she said, were expanding because “many Fijians simply cannot afford homes”.
There was a need, she said, for forward-thinking urban development that anticipates future population growth, job availability, service accessibility, and quality of life.
This is when councils planning urban areas “can’t just look five or 10 years ahead”.
“They need to project 50 years into the future to properly allocate resources and build infrastructure that supports sustainable growth.”
Having a clear urban development blueprint would guide decisions, she said, on where to locate housing, industry, and commerce, ensuring investments in infrastructure are both strategic and effective.
Councils, she said, would need to think about what their projections were going to be like 50 years from now.
The figures are, however, quite concerning.
Understandably, there would be the issue of housing availability, and the ability of people to be able to afford, and own property.
It calls for urgent action, and a rethink of how we should address our housing needs.
And then there are challenges associated with informal settlements that must be addressed as well.
There are many challenges faced by people living in informal settlements, and they range from the absence of proper power and water supply in many cases, and the lack of proper sewage systems to name a few.
As the rural to urban drift continues, we are faced with a massive number of people making a beeline for many of our urban centres.
And it’s to either find employment, or for a number of other needs, including education and medical attention for instance.
What we need right now is attention focused on this challenge. That will mean the powers that be pulling all stops to ensure appropriate attention is focused on giving people an opportunity to improve their lives and get out of these informal settlements.
We have a growing crisis that can longer be ignored!
We need more than short-term fixes.
And as Ms Sharma said, strategies must look beyond five to 10 years!
We must prioritise long-term urban planning and make affordable housing a central pillar of our development policy!
Otherwise we risk increasing social inequality, and impact or undermine national development goals!
