Call to resettle slum dwellers

Eviction is not the solution, says UN official

21 June 2010, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

Visiting UN Under-Secretary General Dr Anna Tibaijuka yesterday said slum dwellers must be resettled, not evicted from the slum, if the authorities want to use that particular site for other purposes. "Eviction is not the solution, it is the resettlement," she told reporters during a visit to Korail slum at Mahakhali in the city. Her remarks came as eviction fear prevails among the slum dwellers following an initiative taken by the science and ICT ministry to establish an IT (Information Technology) village on that site as part of the government efforts to build a 'Digital Bangladesh'. Slum dwellers have been residing over the last three decades in the Korail slum on 100 acres of land belonging to the science and ICT ministry, Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB), and Public Works Department. About 1.2 lakh people, mostly victims of river erosion and poverty, have been living in shanties erected by local influential people. The UN does not support arbitrary eviction as such steps would not solve the problems of the government, because these people will create an informal settlement, said Dr Anna, also the executive director of UN-HABITAT. "If you are going to use the land, you cannot do it at the expense of the poor, because we are fighting poverty, not the poor. We are fighting slums, not the slum dwellers," she said. Anna, who came to Dhaka on a one-day visit, said part of the land could be used for resettling the slum dwellers by constructing high-rises or they could be relocated for their betterment. She also said the UN wants the government to have dialogues to reach a consensus, which will be a 'win-win' solution for all. The development partners will be there for assistance, she added. Earlier, the slum dwellers told Anna that how a project 'Urban Partnerships for Poverty Reduction (UPPR)' in Korail was helping improve their living conditions. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Department for International Development (DFID) run the project in Korail slum and 29 others towns. Expressing her concern over the ramshackle slum, Anna said it could be a disaster if any fire breaks out here. She also said it is important to reduce population pressure on Dhaka city, but it would be self-delusion to think that sending back people to the countryside would resolve the problem. She also suggested planned development of other urban points for balanced urbanisation. Developing pro-poor mortgage mechanism can ensure housing facilities for the poor in the cities, she added. UN and government officials were present during her visit to the slum.