| A S I A I n d i a
Building safer and cheaper toilets
With a little help from outside, these Pune slums
gained self-sufficiency for their sanitation needs From dilapidated toilets to smart ones
in plenty — that’s their story. From 1988 to 1998, the government constructed
just 22 toilet blocks in slum areas, woefully short for the half-million strong squatter
citizen population of Pune. So a three-way alliance between slumdwellers, NGOs and
authorities was launched in 1999.
The result? 400 better and cheaper toilet blocks ready.
More underway. The deal was this: The city gave the money to build the toilet blocks and
the slum dwellers constructed, managed and maintained them themselves, with a little help
from NGOs. The toilets are more user-friendly for children and the aged, they are brighter
and better ventilated, some even have community halls! This scheme is being adopted in
other cities.
S O U T H A M E R I C A B r a z i l
It pays to be stubborn
It has been a long and violent struggle on the road to
political recognition for this settlement Brasilia Teimosa, which literally means
"stubborn Brasilia", is a 50-hectare site on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, 5
kms from Recife, a state capital. Authorities developed the site in 1934 to develop a fuel
park, which was never built. That’s when the squatters started moving in and building
shelters. From then on, it was a fight for survival. In 1938, police destroyed
Orangi
slum dwellers in Pakistan contributed $2 million from their |
SOLUTIONS
Better!
 shanties, which were built again, a two-way process that continued
for 20 years. In 1964, a coup resulted severe prosecution by the military regime. After
that, Brasilia Teimosa formed a Residents Association in 1964, which was so well organized
that it resisted an eviction attempt in 1977. After that, the association is fighting for
land rights through a political process launched after the restoration of democracy in
Brazil.
A F R I C A
S u d a n
The law changed their lives
Jabra comes from "jabara", which means
co-operation and solidarity, which is exactly the story of this slum In 1983, the
government gave official recognition to Jabra in capital Khartoum and it’s been a
story of development after that. Residents undertook various public works themselves. For
example, they paid for the gravel and labour costs for the roads in Jabra, and the
government provided the required asphalt and machinery. Similar partnerships between the
two led to street lighting and the planting and maintenance of trees. Today Jabra has two
mosques, a police station, primary schools, numerous committees and councils.
A S I A P a k i s t a n
Doing it on their own
Orangi residents constructed sewers for 72,000 dwellings spending $2 million on their
own The Karachi-based Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) was sure that if local residents were
fully involved, a cheaper, more appropriate sanitation system could be installed in the
10,000-acre slum of Orangi. And they were proved right. Today the OPP is one of the
biggest slum success stories and now includes basic health, family planning and education.
E
U R O P E S p a i n
Integrating gypsies
‘Promotional Cities’ have shown the way for governments on how to
integrate legal and illegal cities Aviles had a lot of shantytowns full of gypsies brought
about by the industrialization of the city. These areas had limited access to housing,
education, training and employment and health services. Since 1989, the eradication of
shantytowns and their integration within the city has been one of the main concerns.
The result: ‘Promotional cities’ which have
already replaced two of the six shantytowns. The authorities are now planning for a
coexistence between the gypsy and non-gypsy population, induction into mainstream health
care and education provision, and the creation of gypsies’ associations — in
particular, women and youth associations.
The process has been very slow, but fruitful. And there
were just 500 gypsies to be resettled to begin with. However, Aviles has shown the way
that if the authorities have the will, then a solution is possible. |
