AFFORDABLE HOUSING DILEMMA IN COLBOT: LIVING IN AN UNHEALTHY SLUM VS LACK OF LOW-COST HOUSING
Affordable housing dilemma in Colbot: Living in an unhealthy slum vs lack of low-cost housing. ____________________________________________________________ Course: Development Planning in African Cities UCL (University College of London) Author: Djanira Jaramillo Key words: Waste Management / Urban Health / Flooding / Housing /Settlement Introduction: Colbot is a well-organized community in the east coast of Freetown, with a population of nearly 14000 inhabitants settled in 28.81 acres. However, it is prone to disasters such as floods and mudslides which are high-risk for dwell slums and therefore the housing conditions are not the most suitable.
Figure 01: Picture taken by “Best Laid Plans blog”.
What is the issue? Colbot is a slum in Freetown, settled on public land for this reason, dwellers are considered ‘illegal inhabitants’, since they do not have land titles. In addition to living in informality, every rainy season the inhabitants of Colbot suffer floods, these cause accumulation of rubbish in the drains and therefore the water stagnates. This situation causes outbreaks of diseases such as diarrhoea because people use this water in their day to day, due to that is the water that they have it available, they even drink it sometimes. Cobalt inhabitants deserve better living conditions, however the cost of housing in other areas is high compared to the taxes they pay to the government to live there. Furthermore, government attempted to relocate them to a safe area nevertheless that was unsuccessful because their jobs and services are near Colbot so if they move, they will need to spend more money in transport. Slum upgrading is another option; however, the inhabitants do not want to invest money in their houses if they can be evicted at any time.
Who is most affected by the issue and why? There are different degrees of impact, firstly the slum dwellers, low-income Colbot families who cannot access current housing prices because the government has not yet implemented mechanisms to obtain affordable housing such as ‘sociable loan’ or other type of aid as a subsidy. On the other hand, children are vulnerable population, and they are exposed all the time to several stomach diseases that can produce malnutrition and anaemia, affecting their growth. Even in the last years the rates of children mortality have increased.
Figure 02: Map prepared by UCL Development Planning Unit.
Are there any social diversity issues that underpin it, for example are some groups more affected than others? In 90s due to social conflicts, the phenom migration from rural areas to urban city produced that many people invade public areas, areas such as Colbot. Migrants, also called, refugees sometimes are a community which has had to adapted to not finding formal jobs, or not have benefits to live in a safe settlement, is complicate for they access to loans. They have learned to survive in a competitive city and are fighting to end inequality and access better opportunities to achieve wellbeing and improve their livelihoods. Does the issue relate to spatial injustice? Inequality is a variable in this problem. Colbot has problems related to lack of public infrastructure such as, sewerage and drainage two of the most important on the list of services deficiencies. Despite the government has shown preoccupation to confront this issue promoting policies to improve water sanitation and waste management it has not been enough because still they do not build infrastructure in this area. Even until the government makes the decision to upgrade the slums (because they own the land), the future is uncertain. Moreover, another main reason that residents do not have chance to evaluate relocate to their homes to new areas are mobility and connectivity. If they decided moved, it would take them at least 2 or 3 hours to reach most essential services such as schools, jobs, hospitals in addition to the risk associated with long distances and
economic impact that this would entail in their lives (1). In that scenario, they do not have many options. Somehow, they are doomed to adapt to their current conditions or sacrifice their time and "comforts" to improve their quality of life and health, even if that means travel six miles approximately every day. What factors and processes have contributed to this issue and how? Indecision and lack of decision-making has been key to prolonging this problem. The instability about if residents should improve their neighbourhood or must be relocate create a shadow of uncertainty for the community and how they should manage their resources. In interviews with leaders community, they agree with the inhabitants, retaining walls can be organized and built in order to alleviate floods and mitigate risks, they can also promote participatory work with residents for help to identify needs in the area and improve public infrastructure (2). However, is utterly important for them define who will finance upgrading slum, because they do not have titles land, it would correspond to government. Authorities should work on the monitoring process with the community and then evaluate alternatives such as programs of land acquisitions or innovate mechanism to help give tranquillity and a sense of ownership to the population and identify with their neighbourhood to improve it. Which actors could contribute to its solution? That type of issue requires interdisciplinary work in all levels. The residents and civil organizations must be work side by side to analyse alternatives and search possible solutions. In this sense, the work that CBOs and NGOs have been working with the dwellers slum, in strategies to improve their neighbourhoods or encouraging residents to evaluate whether they should consider relocation, is highlighted (3). Nevertheless, this effort will not be enough if they do not have the support of the government. It is essential that authorities make a commitment to the community and provide the necessary resources and mechanisms so that life in Colbot can be sustainable. References:
(1) http://repositorio.conicyt.cl/bitstream/handle/10533/209855/Dissertation_ MGM_FINAL.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y (2) https://www.vsointernational.org/news/blog/the-homes-built-on-plasticlife-in-a-sierra-leone-slum (3) https://www.slurc.org/uploads/1/0/9/7/109761391/cilp_pb_n3_health.pdf