Government to set up new policy on urbanisation
Jun 27, 2007
THIS is the edited speech made yesterday by lands minister Omara Atubo at the launch of the State of Uganda and the World Population report 2007 I am pleased that the theme for this function calls on the country’s decision-makers to take yet more steps that would ensure “Planned Urbanisation for
By Omara Atubo
THIS is the edited speech made yesterday by lands minister Omara Atubo at the launch of the State of Uganda and the World Population report 2007 I am pleased that the theme for this function calls on the country’s decision-makers to take yet more steps that would ensure “Planned Urbanisation for Uganda’s Growing Populationâ€.
There is clear evidence that although most of our people live in rural areas, urban centres have continued to attract them as they look for opportunities to improve their lives.
This development is actually healthy because it shows that people are determined to change their lives for the better education and skills development, better employment and incomes and by accessing better health services, housing and sanitation.
It is a well-known fact that most of these opportunities are found in urban areas and, therefore, the trend of people moving from rural areas to urban centres will continue for sometime.
The only thing we need to do is to plan early enough to ensure that the demands of a large urban population are met in order for them to contribute meaningfully to national development.
For us decision-makers and leaders, this is quite a challenge which we must address before the situation gets out of hand. I have been made aware that the number of people living in urban areas has been increasing from about 600,000 in 1969 to 1.6 million in 1991 and to almost three million in 2007. In 2002, five urban centres namely: Gulu and Lira municipalities, Kasese, Mukono and Kitgum town councils experienced growth rates in excess of 10% per annum, with Mukono having the highest population growth rate of 17.6%.
These trends emphasise the urgent need for planned urbanisation and I am glad to inform you that my ministry is already taking some steps towards addressing this challenge by formulating a land use policy and urban development policy that will soon be tabled before cabinet and Parliament for approval. Once approved, the policies will go a long way in guiding Uganda’s future urbanisation and development.
Although Uganda is said to have abundant resources, with the high population growth rate we are witnessing today, it will not be long before these resources are strained to breaking point.
The pressure being exerted on our towns, including Kampala, is evident and well-known to most of you.
In spite of the policies, programmes and other efforts aimed at addressing population concerns, there are still a number of gaps and challenges which the State of Uganda’s Population 2007 report has highlighted.
I assure you that the Government regards population as a crucial resource that can be harnessed for national development. We take the issues raised in the report very seriously and will seek ways of addressing them through policies, programmes, plans and strategies. We shall do our level best to include them on our political agenda.
The Government is aware that Uganda’s high population growth rate if not planned for, can undermine socio-economic progress that Uganda may have achieved and puts pressure on our resources in terms of provision of social services such as health, education, water, sanitation, employment and the environment.
We are also aware that with such a population growth rate, it becomes difficult for the Government to tackle issues of poverty using the existing resources. The high number of people living below the poverty line impacts directly on the government revenue base, thus affecting its ability to fund its plans and programmes aimed at improving the quality of life of our people.
As such, our commitment and interest to addressing population issues is based on the realisation that failure to act now will result into a crisis we may not be in position to handle in future.
My appeal to all decision-makers is that we develop keen interest in population development issues of our country at large and use the information availed not only as a basis for making informed policy decisions that address issues affecting people, but also for implementing such decisions to improve the quality of life of our population.
THIS is the edited speech made yesterday by lands minister Omara Atubo at the launch of the State of Uganda and the World Population report 2007 I am pleased that the theme for this function calls on the country’s decision-makers to take yet more steps that would ensure “Planned Urbanisation for Uganda’s Growing Populationâ€.
There is clear evidence that although most of our people live in rural areas, urban centres have continued to attract them as they look for opportunities to improve their lives.
This development is actually healthy because it shows that people are determined to change their lives for the better education and skills development, better employment and incomes and by accessing better health services, housing and sanitation.
It is a well-known fact that most of these opportunities are found in urban areas and, therefore, the trend of people moving from rural areas to urban centres will continue for sometime.
The only thing we need to do is to plan early enough to ensure that the demands of a large urban population are met in order for them to contribute meaningfully to national development.
For us decision-makers and leaders, this is quite a challenge which we must address before the situation gets out of hand. I have been made aware that the number of people living in urban areas has been increasing from about 600,000 in 1969 to 1.6 million in 1991 and to almost three million in 2007. In 2002, five urban centres namely: Gulu and Lira municipalities, Kasese, Mukono and Kitgum town councils experienced growth rates in excess of 10% per annum, with Mukono having the highest population growth rate of 17.6%.
These trends emphasise the urgent need for planned urbanisation and I am glad to inform you that my ministry is already taking some steps towards addressing this challenge by formulating a land use policy and urban development policy that will soon be tabled before cabinet and Parliament for approval. Once approved, the policies will go a long way in guiding Uganda’s future urbanisation and development.
Although Uganda is said to have abundant resources, with the high population growth rate we are witnessing today, it will not be long before these resources are strained to breaking point.
The pressure being exerted on our towns, including Kampala, is evident and well-known to most of you.
In spite of the policies, programmes and other efforts aimed at addressing population concerns, there are still a number of gaps and challenges which the State of Uganda’s Population 2007 report has highlighted.
I assure you that the Government regards population as a crucial resource that can be harnessed for national development. We take the issues raised in the report very seriously and will seek ways of addressing them through policies, programmes, plans and strategies. We shall do our level best to include them on our political agenda.
The Government is aware that Uganda’s high population growth rate if not planned for, can undermine socio-economic progress that Uganda may have achieved and puts pressure on our resources in terms of provision of social services such as health, education, water, sanitation, employment and the environment.
We are also aware that with such a population growth rate, it becomes difficult for the Government to tackle issues of poverty using the existing resources. The high number of people living below the poverty line impacts directly on the government revenue base, thus affecting its ability to fund its plans and programmes aimed at improving the quality of life of our people.
As such, our commitment and interest to addressing population issues is based on the realisation that failure to act now will result into a crisis we may not be in position to handle in future.
My appeal to all decision-makers is that we develop keen interest in population development issues of our country at large and use the information availed not only as a basis for making informed policy decisions that address issues affecting people, but also for implementing such decisions to improve the quality of life of our population.