The Minister of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs, and Police, Mr. Lebona Lephema says Maseru City has been experiencing rapid urbanisation and informal settlements growth which has led to the growing population living in slum conditions.
He said the national strategy will guide the government in formulating national programmes or initiatives, saying it is at the city and urban level where transformative interventions are to be undertaken.
He noted that these interventions need to align with the Maseru City development framework hence a citywide strategy is a mainstream realisation of a targeted, integrated, multi-sectoral national slum upgrading programme with a high human development impact for people living in informal settlements and contributes to the overall poverty alleviation and development index of the country.
Mr. Lephema said the Lesotho Housing Policy, 2018, identified the urban informal settlements as one of the challenges inhibiting access to adequate housing, adding that In the Policy’s objective 4, there are recommendations to undertake slum upgrading through the improvement and provision of basic infrastructure, creation of partnerships between the public and private sector as well as institutional strengthening of local authorities to undertake such initiatives.
He, therefore, appealed to the relevant stakeholders to work together, saying everyone is responsible for the upgrading of Maseru City.
Also speaking, the Consultant, Prof. Resetselemang Leduka said the objective is to create and institutionalize affordable and participatory measures for upgrading housing conditions and basic conditions, to engage with the assistance of the central government for mobilisation of resources for upgrading programmes in the city as well as to develop the appropriate institutional framework and put in place mechanism for effective implementation of slum settlements upgrading programmes in the city.
The Consultant Ms. Mantai Seeko said the Maseru Municipal Council (MMC) was established in 2005 in terms of the Local Government Act of 1997 and it is still the only municipal council in Lesotho.
She noted MMC was later revamped into Maseru City Council which was established under the repealed Urban Government of 1983.
The ministry will launch the Global Action Plan and the National Slum Upgrading and Prevention Strategy together with the Action Plan on 23 November 2022.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Government of Lesotho.
Source: Apo-Opa
Did you find this information helpful? If you did, consider donating.