Resolved: The United States ought to guarantee the right to housing
Free Housing causes dependency problems
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Free Housing causes dependency problemsXaba, 2016 (Vusi, author for Sowetan News South Africa, “The Department of Human Settlements will no longer provide free RDP houses to poor South Africans in order to combat the dependency syndrome.” Sowetan (10 April)). Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu announced during a press briefing on the sidelines of the Habitat III Thematic International Conference on urbanisation in Hatfield, Pretoria, on Thursday, that her department was coming up with new measures to provide government housing to the needy. She said they had identified a new financing model in which the state would provide people under 40 with subsidies so that they can build houses themselves. "We cannot continue giving out free houses anymore. We'll give people subsidies so that they can build houses themselves. "Giving free houses creates a dependency syndrome," Sisulu added. Delegates from all over the world heard how the growing urban populations who go to big cities for a better life was a global phenomenon which led to the creation of informal settlements. United Nations human settlement programme executive director Dr Joan Clos said about seven billion people out of 7.4-billion of the world's population lived in cities. Not enough government landAl Jazirah, 2014 (Yusuf Al-Muhaimeed, journalist for The Saudi Gazette, “The huge loss of government land.” The Saudi Gazette (6 November.)) In 2014 alone, the total size of these lands was found to be 1.451 billion square meters or 1,451 square kilometers. When the Ministry of Housing first started, it said that it did not have sufficient land to build housing units for poor citizens. We should not forget that King Abdullah granted the ministry SR250 billion to build 500,000 housing units for eligible citizens in various parts of the Kingdom. The ministry was unable to build the homes due to a lack of sufficient government land on which to construct the housing units. The government lands that have been unlawfully taken are third in size after Riyadh (2,395 square kilometers) and Jeddah (1,765 square kilometers). They are larger than Dammam and Alkhobar put together. The estimated worth of these lands is SR650 billion or $173 billion which is more than the estimated figure that corruption is costing the EU each year. Despite the chagrin one feels about the corruption in the Ministry of Justice, we are still optimistic and hopeful for a better future. We hope that the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha) will carry out its duties with more transparency, integrity and courage. It is the only organization we have to combat corruption in the private and public sectors. Nazaha is the only means we have to find solutions to many of our ills including, among others, the housing crisis and the deteriorating health and education services. The commission should not shy away from questioning government departments about what it has done for citizens. Download 95.74 Kb. Share with your friends:
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