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Pacific island governments are not playing enough attention to addressing major urban problems such as housing, sanitation and waste management, the United Nations says. The UN Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT) and the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) have just carried out a six-month examination of city planning in the region.

Their assessment expresses concern at the lack of action by governments and regional donors in addressing pressing urban development and management issues. UN-HABITAT says rapid population movement out of rural areas is threatening health and economic conditions in capital cities and towns throughout the Pacific. It notes that Fiji is more than 50 percent urbanised - that is, half the population lives in towns - while Nauru and Cook Islands are 100 percent urbanised.
Sarah Mecartney, Pacific program manager for UN-HABITAT, told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat the growth was putting pressure on housing, health services and jobs. Among other countries rapidly becoming urbanised are Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu
and Solomon Islands, she said. The growth was typically putting pressure on one urban centre, which had become the focus of
government and trade and a lure for people seeking work. “If you don't have a healthy population you're not exactly going to have very
good workers,” the official said. A six-month study found governments are not focusing enough on issues such as water provision and waste management. Improving urban planning can save governments money in the long term.
“It's costing more to look after people, because of the insufficient planning” of services, Ms Mecartney said. Governments acting to meet the challenges include Papua New Guinea - which is developing a national planning policy - and Samoa, which has established an
urban plannnig agency to look at development in the capital, Apia

By Online Editor
4:41 pm GMT+12, 21/12/2009, Fiji

SOURCE: RADIO AUSTRALIA/PACNEWS