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Yesterday (5th June) was World Environment Day!  This is a major global celebration to stimulate awareness of the environment and to enhance political attention and action.  The agenda for WED is to give a human face to environmental issues and promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues.

Green Cities?
The WED theme selected for 2005 was ‘Green Cities’.  At a time when rapid, unplanned urbanisation is causing widespread environmental and social harm in Swaziland, this is indeed a very appropriate theme for WED 2005!  Today this column shall provide some examples of the environmental challenges facing urban areas in Swaziland.

Rapid, Unplanned Urbanisation
The rapid industrialisation of the Matsapha area, in particular in response to the industrial boom over the past decade, brought with it worrying consequences for the local urban environment.  As the numbers of people employed in the factories around Matsapha grew, the establishment of informal single-room housing units mushroomed.  This lead to clusters of units being constructed in areas that were hitherto open fields or wetlands. 

Environmental sanitation problems abound in those housing clusters.  Open sewers and streams of flowing wastewater are the norm.  In some instances, pit toilets are only one metre away from the door of these units.  Septic tanks are not serviced regularly, causing spillage and water contamination, and increasing the rapid spread of water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera.

There are also problems with household waste disposal in unplanned, informal settlements.  An increase in the quantity of domestic waste has led to illegal dumping of waste in open spaces, often within the residential clusters, thus exacerbating environmental health problems.  These heaps of rubbish are never enclosed and children and animals can be found milling around the filthy place, exposed to hazardous materials.

Development in Ezulwini
All forms of urbanisation can have environmental impacts: even well built, modern executive housing.  Of late there has been a property development boom in the country, with the Ezulwini Valley taking a lead as the fastest developing area.  The developments here appear carefully guided, and are subjected to environmental impact assessments that endeavour to minimise or mitigate any environmental impacts that may result.

The concern that has been observed with these developments is the overall scale of change; the long-term cumulative effect of such a boom is likely to be disastrous.  For instance, most of the housing estates recently established are not connected to the public sewer and wastewater treatment plant, instead relying on septic tanks.  The cumulative effect of such a scale of development could lead to significant groundwater pollution.  The housing boom is also likely to lead to shortages in provision of essential services such as water supply and electricity to Ezulwini.   The possibility of encroachment and destruction of natural vegetation in the valley remains high as more developments ascend the mountain peaks.  The ‘Valley of Heaven’ will lose its aesthetic value as tiled or thatched roofs appear all the way to the mountaintop.

These examples demonstrate the need for careful, strategic planning of our urban areas.  If urbanisation is to be sustainable in Swaziland, the public need to be given the opportunity to input into the development process.  This must go beyond piecemeal consultation and instead ascertain exactly what we want from our towns and cities, and how we can provide essential services to current, and future, generations of urban dwellers.

Watch this column for more articles on environmental and sustainable development in Swaziland.

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