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Master of Ceremony
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

An expression commonly used by the environmental scientists states that:

"Mankind must take care of his environment in order for the environment to take care of mankind"

This expression best sums up the importance of the environment not only to our well-being, but to our survival as well.

The National Environment Act of 1998 provides for co-operative environmental governance by establishing principles for decision-making on matters affecting the environment; institutions that will promote co-operative governance; and procedures for co-ordinating environmental functions exercised by organs of state.

This Act has the main principles for national environmental management which guide the organs of state in executing their environmental management responsibilities which include, among others, that:

* Development be socially, environmentally and economically sustainable
* Environmental management be integrated, acknowledging that all elements of the environment are linked and integrated and must take into account the effects of decisions on all aspects of the environment and all people in the environment by pursuing the selection of best practical environmental option
* Equitable access to environmental resources benefits and services to meet basic human needs and ensure that human well-being is being pursued.
* The participation of all interested and affected parties in environmental governance must be promoted
* Community well being and empowerment must be promoted through environmental education, the raising of environmental awareness, the sharing of knowledge and experience
* Global and international responsibilities relating to the environment must be discharged in the national interest, and
* The vital role of women and youth in environmental management and development must be recognised and their full participation therein be promoted

At the "Earth Summit" (the United Nations Conference Environment and Development (UNCED) held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro) the international community agreed on a framework for global sustainable development. Here, Agenda 21 was adopted as the global plan of action for integrating environmental, economic and social issues into development. NEMA reinforces this by stating "sustainable development requires the integration of socio-economic factors in the planning, implementation and evaluation of decisions to ensure that development serves present and future generations."

The Housing vision is "a nation housed in sustainable human settlement" and we define housing as a variety of processes through which habitable, stable and sustainable public and private residential environments are created for viable households and communities.

This recognises that the environment within which a house is situated is as imported as the house itself in satisfying the needs and requirements of the occupants. Environmental issues are inherently linked with quality of life. This calls for environmentally sound human settlements, where air quality is good, housing is well located and is energy and water efficient and planting provides green "Lungs" or even food security, to be seen as a step towards a healthy, sustainable settlements which provide quality living environment.

The Department has responded well to the need for environmentally sound low-cost housing by establishing an interdepartmental task team responsible for, among others, promoting environmentally sound housing initiatives, developing national policy on environmentally sound housing and generally encouraging environmentally sound practices in housing development.

This task team has already established links with a range of stakeholders, other organs of state, NGOs and the private sector. We commend the contribution made by organisations such as Trees for Homes and USAID in ensuring that we succeed in the creation of environmentally sound dwellings.

It is currently difficult for the housing subsidy scheme to cater for all other aspects that are aimed at making the low cost houses to be thermally efficient and the involvement of these organisations shows exactly how the public and the private sectors can successfully compliment one another in the betterment of the lives of our people.

The Housing Programme impacts on the environment as the single largest public investment in land development. It is therefore critical that all related activities preserve the water resources, and that energy efficiency becomes part and parcel of our housing package. Solutions to the reduction of the impact of the housing programme on the environment lie in a range of policies and programmes, administered by a range of government departments, the political will and the administrative and financial capacity to implement them.

I have always called for all the recipients of the government subsidised houses to add value to these houses not only by extending them, but also making sure that they are beautiful. I appreciate the fact that today we won't be calling for one house one tree, but to the two trees each house is going to be allocated.

The inclusion of fruit trees will definitely go a long way in promoting household food security and reducing hunger.

Issued by Ministry of Housing

17 June 2001