Green Cities vital for human settlement

Hemanthi Guruge

"It is important to pay urgent attention to the Green City concept in future human settlement programmes, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said at the 23rd Session of the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlement Program in Nairobi on Monday.

The Sri Lankan delegation participating in the conference at the UN Habitat Headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya included Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Minister Wimal Weerawansa and Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Jayaratne. The program will continue until April 15.

The Kenyan leader also pointed out that a large numbers of people were displaced due to natural disasters throughout the world.

"Therefore it is important to be concerned about the situation when creating future settlements.

"It is also important to provide houses to the people who do not have houses in the country. But the government alone is unable to provide these services to the public and all the people in the country should be included in the program.

"This year's theme of the session is Everyone's assistance is required to locate suitable habitats for settlement."

Housing Ministers from 100 countries and a large number of representatives are also participating in the conference.