2006年VOA标准英语-Group Looks for Ways to House Growing Urban Sec

By Efam Dovi
Accra
29 November 2006

A meeting on ideas to provide affordable¹ housing in West Africa is under way in Ghana. A large majority of city residents in Africa live in slums or in very difficult conditions because they are unable to meet the high cost of housing. Efam Dovi has more on the story for VOA from the meeting in the capital, Accra.

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As poverty and under-development force more Africans to migrate to cities in search of better lives, governments are increasingly facing the challenge of providing decent shelter for the growing urban population.

According to research by an agency called U.N. Habitat, in 2005, sub-Saharan Africa had nearly 200 million slum dwellers², constituting some 20 percent of the worlds' total. Africa also has both the world's highest annual urban and slum growth rates.

Participants are discussing how governments could work with the private sector³ to invest in low cost housing for this growing sector of urban poor.

 
Anna Tibaijuka (Feb 2006)
Anna Tibaijuka, who heads U.N. Habitat, says a majority of these newcomers are unduly⁴ exploited by private landlords and have to accept unclean living conditions in urban slums that lack even the most basic services.

"The shack⁵ owners actually getting excessive profit, we like to cut into those profit margins⁷, bring in basic services, like sanitation⁸, water, like pavement, so that you cut into the profit margin⁶ but it is still profitable for those who have the capital to provide affordable housing for the people," she said. 

"So basically it is lack of regulation, some of the problems are legal, you also need rule of law, property rights must be respected," she added.

 
John Kufuor (file photo)
Opening the conference, Ghana's President John Kufuor says Ghana's cities are already bursting at the seams from rural urban drift.

The president said that by 2025, Ghana's urban population is expected to be more than half of the national total. African countries have long had mostly rural populations.

These are now moving into cities which have very little infrastructure⁹, let alone any decent housing for anyone who is not affluent¹⁰.

President Kufuor said historically, house ownership in Ghana has remained the preserve of the well- to-do because it is done from personal savings¹¹, of which most Africans have none.

"The generally accepted view now is that since the majority of the population is within the lower income group of society who cannot mobilize the saving or credit to build their own homes or even meet the high rentals¹² demanded in our towns, even in the slums, the government must team up with private developers to supply affordable housing to this category," he said.

U.S Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Alphonso Jackson, who was also present at the meeting, shared some experiences from the U.S. housing sector.

 
Alphonso Jackson
He said 70 years ago one in every seven American families did not own a home because of high down payments needed to purchase a home.

He talked about how it is important in the United States for many people to be homeowners.

"The impact of this innovative¹³ system we can see today because housing is a major portion of the gross national product and it is the greatest single source that has made our economy as strong as it is," he said.

Delegates from neighboring Nigeria and Senegal, both of which have some of the fastest growing African cities, as well as from other nearby countries, are also taking part in the four-day conference.

1 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

2 dwellers   

n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 unduly   

adv.过度地，不适当地

参考例句：

• He did not sound unduly worried at the prospect.他的口气听上去对前景并不十分担忧。
• He argued that the law was unduly restrictive.他辩称法律的约束性有些过分了。

5 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

6 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

7 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

8 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

9 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

10 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

11 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

12 rentals   

n.租费，租金额( rental的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In some large hotels, the income derived from this source actually exceeds income from room rentals. 有些大旅馆中，这方面的盈利实际上要超过出租客房的盈利。 来自辞典例句
• Clerk: Well, Canadian Gifts is on the lower level. It's across from Prime Time Video Rentals. 噢，礼品店在楼下，在黄金时刻录像出租屋的对面。 来自口语例句

13 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。