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Surat wins Dubai International Award

The Surat Municipal Corporation in Gujarat is one of 10 organisations to receive the 1998 Dubai International Awards for best practices to improve living environments.

Surat Mayor Savita Sharda received the award on behalf of the civic body. Deputy Municipal Commissioner Ashwin Mehta was also present.

"I am extremely happy and proud that Surat has been chosen for this award," Sharda said.

The awards were given away by United Arab Emirates Defence Minister and Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum at an impressive ceremony held to mark World Habitat Day.

The award consists of a gold trophy in the shape of a wind tower, a citation, and $30,000 in cash.

The other winners were from China, Colombia, Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines, Spain, Tanzania and the United States.

The best practices initiative was introduced by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements two years ago and is aimed at, among other things, bringing about transfer of knowledge and experience between the developed and developing countries.

The awards were instituted by the Dubai Municipality to improve awareness about some of the world's most pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges. They also call attention to solutions to these problems.

The Surat Municipal Corporation was chosen for the award for the 18 month effort that began in 1995 and transformed the textile centre from one of the dirtiest cities in India to one of the cleanest.

All the projects chosen for the award were cited as examples of partnerships between the local authorities, community-based organisations, and civic bodies.

In his keynote address, UNCHS Executive Director Klaus Toepfer spoke about the need for "safer cities", the theme for this year's Habitat Day.

"In essence, these best practices illustrate the concept of safer cities in its broadest sense," he said.

"A safer city, after all, has cleaner air, water, and an abundance of green space. A safe city provides equal access to housing, transportation, and social services. A safe city provides jobs and good governance vital to economic and civil vibrancy," Toepfer said.

He said UNCHS has been working closely with Dubai for more than 10 years.

"The results are clear. Dubai is clean, well-run, and appropriate to our theme today. It is a safe city," he said.

Dubai Municipality Director-General Qassim Sultan said the awards would act as an incentive for the provision of better services and for the improvement of the living environments of people in cities and villages.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a special message read out by Toepfer, called for strategies to combat crime and violence in cities.

"Governments and local authorities around the world face an increasing, daunting challenge: how to make their cities safe from violence," he said.

He said some of the key factors responsible for this were unemployment, the proliferation and easy availability of guns, and inequality between the rich and the poor.

"Crime prevention is everyone's responsibility. I urge all member-states, governments, and citizens of cities around the world to mark Habitat Day this year by taking action to make their cities and communities safer and better places to live," he said.

The World Habitat Awards were presented by Sultan on the occasion to two innovative housing projects: the Grameen Bank housing project in Bangladesh and the Wintringham Port Melbourne Hostel in Melbourne, Australia.

The annual Habitat Scrolls of Honour were also presented to seven people and organisations from around the world.

Alongside the awards ceremony, an exhibition of children's paintings on the theme of 'the neighbourhood in which I live and play' was also held.

The exhibition featured 200 paintings by children in 20 cities of Europe who had participated in a contest conducted by the Dutch Habitat National Committee.

UNI

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