The Odeon in Brighton was the place to be recently as the Justin Campaign screened the film Brighton Bandits in aid of the fight against homophobia in football on the International Day Against Homophobia
Brighton Bandits are go
A panorama of zoning chaos
By Amando Doronila
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:25:00 10/07/2009
The gigantic task of clearing up the debris left by Storm “Ondoy” (international codename: Ketsana) has just begun, following the total collapse of the drainage and waste disposal infrastructure of Metro Manila, a metropolis of 20 million people. The flooding exposed the inadequacy of the drainage system. Esteros, creeks and canals are choked by... garbage, as municipal and even national relief services appear puny to cope with the scale of the cleanup.
The garbage pile-up crisis and its origins are described in a 2001 University of the Philippines study by Doracie B. Zoleta-Nantes. According to this study, the population of Metro Manila stood at 200,000 at the turn of the 20th century. The lack of opportunities in the countryside and the rapid urbanization of Metro Manila encouraged a massive influx of rural migrants into the megacity. The NCR had a population of 9.93 million as of May 2000 and an annual growth rate of 2.25 percent. At current projected rates of growth, Metro Manila is estimated to have a population of 19 million by 2016. Metro Manila has an average population density of 15,610 per sq. km. This population explosion has caused the expansion of poor squatters’ colonies. It has contributed to the deterioration of the infrastructure and the quality of urban services in the metropolis.
On the average, a person generates 0.5 to 0.6 kilos of garbage a day in the megacity, according to the study. As of 1999, the nine million residents of Metro Manila generated approximately 6,000 tons of garbage a day. Yet, only 71 percent of the solid waste generated daily was collected by dump trucks, and disposed of by government and private waste collection agencies. The remaining 29 percent or 1,800 tons of garbage, was left on street corners and vacant lots, or thrown into storm drains and other waterways. Along with sewage leaks from septic tanks and other hazardous materials, this type of solid waste seriously clogged the network of drainage canals.
“Only 10 percent (or a total of 50 km) of the drainage facilities is dredged, de-clogged and maintained each year by the Department of Public Works and Highways in Manila,” according to the UP study. “This figure is equivalent to a total of only 14 meters every day. Most of the drainage facilities are not accessible because many of the drainage canals’ service roads have been encroached upon by different types of residential, government and business structures.”
This description draws a nightmarish panorama of zoning chaos so embedded in the metropolis that has prompted urban planning architects and real estate developers to call for the obliteration of the jumble of structures in Metro Manila—a colossal project that suggests a “total solution” that requires nothing less than dropping an atomic bomb on the metropolis.
Real estate developers call for the rezoning of Metro Manila back to the original plans of Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, who designed Baguio. But developers, who are partly responsible for this zoning anarchy, are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem. They have little credibility blaming other factors for this urban chaos and huge human tragedy.
Enter the problem of the choking of the drainage system. The UP study points out:
“Meanwhile, indiscriminate dumping of trash seriously clogs the esteros, which are modified systems of natural channels and brackish water from coastal lakes that were intended to relieve flooding and improve waterborne transportation.
“The estero system worked well in the 19th and 20th centuries. But as the channels were filled in to provide building sites and refuse dumps for a rapidly growing urban population, the esteros have gradually become incapable of serving their original purpose.
“Encroachment by adjacent private property owners on the formerly protected banks of the esteros has been reported since the beginning of the 20th century.
“It would now be difficult to reopen these waterways because of the accumulated changes that have taken place (e.g. landfills, squatter settlements, emplacement of major roads and prominent buildings, deterioration of water quality, etc.). Thus rapid urbanization, encroachment of squatters on river banks, silting of waterways and lack of sewerage and drainage facilities worsen the flood hazards of Metro Manila.
“Since 1953, floods have affected Metro Manila on many occasions, including at least a dozen times that drew extensive coverage in the local mass media: August 1953; September 1956; May 1960; July 1961, 1962, 1964; June 1967; August 1970; July 1972; October 1988.
“Several trends may be observed in the flood events from the 1950s and 1990s. Flooded areas spread from the low-lying areas in the coastal parts of Manila, Navotas and Malabon, and along the banks of the San Juan and Pasig Rivers in the 1950s to the suburban areas of Manila, Quezon City, Pasay, San Juan and Caloocan in the 1960s and 1970s. The squatter areas that mushroomed along the banks of the esteros and rivers and in other marginal locations were regularly inundated several times each year.
“Flood incidence expanded in the 1980s in the increasingly urbanized low-lying areas in Pasig and Marikina and along the shores of Laguna de Bay most particularly in Taguig and Pateros. [The map of the flooded areas struck by Ondoy confirms this trend.]
“Costly subdivisions built on former agricultural lands were not spared the consequences of flooding. Indeed, flooding has become prevalent even in relatively high places. Quezon, Makati, Manila, Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Pasig and San Juan have not been spared the consequences of flooding in the 1990s mainly due to substandard subdivision drainage infrastructure.”
Silver lining to downturn
This would be the steepest drop in CO2 emissions for 40 years, chief IEA economist Fatih Birol said, adding that... average annual growth in global carbon output until now has been 3 percent.
Birol said this silver-lining drop in carbon pollution was a "unique window of opportunity" for the world to put itself on a path to limit the increase in global temperatures to two degrees Celsius, the threshold for dangerous global warming.
The recession-driven fall would lead to CO2 emissions in 2020 being 5 percent lower than the IEA forecast from a year ago, even if no further action is taken to curb global warming, he added.
The IEA estimate is part of its World Energy Outlook report, an excerpt of which was released at UN climate talks under way in Bangkok.
The talks are running out of time to deliver a new global climate treaty at a December conference in Copenhagen. Rich and poor nations are divided over how to share the burden of cutting greenhouse gases, and who will pay for it.
At the same time, aid agencies said the rise in Asian weather disasters should serve as a wake-up call for negotiators to intensify their efforts.
Pointing to recent typhoons, floods and droughts in Asia, World Vision and the Red Cross said poor nations like the Philippines and Vietnam will be the ones to suffer most if world leaders fail to reach a climate pact by the end of the year.
IDP safety and resettlement is Sri Lanka’s top priority: diplomat
CHENNAI: The newly appointed Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Southern India, Vadivel Krishnamoorthy, said his objective was to strengthen the “excellent relations” of his country with...
southern India, especially with Tamil Nadu.
Speaking to The Hindu on a range of issues, Mr. Krishnamoorthy, a Tamil of recent Indian origin whose ancestors migrated from Ramanathapuram three generations ago, said the two countries shared political, economic and cultural ties. “Today we are looking at the SAARC and South Asia, but bilaterally we are close neighbours,” he added. “We have also signed a free trade agreement with India. So India could become number one in terms of imports and exports. In terms of our bilateral relations we have the best of times. In my time I will work towards strengthening it.”
The Deputy High Commissioner expressed his gratitude for India’s help in rehabilitation and resettlement programmes, adding that the welfare camps for internally displaced persons (IDP) were “in very good condition.”
He explained that his government had adequately addressed the concerns raised over the preparedness of the camps to tackle the monsoon. “The government’s priority,” he reiterated, “is the convenience and safety of the IDPs. When the monsoon comes, the drainage is important. So 80 per cent of the drainage system, in a short span of time, anticipating many difficulties, has been created. The rest of the drainage, I think, will be constructed within a week.”
Mr. Krishnamoorthy said the Sri Lanka government and President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave the utmost priority to the security of the IDPs and 10,593 IDPs were already resettled in their original places. A total of 22,668 IDPs had been released from different camps on the basis of medical needs and humanitarian considerations. Senior citizens, religious leaders, foreign visa holders, university students, and pregnant mothers had also been released.
He pointed out that the government had launched the National Framework Proposal for reintegration of ex-combatants into civilian life in Sri Lanka, to safeguard the human rights of ex-combatants and to protect and assist them in accordance with the Constitution of Sri Lanka to ensure sustainable peace and reconciliation.
Mr. Krishnamoorthy said mines remained a major obstacle to the resettlement and the government had imported machines to speed up demining. “We imported demining machines from Croatia. It cost 270 million in Sri Lankan rupees and so within a short time, that is in the last five months 26,734 anti-personnel mines, 26 landmines, 26 death traps, and 31 pressure bomb reels were removed. We also imported 5 machines from Slovakia for 260 million rupees.”
The Sri Lankan government had resource constraints, he explained, but President Rajapaksa had assigned the highest priority to development works. “He wants to ensure empowerment and equality so that every citizen, notwithstanding their birth or culture, is treated the same way. He wants to establish a bilingual nation with equal rights for all. The President’s vision is to make a unified country.”
U.S.-Afghan assault kills 40 militants, Kabul says
KABUL -- American and Afghan troops swept through forested mountains in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, killing 40 militant fighters in a hunt for insurgents responsible for one of the war's deadliest attacks on U.S. troops, the Defense Ministry said.
Ten Afghan soldiers have been killed in... the operations since Monday, most of them in Nuristan province's Kamdesh district, ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said.
The violence was part of a spate of attacks across the nation, including a roadside bombing of a NATO convoy in Sayed Abad district west of Kabul that wounded two foreign soldiers, said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, an American media officer for NATO forces.
Meanwhile, the country also is nearing a resolution to August's disputed presidential vote. Election workers began recounting suspect ballots Monday, and a ruling on whether President Hamid Karzai won or will face a runoff is expected next week.
Kamdesh, cut off from the rest of the region with no regular phone or radio contact and few roads, is where eight Americans and two Afghan troops died Saturday after hundreds of Taliban militants overwhelmed their thinly manned garrisons.Azimi said joint operations were continuing yesterday in Kamdesh, and seven insurgents had been arrested there.
Mathias, however, said there had "not been any significant engagement" in Kamdesh since Saturday. She said U.S. and Afghan forces were still in the remote area and had not pulled out.
NATO said in a statement that 100 attackers were killed in Saturday's fighting. The alliance had previously said only that coalition forces inflicted "heavy casualties" while defending the outposts with artillery, airstrikes and helicopter gunships.
NATO said Saturday's attack was carried out "by local anti-Afghan forces, while local Taliban" and fighters loyal to Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar "may have helped facilitate" it.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility.
In other violence yesterday, a patrol came under small-arms and rocket-propelled-grenade fire in Logar province, southwest of Kabul, but there were no casualties, Mathias said. Logar's police chief, Gen. Mohammed Mustafa Mosseini, said the attack sparked a gunbattle that led to the arrest of at least one militant.
In London, Britain's defense ministry said one British soldier died Monday after an explosion in southern Afghanistan. The soldier was on foot patrol near the Nad Ali district center in restive Helmand province.
U.S. war dead
Includes combat and noncombat military deaths:
• In Afghanistan: 791 since military operations began Oct. 7, 2001
Sources: Defense Department, Associated Press
French envoy calls for substantial nuclear talks
The French special envoy on North Korea said Wednesday there should be "real and concrete discussions" if international talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programs resume.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told the visiting Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, on Monday that... Pyongyang is willing to rejoin six-nation nuclear talks depending on progress in its negotiations with the U.S., according to Chinese and North Korean official media.
That raised hope for North Korea's possible return to the talks, from which it withdrew after conducting a rocket test in April and a second nuclear test in May. The regime said earlier it would never return to the talks involving China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the U.S.
Jack Lang, the French envoy on North Korea who was appointed by President Nicolas Sarkozy last week, has been on a tour of the six nations involved in the negotiations to evaluate ways France can help end the nuclear standoff.
Lang, who arrived in Seoul on Tuesday from Japan, said there should be "real and concrete discussions" if North Korea comes back to the negotiating table.
"We hope that it will be not only the opening of discussions, but it will be the way to change completely the situation," Lang told reporters after meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan.
Lang said he plans to visit North Korea around Nov. 10.
Yonhap news agency quoted Lang as saying in a separate news conference that France or the European Union could participate in compensating North Korea in return for its denuclearization. Neither France nor the EU is a member of the six-nation disarmament talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programs.
China said it welcomed the North's offer to return to the nuclear talks, saying late Tuesday that the six-party talks are the best way to achieve a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and they should resume as soon as possible.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Washington was aware of reports that North Korea would reconsider opening talks but said the United States had not gotten details of the meeting from the Chinese.
North Korea has been moderating its tone in recent weeks, signaling its willingness to resume a dialogue with the United States, China and other partners and backing away from the provocative behavior and rhetoric of the spring.
The North agreed in 2007 to disable its nuclear facilities in return for international aid. In June last year, the North blew up the cooling tower at its main nuclear complex near Pyongyang in show of its commitment. But the denuclearization came to a halt later in 2008 as Pyongyang wrangled with Washington over how to verify its past activities.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/10/05/international/i222019D38.DTL#ixzz0TFr2HHSo
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told the visiting Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, on Monday that... Pyongyang is willing to rejoin six-nation nuclear talks depending on progress in its negotiations with the U.S., according to Chinese and North Korean official media.
That raised hope for North Korea's possible return to the talks, from which it withdrew after conducting a rocket test in April and a second nuclear test in May. The regime said earlier it would never return to the talks involving China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the U.S.
Jack Lang, the French envoy on North Korea who was appointed by President Nicolas Sarkozy last week, has been on a tour of the six nations involved in the negotiations to evaluate ways France can help end the nuclear standoff.
Lang, who arrived in Seoul on Tuesday from Japan, said there should be "real and concrete discussions" if North Korea comes back to the negotiating table.
"We hope that it will be not only the opening of discussions, but it will be the way to change completely the situation," Lang told reporters after meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan.
Lang said he plans to visit North Korea around Nov. 10.
Yonhap news agency quoted Lang as saying in a separate news conference that France or the European Union could participate in compensating North Korea in return for its denuclearization. Neither France nor the EU is a member of the six-nation disarmament talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programs.
China said it welcomed the North's offer to return to the nuclear talks, saying late Tuesday that the six-party talks are the best way to achieve a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and they should resume as soon as possible.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Washington was aware of reports that North Korea would reconsider opening talks but said the United States had not gotten details of the meeting from the Chinese.
North Korea has been moderating its tone in recent weeks, signaling its willingness to resume a dialogue with the United States, China and other partners and backing away from the provocative behavior and rhetoric of the spring.
The North agreed in 2007 to disable its nuclear facilities in return for international aid. In June last year, the North blew up the cooling tower at its main nuclear complex near Pyongyang in show of its commitment. But the denuclearization came to a halt later in 2008 as Pyongyang wrangled with Washington over how to verify its past activities.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/10/05/international/i222019D38.DTL#ixzz0TFr2HHSo