April 25, 2006
By Thabang Mokoka
COSMO City threw a party for Mother Nature on Earth Day, with the theme, Solutions to climate change.
The day was marked worldwide on Saturday, 22 April. The development, off Hans Strijdom Drive in Randburg, was chosen for the City's celebrations because it is a benchmark for new housing developments that are environmentally friendly.
City Parks' head Phumla Radebe
Johannesburg City Parks, Food and Trees for Africa, Fruit Tree, Timberland and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry joined forces on the day to highlight climate problems and their implications on quality of life, as part of the City's aim to develop a clean city of which we can all be proud.
In attendance were City Parks' head Phumla Radebe, Food and Trees for Africa's chief executive Jeunesse Park and members of the mayoral committee Prema Naidoo (environment) and Ruby Mathang (spatial planning and urban management).
Mayoral committee member for environment Prema Naidoo celebrates Earth Day
"We have come here today to pay our respects to Mother Nature," Radebe said.
Some 1 000 trees would be planted at homes and along the streets of Cosmo City as a way of doing things differently and providing a sustainable settlement and livelihood for residents.
Naidoo said that in an effort to have green areas fit for human habitation, about 200 hectares had been reserved in Cosmo City for public open spaces and conservation purposes.
"Further developments in the conservation area that will be explored will include, among others, the introduction of game, guided walking trails and recreational amenities, while 50 hectares of land have already been reserved for parks and recreational areas."
He said trees were important because they were the earth's lungs. "We don't have housing projects, we have integrated projects."
Park said that 140 countries were also celebrating the day. She quoted United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, who said, "We are living in crucial times."
To try to limit these "crucial times", in the last 16 years her organisation had distributed 2,2 million trees to various communities. Speaking to those community members at the celebration, Park said trees and gardening improved the value of houses and trees helped the earth to stay cooler, among other good things they did for the environment.
When Cosmo City is complete it will have:
- 5 000 fully subsidised units;
- 3 000 partially subsidised units;
- 1 000 fully subsidised units in two to three-storey institutional blocks for rental;
- 3 300 bonded houses available on the open market;
- 12 schools, clinics and other social services buildings; and
- about 50 hectares of land zoned for commercial and industrial use.
Food and Trees for Africa ended the day by distributing 500 trees to new homeowners while City Parks showcased the rollout of four parks in Cosmo City.
Twenty community members, all wearing sponsored blue Timberland T-shirts, were trained by Food and Trees for Africa to teach other community members on how to green areas and manage them.
City Parks appealed to residents to respect and value their green spaces and to refrain from littering. It also recognised that it had to work with communities to make Johannesburg a great city that was sustainable and a desirable place to live.
"This day is about the community and we pride ourselves on celebrating this day with Cosmo City," Mathang said.
To end the celebrations, four trees were planted on Swaziland Street in the subsidised section of Cosmo City.
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