Editorial Note: NV was sent the e-mail below
from John Wilkins a friend of Zulfiqar Ali, who is
a former Rochdale Mayor. We publish this without
comment, but we anticipate more information.
Mr. Zulfiqar Ali writes:
from John Wilkins a friend of Zulfiqar Ali, who is
a former Rochdale Mayor. We publish this without
comment, but we anticipate more information.
Mr. Zulfiqar Ali writes:
Hi,
I am writing this email in concern to the high numbers of deaths
within the black and minority ethnic community (BAME) due to the
Covid-19 pandemic.
Amongst the numerous factors that may have contributed to the high
number of deaths within this group. One main factor that has been
highlighted is overcrowding and poor housing situations.
The government is uncertain on how to address these issues and
improve the well being of the BAME community. If these issues are not
addressed in the near future it will have severe consequences for the
communities.
15 years ago, in the Manchester Metropolitan Borough the local
council was given a golden opportunity to address the issue of poor
housing and overcrowding within one of its wards that was identified as
being one of the most deprived areas in Rochdale.
The local council was given the European Regeneration SRBS funding
to invest in community housing to resolve overcrowding and poor
housing.
Old housing and mill sites were allocated following numerous
planning and consultations, it was proposed that affordable low cost
right to buy homes would be built.
Families in the community desired to live in the same community due
to easily accessible amenities/ facilities i.e. school, healthcare and
places of worship.
Allocated sites included Nile Street, Edward Road and Gower Street.
The local community was eagerly awaiting these developments. In
2012 the proposal for the development was finalized. But then the
development project was given to ‘countryside housing’ who built the
houses ‘to let’ for those in employment which was a major
disappointment for the locals.
This would have been a good opportunity to tackle the issues of
poor housing and over crowding by offering and affordable right to buy
scheme rather than ‘to let’. This would have tackled the issue of over
crowding and poor housing which is a main factor
of transmission of disease during the pandemic.
The WHO (World Health Organisation) identifies inadequate housing
and overcrowding as one of the major factors in transmission of the
disease.
The local community is wanting answers to the issues raised in this email.
Regards,
Zulfiqar Ali
Former Mayor of Rochdale
Posts
2 comments:
I wonder if the writer of this letter would be kind enough to explain to me exactly what the ‘BAME community’ is, the emphasis here being on the term ‘community’, not the acronym ‘BAME’. All too often the word ‘community’ is thrown around with little regard for what it is intended to mean in a particular context.
There is so little information about exactly what town and what ward within the town that the writer is referring to that we are left to draw our own conclusions about what he is seeking.
I am sorry to say that one possible conclusion which can be drawn from what he has written is that what he is seeking to establish is the equivalent of ‘ghettos’ where only people who are drawn from essentially the same background live in the same area. If that is what he means I would be happier if he would say so and then at least we would all know what we are all talking about. I would be even more happy if he was able to tell us that this is not what he means.
"One main factor that has been highlighted is overcrowding and poor housing situations"
Where is the evidence for this assertion actually having such an effect?
What we do know about the disease, even at this early stage, is that age and underlying health issues puts people at a much higher risk of death.
For example, it has been reported that 25% of all deaths have involved people with type 2 diabetes. The NHS has previously recognised that South Asians have a disproportionate number of sufferers. In fact they are 6 times more likely to have it.
There are other plausible reasons that might explain a higher death rate but to blame it on housing is a tired, lazy way of trying to make a serious point.
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