The risks and rewards of a Development Plan for Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka today is in the category of a poor country status, listed in the “Institutional Investor”, September 2009 Country Credit Survey. It ranks No. 122 among 178 nations, behind Vanuatu and just ahead of Kiribati.
This is no fault of its strategic position as an island nation in the Indian Ocean, or of its people, who are one of the most literate in South Asia. There is no doubt that the potential is there for sustainable development.
THE SRI LANKA MASTERPLAN 2030
The Sri Lanka Master Plan 2030 is designed to manage this development of the new Sri Lanka through a long term vision. It represents a unique opportunity to create an authentic, sustainable, modern Sri Lanka, managing existing resources and exploring alternatives for future demand.
At the heart of this Master Plan is sustainability and diversity maintaining our cultural heritage, whilst making capital use of our strategic environmental asset (SEA), our people and our land.
This Master Plan will have to be developed over eighteen months period and will serve as the foundation upon which all future land use, transportation, power generation, urban and rural planning, water resources, agriculture ,fisheries and industrial decisions will be made. As a road map for the future, the Master Plan will establish quantifiable targets covering both present and future needs within a legal framework.
PRESENT CONSTRAINTS
To remove the road blocks to improved growth, the Government of Sri Lanka will have to take ownership of implementation of development projects at the same time take custody of its environment, which has suffered terminal decline due to the 26 year war. The wish of both its people and investors will have to be respected and the Master Plan will be seen to be executed in a transparent and professional way.
It has become essential that Sri Lanka needs to take ownership of the climate change agenda as almost 90 percent of its coastline, as it stands today, will in the not too distant future face the threat of submersion, if global temperature rises at the present rate.
ENVIRONMENTAL THREAT
Almost 90 percent of future emissions of CO2 will come from the Indian sub- continent, China, European Union and Russia; there is a need for ambitious and legally binding emissions reductions from industrial nations. We note that 53 Commonwealth member states recently accepted a £13.6 billion climate change financial package with Britain proposing a £10 bn. “rich world” fund to give an incentive to developing countries to halt deforestation and develop low carbon energy sources.
HOW MUCH IS PLAUSIBLE OR PRACTICAL?
In order to ensure that Sri Lankan cities, towns and villages become “climate resilient” – this means planning for the future, a future where climate impacts will be inevitable. It means ensuring that all urban and rural development projects are built with climate change in mind. Resources and energy can and should be utilised effectively and efficiently for the benefit of both its people and its environment.
Sri Lanka should further endeavour to stop the abuse of the nation’s resources for either political or economic gain by whim or fancy.
The country could develop transportation systems to promote mobility for many and not just the privileged few. It means building homes, houses and offices which are resource and energy efficient, and built with passive and sustainable design principles governing any construction. It means treating water as the most precious resource what we have and thus ending perverse subsidies that lead to colossal waste of this essential resource.
Sri Lanka today is more vulnerable to natural disasters such as droughts, floods and Cyclones, earth tremors, not to mention Tsunami’s than other countries and these are likely to intensify as climate change takes hold of our region.
The South Asia Zone is projected to be the most vulnerable in the world to agricultural failure as result of warmer temperatures, increased or reduced rainfall, causing floods and lower soil fertility with increased soil erosion.
WATER RESOURCES
Mahatma Gandhi said:
“There was enough water for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.”
In Sri Lanka water management is the need of the hour. Planning, development and management of limited water resources in the country will be looked into afresh in an effort to mitigate the efforts of drought and floods in the country.
There is an urgent need for recharge of ground water as it is being over exploited. Though we have a national level linkage of rivers, tanks, water transfer to areas of drought are becoming more difficult because of hydrological, engineering, environmental, as well as socio-political complexities.
Besides, we need to factor in the climate change while planning for water management. There is a need to treat water as a scarce commodity – a public custody in today’s lifestyle. Further sharing water resources between the provinces, remain a problem of national significance. Tackling the problem of drought and flood by means of river basin transfer of water may be highly beneficial without causing major environmental impact.
We need a micro management of water resources in the country. We also need to generate public awareness on water pollution. We need to switch over as fast as feasible to a low energy, village centric model of development and living in conformity with the timeless laws of Mother Nature. There is no question of the use of natural resources, but there is mistrust and disputes when it comes to reckless and relentless exploitation of water. Seldom beforehand had rivers and waterways and canals been as ill treated as now. In some of our big cities, canals are polluted and regulations will be introduced to make it bearable for human interaction with our natural habitat.
While floods pose a threat not only to humans, but also to wild life, drought is making many parts of the North and North Central provinces inhabitable.
We also note villages down the south coast are already inundated by sea water and sea water ingression, with a resultant rehabilitation problem in the making.
There is a dual cost involved in this scenario. One: Losses incurred due to natural disasters, Second: Cost involved in migration and adaptation to climate change phenomenon, in the years ahead.
2030 VISION
We need to move into the fast lane of planning, if we want to take advantage of all that’s going on. The Presidential Election Manifesto can well incorporate work to be carried out for the accomplishment of this Master Plan.
This Master Plan 2030 is our ultimate goal to create a cohesive, contemporary and sustainable fabric for the modern Sri Lanka. The Master Plan provides the clarity and direction for achieving this goal in a way that serves the various and distinctive community expectations of all our peoples, now and well into the future.