Daily News: 25/08/2005" by Chandani Jayatilleke

There is a need to ensure the survival of the small scale fisherfolk in the aftermath of the tsunami, and in case the Sethusamudram project is implemented, according to a group of representatives from community based organisations and lobby groups campaigning for the rights of fisherfolk.

Fisherfolk from Asia were the worst hit by the tsunami. They not only lost loved ones, livelihoods, homes and boats and fishing gear but also their resource base - mangrove swamps, coral reefs, and coastal fish breeding grounds - that supported their livelihoods.

They are already experiencing the hardships created amid post tsunami crises. And if the Sethusamudram Project is implemented it could lead to further marginalisation of the fisherfolk, according to the above groups.

The groups had deliberations with the officials of ITDG South Asia, Ruhuna University, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA), Coastal Conservation Department and Task Force for Rebuilding the Nation(TAFREN) at a workshop organized by Intermediate Technology Development Group, South Asia on the impact of the tsunami, and the Sethusamudram project, on the small-scale fisheries industry and coastal resources.

Among the presentations at the seminar were: 'Impact of the Tsunami on small-scale fishery industry in Sri Lanka' by Tinil Fernando of NARA; 'Impact of tsunami on coastal resources - a case from Sri Lanka' by Dr. Ruchira Cumarathunga of the University of Ruhuna; 'Impacts of the Sethusamudram project on coastal resources and fisheries sector' by Turney Pradeep Kumara of the University of Ruhuna; 'Role of fisher communities and other stakeholders in rebuilding the fisheries sector' by Herman Kumara of the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement and the 'Trends and future directions of the fishery sector in the post tsunami rebuilding process' by Patrick Mulvany of ITDG UK.

The seminar discussed the fishery industry and its economic benefits to the country and its people. The sector provides considerable number of direct and indirect employment opportunities to nearly one million household dependants.

In 2003 the sector obtained foreign exchange worth Rs. 9.5 billion through marine product exports. Its contribution to the country's GDP was estimated at 2.6%.

However with the tsunami this sector suffered severe losses. The death toll of fishermen was 5,006, around 32,989 houses of fishermen were affected by the tsunami and 24,572 were destroyed and around 17,157 of the marine fishing craft were destroyed and 4,241 damaged, an ITDG South Asia spokesperson said.

According to Tinil Fernando, the total loss in fish production would be around 86,000 tons in 2005. Therefore, the country's foreign exchange earnings from fish exports will be lowered by 1/3 as a result of non-availability of fish for export.

The natural coastal habitats (coral reef, estuaries, lagoons, mangroves, salt marshes and sand dunes) are immensely productive, essential for national growth and a rich reservoir of genetic resources and bio diversity. However, as a result of the tsunami the fragile corals had been damaged by vigorous water and coral rubble movement and the entanglements of fishing nets and clothing.

Turney Pradeep Kumara said that having a buffer zone, a green belt and involvement of coastal communities for conservation measures such as clean up of beach areas, mangroves and reefs and eco tourism measures such as artificial reefs and wrecks are necessary strategies for coastal zone management.

Dr. Ruchira Cumaratunga from the University of Ruhuna who is also in the committee from Sri Lanka on the Sethusamudram project spoke of the impacts of the Sethusamudram project on coastal resources and small-scale fishery Industry.

The Sethusamudram project could affect most important ecosystems - coral reefs and also dredging the canal will stir up the dust and toxins that lie beneath the sea bed and will adversely affect the population of corals. Further, an upsurge of coastal currents due to the Sethusamudram project can lead to higher tides and to more energetic waves, and hence to coastal erosion.

In addition the changes of ecology and the food chain have a negative effect on the fish population, which can in turn affect the lives of the hundreds of thousands of fisherfolk in the area.

Herman Kumara from the National Fisheries Solidarity (NAFSO) explained the role of fisher communities and their organisations in rebuilding the small-scale fisheries sector.

He alleged that the scholars, governmental departments and fisherfolk had not been involved in developing the post tsunami recovery plan for the fisheries sector.

Patrick Mulvany, an international activist and campaigner for the rights of the small-scale farmers and artisanal fisherfolk, stated that although the largest humanitarian response was generated by the tsunami, fisherfolk could anticipate worse conditions.

This is mainly due to organisations and institutions of the fisherfolk in many cases, being decisively weakened not only by the disaster itself, but, also by people and institutions, who take advantage of the disaster to further their interests.

Speaking further on the rights of artisanal fisherfolk Mulvany said that as NGOs and other organisations that work in support of peasant and fisherfolk organisations and communities, we need to commit ourselves to support the defence of labour-intensive, beach-based fisheries, as well as the monitoring of relief and reconstruction efforts, raise awareness and campaign against dumping of discarded fishing vessels from industrialised countries in tsunami-affected areas and strengthen local government authority level organisations.

The future of fishing, provision of fish and the conservation of the coastal areas depend on the survival of small-scale coastal beach-based fisheries, he added.

Participants also proposed certain recommendations, such as involving a relevant national or international agency to study the impacts of the Sethusamudram project and to work closely with local organisations involved in the fisheries sector to obtain their recommendations in the process.

Poverty Development Gateway:
This paper calls for a greater focus on chronic poverty in analysis and policy debate, that is based on a broader concept. It discusses current approaches to the analysis of chronic poverty and poverty dynamics, as well as limitations of monetary measures. It also sheds light on progress to date in terms of implementing some of these approaches at the micro level." Produced by: World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU/WIDER) (2005)

Microfinance Development Gateway:
This paper examines the extent to which the distribution of development assistance is directed towards the poorest countries by exploring the way in which top six bilateral donors (USA, Japan, Germany, UK, France and Netherlands) and top three multilateral donors (World Bank, European Union Commission and UN) distribute their development assistance (DA). The paper concludes with a discussion of the questions the analysis poses for aid policy and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Author: Bob Baulch. Organization: IDPM - Institute for Development Policy and Management. Date: 2004

ReliefWeb - Document Preview: Source: Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA)
Date: 17 Aug 2005

The cold blooded assassination of Lakshman Kadirgamar, the highest profile killing on the government side since the ceasefire of 2002 is a serious blow to a peace process which was any way seriously in need of reviving. Lakshman Kadirgamar, highly respected locally and internationally as the most successful holder of the office of foreign minister of Sri Lanka, trenchant critic of the LTTE and ardent champion of the sovereignty and unity of Sri Lanka was killed at a time when the cease fire itself is under the most challenge since it came into being in February 2002. LTTE denials notwithstanding, the government and the police investigators have come to the clear conclusion that the LTTE is responsible for the killing. And from this stem the consequences for the peace process and ceasefire.

The question is as to what the LTTE seeks to achieve by killing Mr Kadirgamar at this point in time. That he was high up on their list of targets and always especially vulnerable to their barbaric practice of assassination is well known. Did they kill him because they always planned to when they got the opportunity to do so or did they kill him at a particular point in time with the objective of decisively affecting the political balance of power and the trajectory of the peace process ? This columnist claims no expertise of the decision making process of the LTTE. However, trying to get a sense of it is necessary if we are in turn to get a sense of how we can move out of the deadly spiral of assassination and counter assassination, fear, terror and intimidation, that is absolutely vital for peace.

One of the biggest pitfalls in this process is the imputation to the decision maker of the LTTE and his advisors of a rationality that makes sense in terms of mainstream democratic politics or even conventional strategic politico - military calculus. This applies as well to a generalized conclusion that they are mad and bad and therefore it is naïve and futile to try to make any sense of their warped and wicked strategic logic. They have to be neutralized and better still eliminated because they cannot be transformed is the logic of this perspective.

The objective of a negotiated constitutional settlement of the ethnic conflict cannot be pursued from either perspective. We have to deal with the LTTE and we have to do so in a manner that does not undermine the pursuit of the imperative – a constitutional settlement to frame a democratic peace. Jettisoning the cease fire agreement and going back to war is an easy option, but one which the past record indicates is hard to sustain to a successful conclusion. Ignoring the brutality of the LTTE and its apparent ability to get away with it with impunity will not do either. There has to be another way which will effect a transformation of the LTTE away from violence as a basic prerequisite for peace, as Mr Kadirgamar persistently pointed out.

Is it the case that the LTTE has calculated that a high profile reversion to bloody type is necessary to reassert control over cadre and civilians alike because it will dramatically intensify tensions, provide a fillip to the hardliners in the south in the context of impending presidential and/or general elections and make real a return to hostilities? Control – the obsession of the LTTE – has been slipping ever since the cease fire. Did the organization respond to this challenge of No War /No Peace with a grim reminder of what its chilling reputation has in no small measure been also built upon ? And is not the case that this decision was made by the supreme leader and his advisors who are single minded, tunnel visioned and brutally unimaginative. Consequently they reverted to type, fully conscious that such a course of action would risk losing whatever international credibility and capital the organization acquired from signing the cease fire agreement and engaging in peace talks. The latter is of secondary importance to the imperative of tightening control in a situation in which it is being loosened up. Perhaps they also calculated that as long as the international community wanted a peace process in Sri Lanka, their role as key players is assured, irrespective of violence and violation, low profile or high. Therefore loss of international capital and credibility would be temporary; its replenishment assured as long as the international community continued to be interested in peace in Sri Lanka.

The sympathizers and supporters of the LTTE, were they to acknowledge its responsibility for the Kadirgamar assassination, may argue that the mounting frustration over the ISGA proposals, the effective suspension of PTOMS by the Supreme Court - which they would argue the government was aware of, given all the talk about partisanship and the judiciary - and the persistent challenge posed by the Karuna group which they believe to be a government proxy, pushed them into an act of depravity, yet also one of desperation. Assassination is never to be condoned but condemned. If it is the case that the LTTE when cornered or challenged reverts to type and that type is one of brutality and barbarism, there is scant evidence if any, of any real transformation of the essential nature of the organization having been consciously undertaken or effected by circumstances.

Much points to the conclusion that the LTTE assassinated Mr Kadirgamar at this point because they intend to derail what is left of the peace process in the context of imminent elections, believing that the political consequences of their action will facilitate the reestablishment of the control they crave and were accustomed to before the ceasefire and Karuna's challenge to their claim of sole representative.

Mr Kadirgamar's killing must not be allowed to be a catalyst for war. Rather it should be a catalyst for a serious rethinking of how to deal with the LTTE in the context of a sustainable peace process. This goes for government, international community, the Norwegian facilitators and civil society. They cannot be constructively engaged if they are allowed to kill to avenge or for attention or advantage without any form of accountability. It is going to be a tougher process that leads to peace for all of us, if there is going to be a process at all. Or else there is war and the rest will be history…….

Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
Executive Director
Centre for Policy Alternatives

(This article was published in The Morning Leader of 17 August 2005 under the title "Kadirgamar killing: Blow to Peace")

Daily News: 24/08/2005" BY THARUKA Dissanaike

DESPITE the huge influx of international and, national aid and aid workers after the December 26 tsunami, many people still languish without livelihood, without homes or a decent place to live, without water and proper sanitary facilities, many still suffer from ailments and conditions related to the tsunami and many adults and children have yet not mentally and emotionally recovered from the trauma.

The situation is much the same all over the tsunami-hit districts. People who have yet not received homes have moved in with relatives or stay on rent since their temporary shelters are not conducive for long term dwelling.

The biggest problem appear to be livelihoods and means of income. In the south, at least half the fisherfolk have not resumed their work-citing due to a number of reasons (no boats, no tackle, cannot leave children).

There appears to be a general lethargy about getting back on their feet and resuming life plus a certain bitterness about the way aid has been distributed.

In the East, the problem of the tsunami has only heightened humanitarian issues that were the legacy of a two-decade long war.

For many of these people, the tsunami was only the latest in a long-list of disasters that had wreaked their lives, torn their families apart, affected their livelihoods and their children's growth and education.

Even after the tsunami, despite the enormous international and local efforts, certain villages are left in the margins, unable to recover and still awaiting support from some benovelont agency.

The Non-Violent Peace Force in Batticaloa reports of many marginal villages like Mailankarachchi, that have been thus neglected in the process.

In addition to suffering war and tsunami, the village is also an area with a history of Tamil-Muslim tensions. The villagers depended on the lagoon and sea for their livelihood of producing dried fish. Prior to the tsunami there was a brick making industry which is now destroyed.

Many boats are lost or are badly damaged. The fishermen who earlier were self sufficient, now have to depend on temporary jobs and day-labour for income. Out of 235 families only 81 receive tsunami food stamps. There is also a lack of permanent housing in this village.

Kavattamuni is another such village that has to grapple with issues of multiple disasters like tsunami and flood damage in the background of conflict and poverty.

Despite being a large village with 6000 population, there is hardly any proper access to this place - the roads being utterly neglected and damaged due to heavy monsoon flooding and the tsunami.

Many of these villagers are IDPs (Internally Displaced People) from Vahaneri and they cannot access their own paddy lands for cultivation any more.

Since they have no livelihood the villagers need micro-credit support to take on different livelihoods. They need more wells (which were damaged by the tsunami) and many of the houses still remain roofless.

Pallainagar a mixed (Muslim and Tamil) community of 750 families that has been uprooted from their homes at least thrice due to the conflict and suffer from acute poverty and deprivation of livelihood.

A state sponsored housing scheme is lying incomplete and abandoned even as the villagers go without adequate shelter and housing.

These villages need urgent attention of humanitarian agencies working in the fields of disaster management (flood protection) livelihoods and micro credit and housing and infrastructure.

What's more, to add to the crisis many of the small, grassroots NGOs that have been working in the war-affected areas prior to the tsunami are seeing themselves being elbowed out by the big players.

Many different agencies and donors rushed in to the affected areas after the tsunami with little knowledge of local conditions or grassroots contacts but with a lot of money that needed to be spent quickly.

There has been little or no consultation or coordination with existing NGOs and ongoing programmes.

Short term, high spending projects and programmes often without links to local government or other long-term donor projects, could raise serious issues of sustainability.

When the tsunami monies have been spent and many of these organisations leave Sri Lanka, they may also leave behind a set of very complex problems. In this situation, local NGOs would have to pick up the pieces.

Daily Mirror: 22/08/2005" By Kelum Bandara

The tsunami-affected people, representing seven districts in the country, yesterday made a combined request to the Government to address basic humanitarian needs by restoring their livelihoods immediately.

The request was made at the National Conference of the Tsunami Affected People organized by the ‘Janavabodha Centre’ and several other organizations, held in Negombo.

Speaking at the function Fr Sarath Iddamalgoda of the Centre, said that they identified the necessity to create a platform for the affected people to raise their voice against the Government’s failure in the relief effort. The people’s representatives said that they had been inconvenienced immensely due to the Government’s failure to restore their livelihoods even after the lapse of eight months.

People’s representatives from Matara, Colombo, Gampaha, Trincomalee, Ampara, Batticaloa and Hambantota participated at the conference.

M.S. Lalitha from Trincomalee said that they received Government aid only for a few months, and it was only the NGOs who were assisting them now in their time of need.

“We were fisherfolk earlier. Now we have lost everything. Still, the Government has failed to provide us, at least a plot of land to build houses, confining us to transition camps for months,” she said.

She said that the LTTE would have chased them away from the area if not for the presence of the armed forces in the town.

“We are worried about the transfer of the Navy chief in the area, to Colombo. He looked after us well, when tension erupted in the town,” she said.

Velupillai Saraswathjai from Akkaraipattu said that they still lived in welfare centres, and had no means to restart their lives.

Development Gateway:
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are the driving force behind the overall development strategy of many developing countries. The report focuses on 33 countries that had completed their report as of 1 December, 2003. The author reports: "All reviewed PRSPs underline that economic growth is a necessary but not sufficient condition for poverty reduction..... infrastructure interventions are mainly focused on the development of the rural/agricultural and private sectors...... Infrastructure development strategies in the rural/agricultural sector include the development of rural roads, electricity, and telecommunications...... support for Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs), is also one of the prevailing strategies in PRSPs.....Infrastructure interventions for SME development are designed to build the enabling business environment..... They mainly focus on the improvement and expansion of roads to facilitate logistics and the development of electricity and telecommunication networks..... All PRSPs underline the importance of other infrastructure interventions in the social and/or economic sectors. In particular, most PRSPs recommend improving the water and sanitation systems and expanding them to better reach the poor. Several PRSPs also underline that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can play an important role in human resources development (e.g., by improving education systems), in increasing access to markets and attracting investment, and in promoting good governance by strengthening information sharing and transparency (for example, through egovernment). The major challenge for infrastructure development strategies in PRSPs is whether they can introduce sustainable maintenance mechanisms by systematically securing financial and human resources...... the cost of inaction due to lack of financing can dramatically curtail efforts to achieving the Millennium Development Goals." By Namomichi Murooka, DAC Network on Poverty Reduction, OECD, October 2004.

Sunday Observer: 21/08/2005" by Rashomi Silva

Sri Lanka has got a wrong mixture for power generation with over 65 percent of power generating through oil, the most expensive power generating resources, while in the world context, little more than 7 percent of power is produced using oil based resources, say experts.

Delaying the introduction of low cost power plants and dragging feet on the Norochcholai coal power project and the Upper Kotmale Hydro Power project can ruin the country's economy to a greater degree, than the two decades of war can, said Ananda Piyatilake, a project engineer at the CEB distributing office. "Each delaying day of the Norochcholai power project cost the country Rs 22 million and the Upper Kotmale power project cost Rs 10 million," he said.

With the 1996 power crisis the proliferation of relatively low capacity thermal power generating plants using petroleum fuels, has contributed to high electricity tariff, he explained.

"We in Sri Lanka with the highest electricity tariff, use the most expensive source, namely diesel for power generation which does not suite the need of a developing country like ours,"

According to the pattern of power usage in Sri Lanka the base load demand around 700MW (base load is the amount of electricity generated throughout the day on 365 days of the year) and a peak demand of over 1500MW (between 6.30pm- 9.30pm).

Common practice is to generate electricity using low cost option during the peak time and if the necessity arises to use diesel and other oil based options for generation during the peak hours, he explained. With the Upper Kotmale Hydro Power project which is likely to be the last mega scale hydro power project the country could have, experts stress the importance of introducing other options for power generation to fill the gap between the demand and supply of electricity.

Amidst protests from the employees for the proposed power sector reforms, the Ministry appointed a committee headed by the Ministry secretary Weerahandi to make recommendations and to formulate a concept paper that can be used as a legal framework in future reforms.

Committee discussions were based on proposals forwarded by an alliance of the CEB trade unions and the Paper presented by the Committee has identified a 'tripod' situation that was responsible for the present crisis, and has recommended a tripod solution for it.

"For the first time in the history of the CEB this year the committee has emphasised the importance of new and cheap power generating options with particular emphasis on coal based power generating plants," a union officials said. The need is for a clear policy on low cost power plants as a long term measure for the existing crisis within the Ceylon Electricity Board, a cost reflective price tariff and a suitable restructuring system.

Just like a tripod cannot stand if one of the legs are broken the CEB cannot survive in the long run if we ignore one of the conditions," he said. "This has to be a parallel process".

The implementation of UKHP is a positive move in this direction, but due to strong opposition from various parties it was finally decided that the project scope be limited to the St. Clair's water falls, instead of tapping five other water falls.

This would reduce the capacity of the power plant and would fall short of the need of present power requirements.

While mapping out long term plans for low cost power plants he emphasised the necessity of revising tariff rates to keep up with the world fuel rates.

"This is where the reforms become important, We have to have a certain amount of autonomy for the CEB.

Whenever we propose a tariff increase the government point blank would refuse and consequently the CEB has to suffer great deal of losses," he said.

The inability of the CEB to increase tariffs together with the increase of fuel price, depreciation of the SL Rupee and the consequent increase in capital and operational cost and the high prices paid to independent power producers reduce the CEB capacity to make profits.

"Of course the CEB is not above human errors. There are inefficiencies in operational and structural components and weakness on the part of the staff, but contribution of this part is relatively low, compared with the other factors,"

The bottom line however is that the CEB needs restructuring but, the restructuring has to be a parallel process with the introduction of low cost power generating options.

Colombo Page: Friday, August 19, 2005, 12:26 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Aug 19, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government yesterday announced that it would re-establish the Ceylon Transport Board (CTB) and take the State bus sector under its centralized administration.

Cabinet Spokesman Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva said President Chandrika Kumaratunga forwarded the proposal to Cabinet in this regard and the Cabinet has approved it.

“It will be placed before parliament as an urgent legislation after the Supreme Court confirms its constitutionality,” he said.

The Cabinet has also approved another memorandum forwarded by the President for the immediate purchase of 2,000 buses for the State bus sector under the Indian Credit Line at a cost of US $46 million, the spokesman said.

The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog: Progress: "I live for each day.." says Chandrika.. A woman in Hambantota who lost everything to the tsunami.. Her husband.. her children.. her mother.. her house.. everything.. She lives in a camp put up by Sewalanka. She broke down i asked her to recall what happened that fateful day.. She sleeps with pieces of her daughters' clothes, she found them at the site of the house.. it was all that was left.. she recently found photographs of her wedding which were partially destroyed stuck in a tree.. with no friends and no companions she struggles by each day by selling frozen drink packets to little kids at 1 rupee each.. She still hasn't received any help from the government.....

Tony, as he is known to his friends, a muslim who had 3 children, a wife and all-in-all a happy ever after.. He worked in Saudi for a long time to earn to give his children a good education and a good life.. He was in the middle east on the 26th of December.. He got the news that his wife and children were missing and rushed back here but alas, all was lost.. He still walks around with a briefcase in which he carries all the documents of his children.. hoping someday to find them as their bodies were never found.. he recently had a dream that his youngest daughter had called to him to come and look for her near Colombo so he took the next bus to Colombo to look for her.. He says he needs to go abroad to get on with his life because everytime he sees a little girl he is reminded of his daughter.. The government hasn't given him any aid either..

I went to Hambantota a month ago and again this week again to check the progress.. I've been in Hambantota for the past 3 days and witnessed how people are being neglected and how the government isn't doing anything to help them.. there's alot of negativity towards the government at this very moment.. they gave them food stamps but most of the aid has been given by NGO's and as private donations.. I just want to raise the question of "where's all the money that was given to the government..???" "why is everything so stagnant...??" Just a plea to everybody to do whatever they can.. especially the governmnt.. all is not well...

And also this is a thank you to all that have done what they can.. Keep up the good work..!

A lady named Petronella Ballard whose been living in Sri Lanka for the past 31 years has joined with many interesting people to begin a project called SwimLanka. It's a project which teaches children to swim with the intention of helping them get over their fear of the sea and also to help them be prepared if any other disaster related to water happens.. Julian Bolling, a famous swimmer who is an asset to the country has trained youth in certain areas to coach the kids.. I went to Tangalle to see what it's like, just to get an idea of what it was like and was touched to see how much the kids enjoyed it and how much enthusiasm was extended to the programme by people from all over the world.. it was beautiful.. it's so wonderful to see the way the children laugh and the way the team works.. Thanks so much..

That's all for now.. will keep you updated.. Let's do something people!!

Keep it blogged...