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| Sunday, 19 January 2003 |
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Safeguarding Sri Lanka against floods by INDUNIL THENUWARA
Sri Lanka needs to apply proper flood prevention measures if we are to prevent the devastation witnessed during recent months. The loss of life and massive destruction to property caused by flood water cannot be allowed to happen again, President Chamber of Construction Industry and Chairman Surath Wickramasinghe Associates Surath Wickramasinghe told the Sunday Observer. Flooding is a major problem facing the island and experts warn that a combination of changing weather patterns and a 'haphazard' flood prevention system could cause devastation again. This is not unique to Sri Lanka, but has been happening of late in many other areas including European countries. However, in our country, people have to face serious consequences even during the monsoon season due to inadequate flood defences, he said. "South America has started planning for floods. Even Asian countries such as Singapore have mechanisms to trap flood water which could later be utilised during the dry season. We also need to have such measures in place," he said. Other countries have large canals, lakes, underwater tanks and other water retaining structures built within as well as outside cities which are used to supplement the water needs during drought periods. In Sri Lanka, no use is made of this flood water which only causes damage and destruction while on its way to the sea. Lakes built to retain flood water can also beautify the city, thus serving another purpose. Proposals to build industries, housing complexes and other projects in high risk flooding areas should be avoided. In Colombo, as a large part of the flood retention areas have been built up, urgent action should be taken to increase the retention capacity of these areas. If there is land scarcity in these areas, development should proceed only after allowing the free movement of flood water. Another issue that needs urgent attention is our public transport system. The current system is not safe, reliable and has been planned in a rather ad hoc manner. Pollution is rife with so many unsuitable vehicles entering our roadways."If the situation is like this when there is an economic slump, we cannot imagine what it would be like if the economy booms. Neither our roads nor our secondary roads have changed to accommodate the changes in other areas. If this continues, we would soon find ourselves in a gridlock situation with the roads choking with a huge number of vehicles," Wickramasinghe said. He said that a master plan is required to rectify the situation. Partnerships between private and public agencies is one way of solving the problem. The existing roads can achieve much more with better planning and management while suggestions and solutions from the public could be used. Traffic police should also be more vigilant to nab offenders on the roads. There is also a need for rail and road integration. The Chamber can help the Government implement road development programs expeditiously with government facilities.The Chamber, during the one year it has been in operation, has done a lot towards uplifting the construction industry. "However, bureaucracy has hampered us in many areas. The lack of a financial institution is also a major barrier in my opinion. The role of development banks, after they ventured into commercial banking, has not been satisfactory," he said. Talking about the loans provided by international donors, he said that unless we act quickly and make plans to utilise this money properly, they (donors) will withdraw the money. The Chamber plans to hold the South Asian Contractors Congress in Sri Lanka this year. |
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