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| Sunday, 23 January 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Dealing with the tsunami debris by Shanika Sriyananda The debris stretching from Koralawella, Moratuwa to Point Pedro, in the northern edge of the country, shows us the gravity of the devastation left behind by the tsunami.
The debris, mixed with dried garbage, and remnants of red, blue, yellow and multi coloured fabric, once worn by the victims, on that fateful December day, litter the coastline, making the clean-up a tougher task than the re-building. It has also made the owners confused about the identity of their own lands. The tsunami devastation enters its fifth week today, and in the absence of active participation by the local authorities in cleaning the debris, a huge problem of garbage disposal is in the making, in the tsunami hit areas. The Central Environment Authority (CEA) has already issued guidelines on proper garbage disposal in these areas and the Sunday Observer, which visited some camps in Balapitiya and Galle, learn that the responsible authorities are still not active in giving a helping hand to the CEA in removing at least the movable debris and cleaning ordinary garbage. Though the government boasted of January 15 as the D-Day to commence cleaning process, no representative from any of the authorities handling garbage were seen in these areas, even along the Galle Road, early this week. Visibly helping out were a few NGOs and the buse loads of JVP Task Force members of 'Gam dora Bala' (back to homes), engaged in cleaning up. Piles of garbage are rotting along the roads and heavy debris in the damaged houses pose a serious threat to survivors coming back to collect personal belongings from their wrecked houses. Some dogs were seen fighting for the ownership of human bones. However, it is happy to see that there are some eco-friendly people, may be the survivors who returned to their homes or those who have helped to clean up, have piled polythene, especially sili sili bags and lunch sheets, separately in some areas along the Galle Road, heeding the CEA's request - not to burn sili sili bags and other polythene along with the debris. But on the whole, a mixture of garbage dumps - some rotting with human flesh - are still piled up in the wayside, emanating an unbearable stench. "Our guidelines for garbage disposal including removal of heavy debris, have already been distributed among the local authorities. Now it is time for local authorities to get activated", Lal Fernando, Director Hazardous Waste and Solid Waste Management of the CEA says. Dreaming of building greener cities in tsunami hit areas, the CEA has set up guidelines to avoid environmental destruction in future in these areas. Separate guidelines have been introduced for heavy debris, remaining building materials and solid waste in relief camps. Informing all Divisional Secretaries about these guidelines, the CEA has asked them to identify the lands in their areas to pile up heavy debris. "These debris can be recycled or re-used and local authorities have been instructed to pile them up in open lands - State or private lands", Fernando adds. Some private sector companies have offered to provide incineration facilities for unusable wooden planks, rubber, polythene and other hazardous waste among debris. " They are willing to take any amount of such debris to minimise further environmental pollution", he says. Meanwhile, the CEA has decided to use the remaining building materials like cement, spoiled soil and small pieces of bricks as land filling for the Southern Express Way. The Authority has already instructed the local authorities to collect undamaged bricks for re-use and to dump loads of these debris in open lands, especially in land fill sites belonging to local authorities. Day-to-day waste in relief camps have to be collected in the bins provided by the CEA and the clinical waste should be handed over to Public Health Inspectors for proper disposal. "We have asked the camp committee leaders who are appointed to take the responsibility of proper garbage disposal, distribution of clean water and maintaining good sanitary facilities, to educate the displaced people on separation of polythene from other waste." According to Fernando, dumping garbage in marshy lands in affected areas is strictly prohibited. "These cannot be dumped along beaches and it is also important to take action to prevent the burning of these materials", he says. Rebuilding after the tsunami: Getting it right The government's move to establish guidelines or the coastal buffer zone, specifying the distance from the sea's edge within which construction of new buildings will be prohibited, is welcome. At the moment there is massive confusion and disagreement over just what constitutes the 'safe area' within which buildings should be allowed. Unplanned and illegal reconstruction is taking place in what are obviously unsafe areas, and there is an urgent need for restrictions to be clearly defined and enforced. But these guidelines alone will not be enough to ensure that the rebuilding process will generate the benefits and welfare improvements we are hoping for. How to get it right The policy paper, 'Rebuilding after the Tsunami: how to get it right', released on January 19 by the EFL attempts to tackle these concerns. It explains the hazards that are inherent in not addressing land-use, construction design, legal, social and environmental issues adequately, and presents a series of concrete recommendations to strengthen the rebuilding process. The document attempts to establish a number of key principles that must guide the rebuilding process. It suggests that adherence to a principle of minimum land use should direct the development of new housing units. In line with this thinking, it proposes the construction of multi-storey apartment blocks as the most land-efficient and cost-effective method of rebuilding those who have lost their homes. It also emphasises environmental justice and equity goals as being indispensable to the rebuilding process. It attempts to present a case for adopting eco-friendly construction practices, and for rehabilitating and restoring natural ecosystems such as forests, mangroves and wetlands alongside physical infrastructure and housing. It is only through taking environmental concerns into account that we will be able to safeguard the future security of settlements for all sectors of the coastal population. Although Sri Lanka has a comprehensive legal, policy and institutional framework governing coastal zone management and development, many of the required laws and regulations have not been followed in the past. They are still not being enforced as the first stage of reconstruction. Time and time again, expectations of political and personal gains have skewed the development process. The document argues that there is an urgent need to build consensus around re-establishing the rule of law and strengthening the institutions that uphold it. In particular, there must be a commitment among all stakeholders to respect and enforce the laws governing coastal zone development and conservation. A call to action EFL calls upon the government to make an immediate statement of intent which outlines how they propose to deal with the issues that are laid out in the EFL document. There is a need to make sure that a transparent and concrete plan is developed - and adhered to - which will guide the rebuilding process. It is essential that the elements of this plan are known to all stakeholders and donors before reconstruction begins. If we do not get the rebuilding process right there is a real danger that many of the mistakes that were made in the past will be repeated, undermining still further the already-weakened lives and livelihoods of the coastal population. In light of lessons learned from the impacts of the tsunami, in the wake of the devastation we face, and in the interests of our future prospects for development and growth, this is a risk that we simply cannot afford to bear. Although the need to rebuild after the tsunami has been prompted by the worst possible circumstances, it provides a golden opportunity not just to mend our broken infrastructure but to better it, and to improve the long-term social, economic and environmental status of Sri Lanka's coastal population. Things should only change for the better if we get the rebuilding process right. Statement from Environmental Foundation Ltd. Treating animals humanely
Four major international organisations in cooperation with the local animal welfare organisations providing assistance to the thousands of people and animals affected by the tsunami, have received the support of the Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition, Nimal Siripala de Silva for all their efforts in attempting to eradicate the rabies menace, reduce and ultimately eradicate the stray animal population and instill a tolerance and more humane treatment of stray animals in the country. The Minister, an animal lover himself who has seven dogs of his own, assured the coalition of local as well as international organisations currently working in Sri Lanka, namely the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), the Humane Society International (HSI), Noah's Wish and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) already represented in Sri Lanka, he would extend his fullest support. "Rabies must be eradicated, people must be educated on how to treat animals humanely and avoid dog bites, while islandwide sterilisation programmes are a must and should be started immediately" he said. The Minister was pleased to hear that HSI who were the first international organisation to visit Sri Lanka in this respect would be commencing sterilising programmes on 25th of this month in all tsunami affected areas. Robert Blumberg who arrived in Sri Lanka just weeks before the tsunami and helped to bring down these international organisations within a matter of days to Sri Lanka, was assured of the Minister's whole hearted support for the coalition's mission. The Minister also requested assistance in obtaining the expensive rabies serum for human vaccinations as well, as this is currently imposing an enormous strain on his Ministries resources. The Minister said that if he could assure the people of Sri Lanka that this expensive rabies vaccination was freely available, there would be no pressure for the killing of stray animals. Currently a number of international organisations are supporting large scale rabies vaccination rabies programmes islandwide, including Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Muttur, Ampara, Arugambay, Trincomalee, while plans are underway to visit Batticaloa, Kalmunai and other areas this week. Wetlands wastelands Wetlands are among the most productive areas in the world, in particular those situated in the tropics. Their shallowness, high temperature, high nutrient content and profusion of light, guarantee a large biomass turnover and rich diverse plant and animal communities. For thousands years the of wetlands have provided mankind with almost inexhaustible sources of food, building and utility materials. Today, they also contain a large part of the world's biological heritage. The biodiversity of wetlands in Sri Lanka is clearly depicted by the rich array of wetland ecosystem/habitat types, and the higher number of animal and plant species. For instance, among the total inland vertebrate species in Sri Lanka, about 30 per cent are ecologically dependent on wetlands. Among the migratory birds that visit Sri Lanka annually, more than 50 per cent are directly dependent on wetlands for food and shelter. Furthermore, the future survival of approximately 32 per cent of the nationally threatened vertebrate faunal species in Sri Lanka is dependent on wetland ecosystems of the island. In Sri Lanka, wetlands such as rivers and floodplains have been the cradle of historic civilisations. The man-made wetlands in Sri Lanka, especially the ancient irrigation tanks and rice fields, clearly highlight the rich cultural heritage associated with wetlands. It is generally believed that Indo-Aryan immigrants started rice cultivation in Sri Lanka more than 2500 years ago. This was a period at which a settled civilization developed in the dry zone and an elaborate irrigation system was established for rice cultivation. The earliest reference to the establishment of tanks to conserve water for irrigation of rice in Sri Lanka was about 420 BC. Considering the size of these tanks and the network of neatly built sluices/canals, the technology of our ancestral irrigation engineers is truly astonishing. A majority of the wetlands in Sri Lanka are facing various threats posed by harmful human activities. There are habitat degradation, direct loss/exploitation of species, spread of invasive alien species and natural phenomena. Several factors have resulted in the deterioration and degradation of the quality of wetlands. Reclamation, cleaning of vegetation, water pollution, garbage disposal, regulation of water flow and mining are main degradation factors that affect wetlands. Reclamation impact to loss of wetlands and their biodiversity. Bellanwila-Attidiya and Muthurajawela are the affected urban marshes from reclamation. Clearing of vegetation impacts loss of habitats and species. Mangroves in the Coastal areas of the Puttalam district are affected by that. Water pollution is one of the major factor today. Organic pollution, other chemical effluences and Sewage disposal has direct impact on water. Garbage disposal has an impact on Eutrophication and spread of harmful diseases. Over exploitation of wetland plants and animals has resulted in several species facing extinction. Poaching (for consumption), ornamental fish trade, ornamental plant trade, scientific research, and water pollution are the main factors that contribute to this threat. They contribute to the reduction of population of targeted birds and mammals, reduction of local fish population, reduction of aquatic plant population and loss of habitats for aquatic animals, and human health. Land filling is carried out in the wetland area legally as well as illegally. Small-scale landfills are carried out rapidly by depositing earth transported from elsewhere. In addition to the main activities, other minor economic activities are carried out extracting natural resources from wetland. Illicit brewing (Kassippu) is one of the minor activities. Wetland environment provides adequate space and shelter for illicit brewing. The environmental disaster caused by this activity is discharging waste and by-products directly to the wetland, which causes damage to the ecosystem. The introduction of several species of exotic aquatic animals and plants that have eventually escaped into wild habitats are posing a serious threat to native aquatic biodiversity. Observations made during the past five years have enabled to document 10 species of invasive alien fauna (8 species of fish, one turtle and one aquatic molluse) and 12 species of invasive alien flora, spreading in different wetland ecosystems throughout Sri Lanka. Among them, 4 species of fauna (Tilapia - Oreochromis mossambicus, Walking catfish - Clarias batrachus, Rainbow Trout - Oncorhynchus mykiss and Mosquito fish - Gambusia affinis) and two species of flora (Water hyacinth - Eichhornia crassipes and Giant mimosa - Mimosa pigra) are included in the list of the world's 100 worst invasive alien species. The ornamental fish trade has been the sole contributory factor to the introduction of invasive alien aquatic species into Sri Lanka. Due to the impact of these activities most of the wetlands in Sri Lanka especially in coastal wetlands are in a degraded condition. These wetlands are very important because their resources provide an indispensable life support system for human beings, while providing valuable habitats for numerous species of plants and animals. These ecosystems are also rich in biodiversity. So, what can we do in the future? Think deeply. We must protect our natural resources definitely. Otherwise most of resources will vanish from our world. Dilrukshi Panagoda, Center for Environmental Justice. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Constructions ranging from small huts to high rise mansions were razed
to the ground, with piles of debris the only reminder of the constructions
were.
