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| Sunday, 6 March 2005 |
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Editorial |  |
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Please forward your comments to the
Editor, Sunday Observer. E-mail: [email protected] Snail mail : Sunday Observer, 35, D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Telephone : 94 11 2429239 / 2331181 Fax : 94 11 2429230 Needed : reappraisal of strategic approach Two months have elapsed since the tsunami disaster. The phase of immediate relief supply is over. Now the major task is reconstruction and rehabilitation. We believe a re-appraisal of the strategic approach to this task is urgent for several reasons. First is rehabilitation. One major problem is to ensure the gainful employment of the victims. For example, it is urgently necessary to provide facilities for the fisher folk to engage in their livelihood. This would guarantee not only their economic well being but also those of others related to the fishing industry, though they may not have been victims of tsunami. Some may also be absorbed by the construction industry in view of the huge demand for labour in that field. Already there is a crash program to train youth in construction related vocations like masonry and carpentry. The youth living in rehabilitation centres could be absorbed to this program. The next big problem is housing. It is naive to think that permanent houses could be provided in a short span of time like six months. It is much more realistic to assume that it would take at least two years to complete permanent housing construction even if the money required is readily available. As has been found in practice there is a dearth of suitable land for building. There is also the necessary time consuming preliminary work like surveying identified land etc. Since the provision of permanent housing would take time, there is an urgent need of some type of semi-permanent or temporary housing for the displaced and dispossessed families. The canvas tents provided to most of them now would not be able to withstand the rainy season, especially with the onset of the South West monsoon in May. Further these tents have no ventilation and they are too warm in our tropical climate. A fundamental flaw in the present approach to the task of reconstruction and rehabilitation is its over centralisation. There is no role for the Provincial Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas who actually know the ground realities better. There is also no room for local initiative and grassroots participation in the planning and implementation of various projects designed to benefit the victims. Above all there is no concerted attempt to take into account the interests of the principal stakeholders - the victims. The lack of an understanding of ground realities was evident even from the press communiqu‚s in certain instances. For example, a press release about signing of MOUs with donors for the reconstruction of some coastal schools had the geographic location of a school wrong. There is no dearth of local initiative. Nor is there a shortage of physical and human resources in most affected regions since only the coastal areas were affected. The tragedy is the lack of leadership at the provincial and district levels. The absence of leadership is not confined to the political sphere. Even the public service lacks leadership and direction. There is no commitment on the part of public officials including district and provincial secretaries who consider the tasks of rehabilitation and reconstruction as yet another official duty that could be shirked. As is the custom public servants arrive late for work and leave early from work. What makes the situation worse is political bickering, both inter-party and intra-party. It is sickening how these politicians could do so leaving the victims of tsunami destitute and helpless. **** A fresh breeze A fresh breeze is sweeping distant Latin America. People are turning Leftwards. Pro-people or pro-poor regimes are proliferating there. The latest to join the forward looking group of Left-leaning Latin American countries is Uruguay. The group comprises Cuba, Venezuela, Argentine, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay. Dr. Tabare Vasquez, a former cancer specialist was sworn in as the President of that country last Tuesday. Elections held last October 31 saw the demise of the two party system that dominated politics for 174 years with little difference between them. As soon as he assumed office Vasquez signed an ambitious 100 million dollar program to battle poverty in the country. This Latin American phenomenon is considered to be a response to the failure of the Washington Consensus. The economic and political policies followed throughout Latin America according to that Consensus has only increased the poverty of the people and the dependence of the countries to America. There is also the possibility of greater economic and political coming together of these Left-leaning countries. It would, of course, be directed against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTTA) proposed by Washington. The success or failure of these progressive governments in Latin America would have an impact that would extend far beyond their borders. It is certain to affect the political fortunes of progressives throughout the Third World. |
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