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| Sunday, 8 January 2006 |
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Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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$ 7 million
grant to protect eastern coast
by Elmo Leonard The eastern coast, affected by the Asian tsunami will be rehabilitated and developed to prevent a further catastrophe in the event of a tidal wave, using a grant of $7 million from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), an arm of UNDP. The main focus will be the rehabilitation of sand dunes and mangrove and the clearing of tsunami-left debris around Trincomalee's Pigeon Island. The work, a turn-away from the thus-far coastal rehabilitation, carried out in the western and southern coasts, is expected to begin mid-2006 and end in three years. Currently, the Department of Coast Conservation (DCC) is carrying out a survey of the man and tsunami-damaged sand dunes in the Ampara district, with emphasis on Potuvil and Panama. Also, the tsunami-damaged mangroves in the Batticaloa district, notably, the mangroves in Vakaray, DCC director, Dr. R. A. D. B. Samaranayake said. The Pigeon Island area in Trincomalee is badly overburdened with tsunami debris and some rubble and this has possibly been washed away from Indonesia. Sand dunes gathered on the coasts over centuries act as a natural barrier in protecting land in time of tidal waves. When the tsunami struck, the sand dunes, still intact in thinly populated areas, where man had not tampered with nature, witnessed excellent protection to land, building and human life, Dr. Samaranayake said. Arugum Bay in the east was hard hit, due to the natural occurring sand dunes being exploited by man for construction work. Mangroves, is another of nature's barriers for the protection of the coast land from the turbulent sea. Vahoray, in the Batticaloa district is an example of badly damaged mangroves, resulting from man's over-exploitation of mangrove cover, when the tsunami struck. The DCC plans to re-plant such mangroves. Livelihood development in the eastern coast is part of the plan, to prevent the otherwise abusive nature of man. Here, the people of the east will be afforded alternative livelihoods, on eco-friendly terms. The final workshop in this connection will be held this month in Trincomalee, sponsored by IFAD, the international agency for fisheries development, Dr. Samaranayake said. |
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