Gemidiriya a successful WB funded project - Country Director

by Gamini Warushamana

The biggest obstacle to development in Sri Lanka is the ongoing conflict, said the World Bank (WB) Country Director Naoko Iishi addressing a community meeting in Perahettiya in the Badulla district last Tuesday.

The war is the biggest issue for development. However, we are here for development assistance and we do not expect to intervene and it is up to Sri Lankans, she said. Iishi was on a visit to review the progress of the Gemidiriya, the WB funded community development and livelihood improvement project in Sri Lanka.

Appreciating the ethnic unity in Perahettiya where Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities are engaged in village development activities under the Gemidiriya, she said, the government should scale up the unity that exists between communities at grassroot level to resolve the conflict.

"When we talk about successful WB funded projects, Gemidiriya is always, mentioned. I have discussed it but today I realised the success of the Gemidiriya by experience.

I heard the voice of women who were categorised as the poorest of the poor two years ago and have come out of poverty today through Gemidiriya. She said that now she has a voice in the village organisation and the others listen to her.

I heard the voice of young children who are learning computer at Gemidiriya IT centres and say that the computer is their future. Now I can carry your story to the world", she said.

There is a huge difference in development between the Western province and the rest of the country. Poverty is higher in other regions compared to the Western province and the inequality is growing.

The biggest problem is unemployment and particularly the higher unemployment rate among youth. Today I see how deeply the Gemidiriya has considered these issues and what measures have been implemented to address the issues.

People of the Gemidiriya village organisations questioned whether the Gemidiriya will be merged with the Gamanaguma program. They oppose making Gemidiriya another government institution and said it would breed corruption and inefficiency in the Gemidiriya as well.

They said the current model of the Gemidiriya with full community participation brings the maximum benefits to the people sans corruption.

Iishi said, "we should join together and give all plus points of Gemidiriya to the Gamanaguma program. You all will be facilitators of the Gamanaguma program".

The Gamanaguma program is scheduled to be implemented in 4,000 villages. The Gemidiriya People's Company in Perahettiya has addressed the water issue of a part of the village.

People described the hardships they faced due to lack of water and the relief they received after implementing the project.

A large protected well, pumping station and storage tank have been constructed and water connections have been provided to 74 houses.

People pay maintenance costs of Rs. 90 plus Rs. 10 per water unit. The water supply system is maintained by the community. The second water project which will provide water for another 110 houses in the Uva Highland estate section of the Perahettiya is under construction. It is scheduled to be opened in September this year.

A line room (estate house) has been converted into an IT centre with one PC where 25 students under 16 are learning the basics of computer.

This is the second computer centre in the village. The Perahettiya Gemidiriya People's Company has also opened a "Nenasala", an IT centre, jointly with the Ministry of Science and Technology. The instructor at the computer centre Pooneshwari (20) who passed two subjects at the A/L examination said that she is teaching Microsoft Office packages to her students.

Pooneshwari has followed a computer course at a private institute in Bandarawela. She obtained a Rs. 10,000 loan from the Gemidiriya skills development fund to follow the course. The fund has provided loans for 25 youth to follow vocational training courses and of them 23 have completed their training, found employment and are now repaying the loans.

Nenasala has four computers and it provides services the community needs. They charge Rs. 50 per hour for the use of a computer. It doesn't have internet facilities due to the low CDMA signal. However, all mobile phone services are functioning well in the village.

The Gemidiriya micro financing fund is strong. It is financed with WB funding, compulsory savings of the members Re. 1 per day and normal savings of the people. According to the financial progress charts on the walls of the company office Rs. 4.6 million has been lent by the fund and Rs. 2.7 million has been recovered.

The Treasurer of the fund said the loan default rate is very low because the process functions through Small Groups, each five members.

The fund is a big relief for us, said W. M. Siriyawathi (35). She obtained her second loan for vegetable cultivation. Earlier we borrowed at the rate of 25% interest per month (300% per year).

Today we can borrow from Gemidiriya at 2% interest per month.

The interest income is also retained in the village and this is another advantage of the Gemidiriya fund, she said. Villagers in Perahettiya are farmers or estate workers. Vegetable cultivation is the main livelihood of the village.

The Perahettiya People's Company, the Gemidiriya village organisation has many plans for the future. It has laid the foundation for a two-storey office building.

Opening an agro chemical sales centre, providing new technology and knowledge to farmers and creating more employment opportunities in the village are among them.

The WB has granted $51 million for the first phase of the Gemidiriya project.

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