Development

Centrepiece of 21st century Sri Lanka:

Cleaner, greener, more dynamic Colombo - the aim

By Shirajiv SIRIMANE

Torsten Kamike from Hamburg, Germany, visiting Sri Lanka for the fifth time after a lapse of five years, said that when he saw the development taking place in Colombo and the beauty of the city, he felt that he was in Malaysia, Singapore or another developed Asian country. He said Colombo was clean and he even saw air-conditioned buses, big signage cabs and luxury cars to drive passengers from the airport. “The development that has taken place over the last few years is amazing,” Kamike, an engineer, said.

Urban Development Authority (UDA) Chairman, Janaka Kurukulasuriya said that they started beautifying the City of Colombo in a bid to make it one of the best developed cities in Asia. “I must emphasise that the development of Colombo commenced, not targeting the municipal council elections. This task commenced four to five years ago,” he said. The aim of the Government is to develop the city of Colombo as the financial and commercial hub of the South Asian region.

Some of the landmarks in Colombo

The development of Colombo commenced with the cleaning up of Galle Face Green and the surrounding area. This was followed by the beautifying of the Beira Lake near the Gangarama Temple. Road development which included pavements and most importantly, parking areas was the next step. Today, one could even see walkways for visually impaired people from Bambalapitiya to Kolluptiya. The Nugegoda, Dehiwela, Orugodwatta and Kelaniya flyovers too were important landmarks in Colombo.

The road network is being enhanced through improvements to the Galle Road, and completion of the Marine Drive, with more key developments taking place from Roxy Cinema, Wellawatte to Kolluptiya. The expansion of the one-way system is another development. Plans are under way to extend this up to Galle Face and Panadura and an overhead bridge for pedestrians is planned for Kolluptiya. The moving of the fish market from Kotahena to Peliyagoda has come in for high praise from residents of the area.

Cultural Centre

The introduction of bus lanes, the creation of more dedicated parking spaces, better pedestrian crossings including disabled crossings and overhead bridges, and stricter enforcement of road rules will help improve road discipline. The Government is investing Rs. 850 million under the Maga Neguma program for 27 ongoing projects.

The Colombo-Katunayake highway, expected to be completed next year will take a passenger from the city to the airport in 45 minutes and most importantly, clear the Colombo-Katunayake route.

The newly built Cultural Centre in Town Hall is a landmark while the newly introduced walkways in Colombo 7 have been much appreciated.

One of the biggest problems the city has been facing is flooding and a permanent solution is being found for this, with the development of canals and water retention areas within the city such as the Beira Lake being dredged. New reservoirs are being developed in Battaramulla, which will prevent flooding of the Parliament area. The reservoir created at Peliyagoda already proved its worth during the recent rains.

“All of us desire a better Colombo; a city that is clean, green, attractive and dynamic. Let us work together and work hard to achieve this. Together, we can transform Colombo into a world-class city, globally recognised as a thriving, dynamic and attractive regional hub that is the centrepiece of 21st Century Sri Lanka: the Miracle of Asia”, stated Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa, delivering the Sujata Jayawardena memorial speech at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in Colombo.

The most pressing problem in Colombo today involves the slums and shanty towns that house much of its population. The people in these under-served settlements live in terrible conditions without access to many of the facilities most of us take for granted.

The quality of their housing is extremely poor. They lack access to proper sanitation and pipe-borne water. The electricity they use is often tapped illegally and poses a significant fire hazard. Their houses are concentrated within an extremely small area and they have virtually no privacy.

Relocation projects

Relocation projects for under-served settlements have been tried in the past. The Sahassapura complex in Dematagoda was set up eight years ago, while the complex at Gunasinghapura was set up even earlier. These projects were generally successful in improving the quality of housing and rationalising the use of land, but there were also a few systemic weaknesses that limited the uplifting of living standards of the occupants.

These past experiences have been studied and remedies to such problems have been introduced in the projects that are currently under way.

Because the slums and shanty towns are all single storeyed or low-rise buildings, they occupy vast areas of land. Since the community housing to be provided will be in high-rise building complexes, a lot of Government land will be freed in Colombo, which will be earmarked for development.

This liberated land can be used for tourism and residential facilities, business activities and other services. A great deal of foreign investment is also anticipated for these development projects. Due to these reasons, the feasibility of the project is assured.

A further benefit is that through relocation, slums and shanty towns will no longer disfigure the city; it will add beauty to the city and provide a healthier environment for the people.

The most important aspect of the community housing project is the uplifting of the living standards of Colombo’s low-income families. Through greatly improving their housing facilities and introducing them to a more comfortable way of life, we will be able to provide these people with the domestic environment they need to achieve social mobility. This is the greatest contribution of the relocation program to the people of Colombo.

Another area being looked into, in terms of housing, is the relocation or redevelopment of run-down, legally owned structures in Colombo.

Administrative area

The Colombo Municipal Council administrative area is extended over 3,729 hectares. According to preliminary estimates, the Colombo Municipal Council reported a population of 638,000 in 1994. On this basis, the population in the Municipal Council area was projected at 774,500 in 2010.

However, the 1994 population estimate has now been revised upward to 721,443. This leads to an upward revision of the projected population to 1,000,000 in the city of Colombo in 2010.

The city consists of 47 Municipal Wards, which are grouped into 14 Planning Units by taking into account the main land use characteristics and the spatial distribution of economic activities and functions in the city.

At present the city has a gross density of 193 persons per Ha. (pp/h). On the basis of the revised estimated population in 1994, the density was expected to increase to 268 pp/h by 2010. However, this describe the population densities, according to the preliminary estimates done in 1994.

The Defence Secretary said that to make Colombo the most beautiful city, the State cannot work alone; it needs the support of the private sector, academic institutions, civic bodies and the public involved in the planning and implementation of new initiatives.

“It is very important that all agencies such as the Municipal authorities, the UDA, Water Supply and National Drainage Board, land reclamation authorities, and the utilities and infrastructure development authorities work with great dedication, commitment and coordination to improve the metropolitan areas.

“It is also important to note that Colombo cannot be considered in isolation, but the Dehiwela-Mt. Lavinia, Kotte and Kolonnawa Municipalities must all function collectively. Ultimately, it is necessary to establish a single central authority to coordinate these various administration functions.”

With a sound development plan in progress to develop Colombo, the day is not far for Torsten Kamike and the rest of the word to say that Colombo is the best city in the world.