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Vositha's Blog

Tag Archives: Colombo

Sri Lanka, 7 Days After

29 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by vositha in Features, Random Moments of Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Attacks, Colombo, EasterSundayAttacks, Sri Lanka, Stay United, United

It’s been a week since the Easter Sunday Attacks. People ask me how things are. I usually tell out of reflect, “we are trying to regain normalcy”. The next moment I wonder what normalcy is. Anymore.

blog

 

On Saturday, I had been working on assignments focusing on peace building till quite late, to wake up to calls from those checking if I had gone to church. Those who know me would know how strange that question would ring in my ears, even when wide awake. But, it was only a few minutes later that reality shook me awake with the violence that had spread across Colombo.

The first thought to cross my mind: “It could have been us”.

 

I had slept hoping to take my family out on Sunday for breakfast. Then true to myself, overslept due to sleep-deprivation caused by writing for hours on peace-building , until 6am to be precise. The previous night, my curious mind had wondered to anlayse the potential conflicts which Sri Lanka could face, mostly related to resource management, and whether we are ready to address these situations. I also wondered how we as a community would react if we were to face a conflict again. Later at work, my colleague tells me “Vosi, you should not hypothesize!”

 

Last few weeks have been probably the scariest days of my whole life, even though I had lived through a few memories that haunt me. As a child my first memories are of dead bodies floating in a river. I must have been 4 or 5 at that time. I am not entirely sure. Then, I have memories of the war, the constant security checks. But those images seem distant, I think I had blurred them out of my mind.

I also remember the tsunami, and the many loved ones taken away, our usual Sunday market washed away, my favourite aunt growing up, getting washed away with it as well.

But the memory the memory that I hold close is how Sri Lanka came together during the hard times. Rebuilding and helping in solidarity.

 

21st April was different. It was difficult to focus. It was hard to think straight. I blamed it on my sleep deprived brain, or maybe the slightly old brain. We all closed down for a week, maybe even longer. I read stories of those affected, the children left alone, families dead and many in need of support.

I also read posters on guidance to boycott shops, the general hatred towards certain groups in our communities, reminding me of the 2nd World War. Do we truly believe what we are messaging?

 

Tomorrow, we will all wake up and try to go about our daily lives. And I shall return to my question “what is normalcy?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colombo Port City Project: A Threat to Sustainable Development?

03 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by vositha in Features

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Colombo, Colombo Port City Project, Development Projects, Sri Lanka

Tuesday, 3rd March 2015, environmentalists and took to the roads in protest of the Colombo Port City Project. One of the many projects of the Rajapasksa government, and one that has been used freely by President Sirisena’s election campaign days, the project is planned on 252 hectares of reclaimed land in Colombo. This land (if the project is carried as per plan) will include shopping areas, water sports area, a mini golf course, hotels as well as a Formula one track. The project by China Communications Construction Co Ltd would also create way for a 3.25km long breakwater and a large internal artificial canal in the city. The work on the project commenced 17th September 2014. The city is expected to cover an area of 5.2 million square metres and have the capacity to hold 160,000 people.

(C) Wikipedia An artists impression of the Colombo Port City

(C) Wikipedia
An artists impression of the Colombo Port City

Permission for the Project

Information available provide that the approval for the project was granted by the Standing Cabinet Appointed Review Committee (SCARC). The Coast Conservation & Coast Resources Management Department has issued final approval for the EIA pertaining to the Port City Development Project in October, 2014.

In addition to this, an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) has also been submitted by China Communications Construction Company, as per the requirements of the Environmental Impact Assessment, and has been approved by the Coast Conservation & Coast Resources Management Department in December, 2014. However it is argued that this EIA report is not abiding by the required standards, and is only for the reclaimed area. It is also alleged that it does not reflect the amount of resources such as sand, rock that is needed to fill the area nor an explanation as to where these resources will be found.

EIA Violations

While it is repeatedly stated that there has been an EIA process, which allowed for the commencement of work on the project, what has been not highlighted is the fact that there is a lot of information which has not been made public. Further there has not been enough information for public participation form of active engagement of the public.

The EIA process is laid down under the National Environment Act No.56 of 1988, amended in year 2000 as Act No.53. It is further prescribed in the Gazette No. 772/22 of 24.06.1993. The process includes the steps of the project proponent submitting preliminary information to the Central Environment Authority (CEA), which would then decide whether the project could be carried out with an Initial Environment Examination (IEE) or whether there is need for a further EIA. For projects underdoing this process, there is also a mandated 30 days for public consultations requiring the  project proponent to respond, before approval is granted. However whether this requisite has been satisfied concerning the port city project remains ambiguous.

Another addition to the doubts of the validity of the EIA is based on the data which vary. There are further allegations that the report covers only 300 acres, whereas the port city expands to over 500 acres. The project is also deemed to create issues to marine biodiversity which will be impacted by the rock blasts as well as the large construction activities carried out. In addition to this, there is also a large amount of water needed for the contruction on a daily basis, which amounts to around1,000 cubic meter of water per day. However where the water shall be provided also is remains unanswered.

Threat to Sustainable Development

While to world speaks of sustainable development goals which need to satisfy three pillars of social, economic and environmental development, the Colombo Port City project seems a blatant violation of the concept. Articles 27(14) and 28(f) of the 1978 Constitution could be interpreted as enshrining the principle of sustainable development in its Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties. These impose duties on the State as well as every individual to protect the environment [Articles 27(14) and 28(f)]. Further in the Eppawala Phosphate Mining case [Bulankulama v. Secretary, Ministry of Industrial Development (2000) 3 Sri. L.R. 243], it was stated that while international legal principles are not legally binding in Sri Lanka’s dualist legal regime and are regarded merely as ‘soft law’, as a Member of the United Nations, they could hardly be ignored by Sri Lanka.

The prevalent legal regime also provides that environmental protection needs to be considered as an intergral part of the development process to achieve sustainable development.  However the environmental impacts of the project highlight that these principles for sustainable development have been ignored when adopting the port city project.

Environmental Impacts

Environmentalists claim that the proposed project if done without a proper assessment will adversely impact the western coastal line including Panadura, Angulana, Mount Lavinia, Uswetakeyyawa and Negombo. This is due to the filling of sea area that would lead to coastal erosion, altering the marine biodiversity.

Sand, rock, and debris dumped into the sea would also impact the natural coral formations, weeds in the sea bed leading also to a depletion of mangrove coastal areas as well as sea grass habitats.

Further doubts exist whether there is enough sand in offshore deposits to satisfy the need for reclaiming land. And concern has ben raised on the need for a study to evaluate the impacts on the marine life due to the exaction of sand.

In addition to this, there are also other environmental threats. One being the pollution of air which the project would create, sweeping pollution to the Colombo city through the sea breeze, as well as threats on resources such as water due to the large supply of water needed for the construction (does the Kelani basin have the capacity to support this?) as well as the supply for energy needs. Where would the large energy supply needed for construction come from?

Energy for the Project

The government on its path to an energy secure Sri Lanka is shifting to a huge project needing a grand supply of energy, which would necessarily be able to fulfilled with the current energy supply. While we need more energy supplies that are not fossil fuel emitting (despite the coal power plants which generate energy for the country at present) a shift to a large project such as the Port City Project would require an immense supply of energy for its construction work, as well as its maintenance when finalised.

The presidential manifesto of President Sirisena highlights a phasing out of fossil fuels and leading towards a renewable energy based energy security. Would this resolution of the new government be compatible with the energy needs stemming from the project? Has there also been an evaluation of the emissions created due to the project, and how much fossil fuel will be used for this project impacting the already serious situation of global warming?

Access to Information on Development Projects

Another key deliverable promised by President Sirisena’s election manifesto is the access to information on development projects. Information on the port city project remain ambiguous. It is not clear whether cost provided as $15 billion is only the cost of reclaiming the land, or whether it encompasses the cost of construction of utilities and buildings as well. This is not the only remaining doubt, the figures for the extent of land to be reclaimed is also featured differently. There is clarity needed on the numbers and public needs to be provided access to this data.

Access to information to the public is at the heart of the EIA process as well. Upon receiving the EIA report, the project approving agency is required to publish a notice in the Gazette and in one national newspaper published daily in the Sinhala, Tamil and English languages. This is to facilitate the public to make written comments within thirty days if there are concerns regarding the proposed project. The level of public participation and access to information to the public regarding the port city project remains unclear. In the Water’s Edge case (Sugathapala Mendis and Others v. C B Kumaratunga and Others, SC (FR) 352/2007, Supreme Court Minutes 8th October 2008.) it was further noted that “the mere fact that the various environmental authorities said the project could be done, does not in itself suggest that it should have been done.

Expert Committee and Conflict of Interest

A Cabinet Sub Committee headed by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has been appointed in order to address the concerns raised about the project. The Committee is to decide on the continuation of the project after studying a report which will be prepared by an independent expert committee. The expert committee is headed by Mr. Ajith de Costa.

Foul play in the expert committee is already highlighted by environmentalists. While not contesting the ability of the experts, there is concern based on conflict of interest of one of the members of the committee. This concerns the appointment of Prof. Samantha Hettiarachchi of Moratuwa University who is also claimed to be a consultant to the China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), the project proponent of the Colombo Port City. If what the environmentalists claim are grouded, then this would be a conflict of interest whereby an individual is linked to the body on which an assessment is conducted. It is further added that the Prof Hettiarachchi was also the team leader of the  EIA, of which the validity is challenged.

Whither the Election Promises?

One of the promises made by the new President during the elections has been to address the concerns raised over the  USD 1.5 billion China-financed Colombo Port City project. One month into the project, one wonders whether the promises shall be kept or broken.  The promise by the President was due to protests by environmental lobbies and  people of Negambo, which demanded the abolition of the Colombo Port City project.

Many nature groups have already handed over a petition to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) calling to put a stop to the project based on the human rights violations caused by it. The petitioners included environmental groups, fisheries organisations as well as religious representatives. The petition was filed by the Sri Lanka Nature Group, Environment Conservation Trust and Centre for Environment Studies representing environmental groups, Trade Union for fisher folk representing the fisheries associations, Movement for National Agriculture Land Reform and Mothers and Daughters of Sri Lanka representing the civil society and religious representatives.

“D” for “Dilemmas”!

25 Friday Mar 2011

Posted by vositha in Random Moments of Life, Relationships

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Colombo, frustrated, i love you, Michael, Mojito, pits. emotional, roller coaster, sister, soppy, Tantrum, Washington DC

Emotional rollercoaster continues. The doubts, the desires and then the deep falls. Not fun of late. I have reached a point in life where everything seems to frustrate me.

Waking up I realise that I am in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then again wonder where the hell be the right place, (or whether the hell be the right place) and when would it ever be the right time.(Never?)

Out of frustration over lies and aloofness, I decide to call it quits, to find myself a few minutes later tears pouring down my cheeks for no damn reason I could recollect. I wonder while brushing them away whether I was mad at myself or mad at him. An answer I am yet to find in those emotional pits of mine. I start hating the fact that I had turned into this being that I could no longer call myself, bothered about another creature’s non reactive behaviour. Life seems to have taken a toll for the screwed up mode, where I be only screwed in the figurative sense.

Sigh, I miss my sister. I wish she was not in Washington DC or I wish I was there instead than in my room, sopping away. It has been a while since both of us had time to spare for each other, taking turns to fly off to some land away, and having too short overlapping schedules to be in the same household. It has become funny that I talk to her more now that she is not in the country than the amount that I do, when she is around. Come to think of it, nothing has changed much, it’s pretty much the same. We still chat online, to communicate while busy with our own devils of work or studies, and while on our laptops at 2 am in the night. The only difference be that now the communication takes place not from the room across mine, but between Washington and Colombo. I miss her giddy self on cocktails. She can be happy on passion fruit mojito, (mental note made to take her and Michael out when she is back, and before either of us disappear to some other corner or to some dark cave in the other side of the world.)

I tell her I am proud of her, which I do not tell as often as I should, and that she should go and have fun, and stop stressing. I don’t tell her that I love her, that would be a little too mushy and neither do I tell her I miss her. That is reserved for FB status updates, which get tagged and then posted in turn on her wall.

Yes, so conclusion for the day ranting is good. Tantrums not I guess. But then again, I have become a good candidate for the most frequent tantrum thrower! I tell Rathindra that I will not throw tantrums anymore, he tells me that I can do what I do on once in a forth night basis, (which is the current frequency of my tantrums) putting the whole relationship on doubt, the “I need a break act” and then settling to tell him that I love him and then end up feeling pathetic over the whole tantrum I dished at him, simply because he takes all my “drama” too cool for my liking. His response to my statement “oh it’s alright, you can throw them! I don’t want you to change!”

Great! Now I am left wondering whether he is trying to tell me that I should let him be, and stop wishing that he will change!?! A possible hint, at my cause of tantrum, my annoyance at his non reactive behaviour…

Aaaaaaaaaargh! Vositha needs to stop analysing, not good! Very bad! Very VERY bad!!

STOP!

I said “STOP YOU FOOL!!”

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