A temporary kitchen adjacent to the back of the house
Photo: Fernando, 2007.
Most of the respondents complained that contractors who undertook construction used poor quality materials purposely to increase their profits, as there was no proper supervision either from relevant government officials or from donors. When such problems were reported to the relevant GN officer and other officials of the Divisional Secretary “they note our problems and go” (Nimal of Tea Garden). Sunil (47yrs) of Katupolwaththa reported some of the problems related to the construction to the
Relationships
coordinator of the international non-governmental organization responsible for the construction of the houses, Sunil shares his experience - “she (the coordinator) asked me
to handover the house if I was unable to live in it rather than giving any solutions to the problems. I was unable to do so, as I do not have another place to go. If the authorities provided another place close to the city, I would not stay here for a second.”
With the financial assistance of an international non-governmental organization, the Galle District Secretary has conducted a census in all resettlements in Galle Four Gravets and Akmeemana Divisional Secretaries using technical officers to identify construction related problems in housing units in order to resolve them later. Six months after the census when one officer was questioned on the matter he said, “We are still in the
process of analysing collected data”. In this context, uncertainty further develops, as no
one knows when the above discussed problems will be resolved.
The Additional District Secretary of Tsunami Reconstruction for the Galle district admits that some land used for resettlements was only partially suitable for such settlements, but advised the donors to construct quality housing considering the land quality. He also admits that there was huge pressure, both from politicians in the area as well as from displaced people, to speed up the housing construction in resettlements, which could have also led to the construction of poor quality houses. He further highlighted the importance of developing the vital common infrastructure before settling beneficiaries in their new location, but was unable to deliver this due to lack of funds. Irrespective of the lack of funds to develop common infrastructure, it is argued that government officials did not closely inspect the construction of houses other than providing the land and issuing beneficiary lists for the allocation of houses. It is further evident that there was no proper coordination, even between relevant divisional secretaries (i.e. Galle Four Gravets and Akmeemana) and local councils (i.e. Galle municipal and Akmeemana Pradeshiya Sabha) (Mulligan and Shaw, 2007; de Silva, 2009). For instance, in relation to the statement by the Assistant Director of Development and Planning of Akmeemana Pradeshiya Sabha (village council), he notes “None of the government authorities responsible for
reconstruction informed us of any resettlements in our area, instead, we received official invitations to participate in most of the opening ceremonies of such settlements.. There are 13 new settlements under the purview of our PS and we have not visited most of
Relationships
them”. If there was proper coordination between relevant local councils, there would have
been a great opportunity to minimize some of the problems related to construction by requesting technical officers in Akmeemana PS to oversee the construction in order to maintain the building quality. However, the usual involvement of local authorities in approval of site planning was done by the Urban Development Authority in Colombo and the contractors worked under time pressure. Further, in line with this argument a Development Officer of Akmeemana Divisional Secretary complained about the lack of coordination, not only between divisional secretaries, but also amongst beneficiaries of new houses with some donors. Involving beneficiaries in initial construction work, perhaps through paid labour, may have infused a sense of ownership to their house, and perhaps minimized poor construction. It would also have helped to develop a good relationship with the host community.
7
7..22..LLaacckkooffCCoommmmoonnIInnffrraassttrruuccttuurreeaannddOOtthheerrSSeerrvviicceess
7
7..22..11..NNooBBrriiddggeettooCCrroossssMMaahhaaDDoollaa
Tea Garden resettlers lack a proper bridge to cross the Maha Dola (a large stream), other than a horse way built long ago to transport rubber wood to an estate nearby. Crossing, particularly during rainy season, is a very difficult task as it gets flooded. On such days, residents have to wait until the water level goes down. There were days when resettlers were confined to their settlement and their travelling was restricted. This, in turn, disrupts their day to day activities. For instance, children cannot go to school on time and residents cannot go to work etc. During the third stage of fieldwork, growing anxiety was observed amongst students who were to sit for the Ordinary Level national examination, as it was uncertain on whether they would be able to cross the stream and reach their examination, centers on time during the two week long examination period. Anxiety arose as there had been at least five times when residents were bound to their homes for two days due to floods. During the latest floods, resettlers were trapped in their settlement for over three days. As a result, politicians and other neighbouring villagers had to send cooked food and dry rations using cables with the help of the Navy. In this context, the most urgent infrastructure for Tea Garden resettlers is a proper bridge. This is evident from the ranking exercises undertaken with community based society office bearers (see Table 30).
Relationships
Table 30: Ranking Exercise with Community Based Society Office Bearers on Housing and Common Infrastructure Related Problems by Study Locations
Tea Garden1 Katupolwaththa2 Cinnamon Garden3
1. No proper bridge to cross Maha Dola
Cracked walls and leaking roofs Cracked walls, roofs and floors
2. Cracked walls, roofs and floors No proper construction of septic tank
No proper construction of septic tank
3. No proper construction of septic tank
No drains for waste water and rain water disposal
No drains for waste water and rain water disposal
4. No drains for waste water and rain water disposal
No space for kitchen No proper land ownership
5. No place to dump garbage No mail delivery No place to dump garbage
6. Lack of proper access roads No street lamps No street lamps
7. No community centre Lack of proper access roads No separate kitchen
8. No mail delivery No proper land ownership
9. No street lamps No place to dump garbage
10. No proper land ownership 11. Small kitchen
12 No playground
Notes: 1Conducted on 7 November 2008. Participants:Secretary of Sri Lanka Freedom Party Branch, President of Community Development Society, GN Officer, President of Death Donation Society and President of Women Society. 2Conducted on 9 February 2009. Participants: GN Officer, Secretary of Women Society, President of Community Development Society, President of Death Donation Society, President of Senior Citizen Society. 3Conducted on 18 November 2008. Participants: GN officer, Secretary of Death Donation Society, President of Community Development Society, Secretary of Women Society, Treasurer of Small Savings Group.
Due to the great importance of this matter, resettlers had taken it up with Government Ministers, the Divisional Secretary, parliamentarians, the village council members and even the President. A response letter arrived from the President stating that he had directed it to the relevant ministries to take necessary action, but to date, nothing has happened. The same problem was broadcast on radio and television. Continuing the effort, the Community Development Society organised an inspection trip of the settlement with the participation of provincial councilors, party electoral organisers, parliament ministers, the President of Pradeshiya Sabha, and the Divisional Secretary of Akmeemana Division to bring their attention to the common infrastructure problems in the settlements, in general, and the bridge in particular. Following the inspection tour a formal request was
Relationships
made asking them to intervene to solve the matter. There were verbal promises, but no real action so far. For this reason the President of the Community Development Society of Tea Garden said, “Officials should have known to first build a bridge over Maha Dola
and then resettle us. This is their responsibility”. Admitting that it is the responsibility of
the Government to develop proper common infrastructure (i.e. roads and bridges) for the settlement, the Additional District Secretary of the Tsunami Reconstruction for Galle district stated that their inability to do so was due to lack of funds. Interviews with DS officials revealed that the Road Development Authority estimated it would cost five million Sri Lankan rupees to construct the bridge, but they did not have the required money from the government, or any other organization, to commence construction. This means that Tea Garden settlers need to continue with the daily struggle of crossing the
Maha Dola with increasing uncertainty, irrespective of the various political promises to
resolve this problem soon.
7
7..22..22..NNooDDrraaiinnss
There is neither a proper drainage system for individual houses, nor for the settlement as a whole, to remove waste and rain water properly in any of the three research locations. Therefore, some of the gravel roads in all three resettlements are highly damaged, and householders complain that rain water comes into their houses. For instance, Ramanie (40yrs) of Katupolwaththa complained that her house gets flooded even after short rain as there is no proper drainage system to remove out rain water outside her premises (see Photo 14).
Photo 14: Stagnant Rain water in a House Garden at