A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Back to 500BC.
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Friday, June 2, 2017
Horses To Water
All
of our experience after events catastrophic events point to the
inability of the bureaucracy to adapt to changing times and be abreast
of current information. If they did, they would know that tunneling in
the fractured rocks of the Poonagala range could lead to disasters like
the massive landslide experienced Meeriyabadde the drying up of wells
around Bandarawela. The environmental Impact Report that cleared the
infamous Uma Oya diversion project has not addressed any of these
possibilities. If the bureaucrat or so-called ‘scientist’ who wrote
this, does not have an education sufficient to understand these needs
for national security, it will be easy for him to approve projects in
the interest of the ‘investor’. The investor has become somewhat of a
holy figure. One, whom we should not frighten away or criticize. One,
without whose investment, we will slide into economic darkness. So these
people would sacrifice the wellbeing of our motherland in the service
of their ‘investment’ gods, telling us that if they do not do so, we are
doomed to an economic hell.
Another amazing piece of public effrontery are the recent advertisements calling for designs for the Port City.
While it is public knowledge that a phase 2 EIA MUST be submitted for
approval before any construction begins. The businessmen are laying the
foundations. There has been no outcry from the bureaucrats charged with
the duty of obtaining such an EIA and approving it before any activity
begins on the filled land. That silly lopsided argument that “we are
contractually bound’ can only have validity if the contract did not
break the laws of the land. In the case f the ‘port city’, the operators
have flouted the laws of this land over and over again. Yet the voice
boxes of the businessmen, the politicians, tell us, ‘oh, we have
contractual obligation’. To add insult to injury, the operators are
pumping toxic marine sediment with their landfill, without any assurance
as to the effect of the dust created thereby. The mere fact that
activity is allowed before any of these lapses in law have been
addressed is a slap in the face of the Sri Lankan public and an
indictment of our legal system.
And have course the floods! At one time about three years ago, when I
was requested to suggest and advise on the proposed mega urban
constructions. I suggested that: it should be ‘A cadenza of urban
centers joined by a high-speed efficient, non-fossil transportation
system. Each urban center located and identified within a watershed. The
maximal sustainable yield of ecosystem services of each watershed will
be the defining parameters of growth for each center. Each center will
strive to develop the primary production of that watershed to its
highest value. Each center will pay the producers of the ecosystem
services within their particular watershed.’
1. The most efficient high-speed transport is the electrically driven
rail or monorail systems. Fast and efficient, the only drawback is the
number of users to make its operation cost effective. Thus transporting
between major urban centers would seem to fulfill this need in Sri
Lanka. Once a transport backbone has been built using this system, the
second level need or transport local should be handled by electrically
driven taxis, three wheelers etc. The current technology will enable the
construction of solar collectors along the line and at the urban hubs.
As much of the transport is active during the day, these collecting
units could feed the grid and/or set up charging capacity at the docking
sites where the passengers change to local transport.
2. Sri Lanka being an island with a radial drainage system has well
identified watersheds, many of which have been studied extensively. The
collection of baseline data for each watershed in which an urban center
will be developed will crate a definable boundary for each center, where
the center will be responsible for the development of the total
watershed and the percentage of impervious surfaces allowed.
3. As each watershed has a set amount of water discharge and as a set
quantity of water will be required for production and conservation in
the rural sector. A maximal extractable limit should be established, a
similar study and limits set for impervious surfaces, air quality and
biomass.
4. Each center will often be located in areas that produce unique
primary products with future high value applications. It could be
mineral as in the case of Mineral sands or Graphite, or agricultural, as
in the case of spices and high value phytochemicals. The value adding
industries should be encouraged and supported to begin r&d and
identify the center as a center of excellence
The health and well being of all persons living within a watershed depends on the volume of ecosystem services being produced in the watershed. Thus it is just to pay for the ecosystem services the center enjoys. With the current drive to give a value for ecosystem services globally and with the statements that are being made in this regard by the President. Computing an ES payment based on ESP’s could bring in the rural segment of the watershed as a full partner of the center.
The health and well being of all persons living within a watershed depends on the volume of ecosystem services being produced in the watershed. Thus it is just to pay for the ecosystem services the center enjoys. With the current drive to give a value for ecosystem services globally and with the statements that are being made in this regard by the President. Computing an ES payment based on ESP’s could bring in the rural segment of the watershed as a full partner of the center.