The full text of the speech made by Secretary Defence and Urban
Development at the opening ceremony of the 6th Annual Sessions of
the Institute of Environmental Professionals Sri Lanka
It gives me great pleasure to address you at the
inauguration of the 6th Annual Sessions of the Institute of
Environmental Professionals, Sri Lanka. I am aware that this
institute brings together a number of professionals who have
qualified in diverse fields but who now practice in the field of
Environment. The Institute's focus on environmental advocacy is a
particularly important one it today's context, since Sri Lanka is
presently on a very rapid development drive. It is necessary to
ensure that the on-going development efforts are both balanced and
sustainable in the long term. Economic development should go hand in
hand with social welfare and environmental conservation. The
Institute has a role to play in enhancing the capability of
Environmental Professionals to professionally assess and make
insightful recommendations in this regard.
After having suffered thirty years of war, Sri
Lanka today is reaping the full rewards of being a nation at peace.
Tourist arrivals are on the rise, and the country has been chosen to
host several significant international events. These include the
58th annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference that
was held last month, the on-going Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, and
the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting scheduled for 2013. In
addition, there are a large number of regionally and internationally
significant groups that are interested in making large investments
in Sri Lanka. The Shangri La hotel chain, Sheraton Hotels, the
Krrish Group, Indo-Ocean Developers and various others have already
committed to large investments to build high-end hotels, residential
spaces, office buildings and commercial facilities in and around
Colombo. All these facts reflect the confidence that the
international community has in the stability and peace that Sri
Lanka presently enjoys, as well as their optimism about the
country's future prospects.
Sri Lankan companies and investors are equally
committed to promoting new ventures and creating further growth.
There are several existing advantages apart from the platform of
peace and stability that they can exploit. The potential to harness
the country's highly educated work force in fields such as
Information Technology is a case in point. There are a number of Sri
Lankan companies that have already made a mark internationally by
developing highly acclaimed software products. The software
engineers and IT professionals who developed these products were
educated and trained in this country, and with that background, this
is a sector that can go very far. The same can be said for fields
such as Medicine, Accountancy, Engineering, and various other
sectors in which Sri Lanka produces large numbers of committed and
talented professionals every year. However, we must also understand
that a large number of such professionals left Sri Lanka during the
last few decades because of the war and the lack of economic
development. The potential that the country has to grow would be
even greater if such qualified, talented and experienced
professionals can be persuaded to return.
While fostering higher economic growth is critical
in this context, it is important to recognise that there are a
number of other areas in which significant improvements are being
made. Urban development is one of these key areas. If the standards
of the cities can be improved, and a better working environment as
well as better facilities for families to spend their leisure time
can be provided, Sri Lanka will be able to attract many more
tourists, draw in even more foreign and local investment, and invite
more expatriate families to return to the country. It is with all of
this in mind that the Government has taken a great deal of effort to
improve the standards of Colombo, its suburbs, and other key cities
around the country.
The overall quality of Sri Lanka's urban spaces
must improve, and more facilities must be introduced to foster a
good working environment as well as pleasant and relaxed living
standards. We need to develop clean, green, people friendly cities.
The environment needs to be preserved so that people can enjoy the
beauty of this country's natural greenery and abundant waterways.
The many projects undertaken over the last three years by the
Ministry of Defence & Urban Development, the Sri Lanka Land
Reclamation and Development Corporation, the Urban Development
Authority and the various Municipal and Provincial authorities have
all been geared to foster the development of such high quality urban
spaces in Sri Lanka.
The Metro Colombo Urban Development Project that
has been undertaken by the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development
is a five-year long undertaking financed through a World Bank loan
that addresses a number of issues that have long troubled the city.
Primarily, it will address the various flood and drainage issues
that Colombo suffers from due to its rapid, organic growth over many
decades. The city's drainage infrastructure, including its micro
drainage channels, primary and secondary canals and lakes will be
improved. The long neglected Beire Lake will be completely
rehabilitated. Its gates, tributaries and output channels will be
unblocked and improved, and the pollution that has been caused by
unauthorised settlements and buildings will be addressed. Once the
project is completed, the Beire Lake will be transformed from its
present state to a worthy centrepiece for a revitalised city. The
various improvements that will be made to the Beddegana Park under
this project are also notable. The Green Growth Programme which is
being carried out in parallel with the Metro Colombo Urban
Development Project and funded through a World Bank grant, will
protect the marshy areas in the metro region, enhance its
biodiversity parks, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the
eco-friendly nature of the city.
The many projects undertaken by the Sri Lanka Land
Reclamation and Development Corporation to increase and enhance the
waterfronts in many parts of the city and suburbs are particularly
notable. The developments near the venue of these sessions, Water's
Edge, together with the work carried out at DiyawannaOya, have been
extremely popular, and thousands of people use and enjoy the
facilities that have been provided on a daily basis. A number of new
lakes have been created in the Sri JayawardenepuraKotte area,
including Rampalawatta, the low-lying areas of Pelawatta and
Thalawathugoda. Apart from these water retention areas, significant
improvements have been or are being made to the overall drainage
infrastructure. Under the Weras Ganga Basin Storm Water Drainage &
Environment Improvement Project, the dredging of the Weras Ganga
will be coupled with improvements to the drainage system of the
Bolgoda Marsh as well as the development of several canals. By
improving the quality of the water retention areas and waterways,
the overall beauty and pleasantness of Colombo will be greatly
enhanced, and allow the city to once again claim the title of being
the Garden City of the East.
In terms of sustainability, one of the more
innovative approaches taken by the Urban Development Authority over
the past few years has been to transform historic old buildings on
the verge of collapse into facilities with a new lease on life. The
transformation of the long neglected old Dutch hospital in Colombo
Fort into a public open space housing high end shopping and
restaurant facilities has been extremely popular, and the demand
from the business community for more facilities of that nature has
been extremely encouraging. With that in mind, the old Colombo
Racecourse buildings, which had initially been scheduled for
demolition, are being rehabilitated and will be converted to an
upmarket shopping complex whilst the pavilions and grounds are being
converted for new activities. Private sector companies have also
stepped forward to take over and revitalise historic sites; for
example, the Krrish Group intends to preserve and transform the old
Transworks Building into a high-end boutique hotel as it develops
the Transworks Square into a modern mixed development with hotel,
residential, office and commercial facilities.
The concept of urban renewal is an important one
that has many implications. In terms of developing the city, the
improvements being made to the lives of people in underserved and
unauthorised settlements are particularly noteworthy. These
settlements are mostly on government lands in various parts of
Colombo, with many of them being located on reservations set aside
around lakes, canals, roadways and railway tracks. The settlements
lack basic facilities and sanitation, their living conditions are
bad and hygiene is poor. Their quality of life leaves much to be
desired. Under the Resettlement of Underserved Settlements Project
being undertaken by the Urban Development Authority, some 70,000
families living in poor conditions in Colombo will be given housing
in high rise buildings designed and constructed to a good standard.
These buildings will come up in close proximity to the original
homes of these families, so that they do not need to find different
jobs or send their children to different schools. The construction
of 10,000 housing units is presently under way, and plans are in
place to expand this number by a further 15,000 during the next
year.
The regeneration of urban spaces through Private
Public Partnerships in which investors work with landowners to build
mixed developments in areas they occupy is another significant step
in urban development. The householders will be resettled in quality
high-rise apartments in the same neighbourhoods, while new high
quality commercial and residential spaces will be created in the
lands vacated. A key benefit of both the Resettlement of Under
Served Settlements Programme and these Public Private Partnerships
is that they will release a lot of prime city land for commercial
and other developments, including the creation of more public
spaces.
The development of pavements and walk paths along
the city streets is another important matter that has received a lot
of attention in the recent past. The city needs to be more people
friendly, and the large numbers of citizens who use public transport
and use the roads to walk need to be accommodated with high quality
pavements and facilities. The development of the pavements in the
Colombo and Metro Colombo regions has been of great help to
pedestrians, and all future road developments will also feature high
quality pavements. His Excellency the President himself has ordered
the Road Development Authority to build drains and walkways along
the roads that they develop, which will make the roadways much safe
and more pleasant for pedestrians. It is the duty of all our
citizens to use these facilities properly. Unfortunately, I have
noted on many occasions that cars park on sidewalks illegally,
damaging the pavements and obstructing pedestrians. It is very
important that people develop a proper civic consciousness and avoid
such selfish behaviour-the cities must be shared and enjoyed by
people from all walks of life.
Keeping the city clean is another key criterion in
maintaining urban spaces at a high standard. One of the major
problems Sri Lanka faced earlier was that trash collection was not
carried out properly and that there were piles of garbage building
on various city corners. With more attention being paid to the
administration of garbage collection contracts and innovative
solutions, including the establishment of a separate division within
the Police to monitor whether the streets are being properly looked
after, this problem has been solved. In a recent newspaper article
in Singapore, a visitor to Sri Lanka has praised the fact that there
was no litter on the streets, even in the area around the busy
central railway station. This is a great compliment to our recent
progress. Even the civic consciousness of our people has been
improved through public education programmes on the importance of
keeping the city clean. This is something to be truly proud of.
The civic consciousness we have about preserving
the environment is similarly crucial. People often talk about the
importance of retaining greenery and the need to have more trees.
Whenever the Government or municipal authorities improve roadways or
improve the pavements, a conscious effort is made to plant more
trees and improve the greenery. Unfortunately, many of the same
people who talk about the need for more greenery are the same ones
who put up billboards throughout the city limits. These billboards
are eyesores that obscure the greenery of the city and detract from
its natural beauty, and this is a problem that needs to be addressed
comprehensively. Instructions have been given to the Municipal
Authorities to regulate billboards better, and the people who put up
billboards should be advised to consider more effective ways of
advertising. If billboards do have to be put up, it is better that
they use modern methods such as electronic billboards in permitted
areas, rather than put up large billboards in various places,
thereby ruining the atmosphere of the city. We need the greenery and
beauty of our urban spaces to stand out, and the rationalisation of
billboards will be essential for this.
Another initiative that will help in this regard
is the demolition of walls around public buildings, playgrounds and
other public areas. Because of the war, a lot of walls were built up
in all parts of the city. These walls kept many of Colombo's best
architectural features hidden, and obscured the abundant natural
greenery that is a hallmark of the city. With many of these walls
having now been removed, the city now has a much more relaxed and
open atmosphere. This is particularly important with regard to the
quality of life that people should be able to enjoy. People should
not have the feeling that they are hemmed in behind walls or that
there are living in a concrete jungle. Instead, there should be much
more openness, and many more open spaces for them to enjoy.
That is why the creation of more public open
spaces has been a key priority amongst the projects that have been
initiated recently. Alongside the many developments in the Sri
Jayawardenepura area, the development of Independence Square and
Nawam Mawatha with proper bicycle tracks and walkways have
significantly improved the quality of life within Colombo city.
Similar initiatives have been taken in the Gampaha District, and
more and more people are using these places to exercise and relax
in. People of all ages use these facilities, and it is very
encouraging to note that some leading doctors have even commented
that the availability of such spaces for the general public will
help contain health issues such as diabetes and heart disease.
Although the projects undertaken in the recent
past to create more public open spaces have been extremely
successful, it is also important that proper mechanisms be
established to ensure the maintenance of these spaces and other
public facilities in the long term. Unfortunately, there are many
examples of public spaces and facilities that have become degraded
over time because they are not properly maintained by anybody. This
is an area in which the civil society must get more engaged. Service
oriented social organisations such as Rotary Clubs and Lions Clubs,
as well as interest based associations and Non Governmental
Organisations should take an interest in these activities and help
the relevant authorities maintain such facilities and public open
spaces. This will ensure that they remain in proper condition for
the benefit of the people in the long term.
By creating and maintaining greener, cleaner
cities with more public open spaces for people to enjoy, and by
improving the infrastructure available within the urban spaces, I
have every confidence that Sri Lanka will be to make full use of its
development potential and become one of the fastest growing
economies in the world. I hope that organisations such as the
Institute of Environmental Professionals will be able to contribute
positively to these efforts by providing much needed input to the
on-going public discourse. The Government needs the civil society to
step forward with plans and ideas for improvements that can be made
as the country goes forward, and it will be appreciated if
organisations of this nature can contribute constructively. I hope
that meaningful discussions will be held at these Annual Sessions in
this regard, and I wish all the participants an enjoyable and
productive several days.
Thank you. |
