To shelterless Wanni civilians god will appear in the form of a house
by S. Sivathasan
Among the war devastated to be rehabilitated, the displaced of Wanni are a category apart. Battered by cruel fate, they evoke our sympathy and call for proactive support. War was traumatizing. Embargoes impoverished them. Attempts at rearing their heads met with repeated failure. Today they lead a life of deprivation and penury. For a quarter century, they were driven to an existence of nomadic drift.
They have now to move to settled life and integrate with a society that was peaceably placed. With their spirit remaining unbroken yet, they await the thrust from government to lift them. This hope nourishes their faith. The government is under obligation to sustain their faith by delivering on their prime need - housing. Can there be a more convincing and swifter path to reconciliation?
To be sheltered from the vagaries of weather is fundamental. A place to call one’s home is among the strongest of wants. Above it all is to be secure from the blasts of life, to realize which, housing is basic. For ordered living, economic wellbeing and social cohesion, people strive all their lives. These values remain shattered in the Wanni. To the homeless, a house is the obsession. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said – " to the starving man God appears in the form of bread".
To the shelterless in the Wanni, God will appear in the form of a house. Afflicted with a toothache, one cannot think of anything else. The devastated in Wanni can think of nothing besides their predicament. Once settled in mind with housing out of their way, economic pursuits can be mapped out by them with their own personal initiatives.
How do we lay the foundation for house construction, which really is an effort at nation building? Sympathy for the deprived, concern for those displaced, restoring their dignity, thoughts of mainstreaming and love for their well being, are worthwhile ideals. They can however loose their trace in the dreary desert sand of inaction. Mao Tse Tung posed a question challengingly – "with platonic love can you bring forth a child?"
To deliver housing, what are the orders of magnitude? Can we lumber along or do we have compulsive timelines? To build is to have money, but do we have the resources? It is estimated that over 100,000 houses have to be constructed. The area comprises four administrative districts. At a unit cost of Rs.400,000 per house, financing is required in a sum of Rs.40 billion. The programme of construction should be three years in order to banish homelessness most speedily.
Housing on such a scale to be undertaken at frenetic speed and with financial outlay of this magnitude are within the competence of the state and state only. Practicable strategies have to be adopted with full appreciation of insuperable constraints. Finances are not available with the government and construction capacity does not exist with the homeless. A prospective donor with a likely inclination to assist has to be identified. Immediately, China comes to mind. As for friendly disposition, she is among the closest to Sri Lanka. Financial resources are aplenty to make her generous. It is worthy of note that China ranks first in the world in reserves of exchange and gold at $ 2.2 trillion. She is second in exports and third in GDP. Aid for Wanni housing is a meager amount for China’s consideration.
If the government of Sri Lanka would zero in on China, then assistance has to be solicited and aid negotiated. As important would be the strategy for delivery. The entire programme of housing in the Wanni needs to be undertaken as a turnkey assignment with construction capacity to be developed by the donor. It is crucial to understand that the situation in the Wanni is unenviable. The displaced are undernourished and therefore physically incapacitated for strenuous work. Decades of marginalization has deprived them of organizational capability.
Construction indispensables like cement, steel and timber have to be imported. Construction equipment and transport vehicles are needed in large numbers. When construction capacity is comprehensively viewed, the intractable limitations would make any effort at construction by the beneficiary impossible. The turnkey approach is therefore not an option but a compulsion. It would encompass planning, financing, mobilization of technical cadres and labour, import of machinery and equipment and the import of materials. All these without the hazzle of time consuming procedures will be the best part of the deal.
An alternative pitted against donor turnkey is the concept of owner driven construction. How does it work? The government solicits aid – multilateral, bilateral or institutional and farms it to certain agencies which participate in the construction process. Aid procurement is piecemeal and the volume grows over time. In the six-year period from 2004 to 2010, a total of 36,000 new houses were delivered. When the target is trebled and the time span halved, an altogether different mode is required. Hence the choice of China, a nation renowned for miraculous performance.
What is the rationale behind owner-driven construction? It is assumed that the stake holder who had lost his house and his livelihood knows his needs best. Therefore however prostrate he may be as of now, will put his heart and soul into the rebuilding process. He will be back on his feet at the earliest since he will build at the speediest. Above all is the mystical satisfaction he will derive from the participatory process. From these theoretic presuppositions flow the mythical concept of owner-driven housing. How tenable is this hypothesis?
The owner with possessions lost, driven to perpetual migration and with all means and hopes dashed looks up for assistance. We preach to him the virtues of robust self-reliant endeavour. A further argument is advanced that the owner joining in house building will have employment income. The Gal Oya project was planned for agricultural incomes.
During dam construction, the suggestion of carrying earth in baskets was put across for providing employment. The American Engineer said, why baskets? carrying in teaspoons will give greater employment! The de-housed cannot be made to wait till doomsday for our debate to finish. With experience to guide, knife in butter decisions have to be taken.
What was the composition of the Wanni population? Agriculturists, livestock farmers, poultry breeders, retail traders, fishermen, transporters, artisans and many others. All of them resuming their earlier avocations is just the beginning point of economic regeneration. For these pursuits, housing is basic.
For the economic life of the North to flow to all parts of the country, transport may be looked at as a case in point. It would highlight the dire straits at present and emphasize the Himalayan scale of investment that is needed. Omnibuses and private coaches in the North were a mere 936 in 2007 as against 41,000 in the country. Goods transport vehicles were 1916 contrasted to 182,000 of the island’s total.
The scope for state facilitation for employment generation in transport may be realized, as for every sector of activity. Coupling employment with house construction and delaying the process of house delivery is disastrous for mainstreaming the North with the rest of the country.
With housing in place, a major indispensable facility becomes available. Education, health services, skills training, economic diversification and industrialization can follow coterminously towards the path of modernization.
The de-housed who earlier were positive assets would again become productive segments of society. With housing undertaken as a matter of the highest importance, they will be prepared by the state, for becoming an integral part of Sri Lankan society.
6 Comments
Helping the afflicted is human. If that aspect is absent collectively in any group of people, it is absolutely wrong, and they have absolutely lost their purpose or calling in their lives.
I believe that those who are sick, down trodden, the poor, hungry and those in prisons should be cared for with love and respect for the God given life to them.
Every man is just given one life to live equally with another man. And he must live well. It is the responsibility of mankind to do that, let alone pushing a man into perils.
In SL, that mankind, on which the responsibility lies, is the Sinhalese. Surely, they are failing to do just that. There are consequences which they will be called upon to face by the creator Himself.
In the late 80s a VVIP made a great deal of noise about Housing. Promised a Million Houses (to a country
whose needs were in the region of about 600,000 only per 2002 figures) and gave the project to his No.2.
He even went to the UN and believed the world looked upon him to become the Champion of the Homeless in the world. There was some work done - but a pitiful fraction of what he made the people dream about. The people of his own electorate - and that of his No.2 - in Colombo live today in worst slums than they were. But to him - who did not have a house of his own worth speaking when he started his political career in the early 60s - he was to later own fine houses in the best part of Cbo (for his near and dear to whom he bequeathed these) not to mention Coconuts Estates and other valuable property. As to his No.2 he too has more houses here - and in Australia as well - before he started his own career at the same time. That is the story of Housing in the country.
We still can provide over half a million 1,000 sq ft homes today throughout the land (with running water and toilets within) at affordable prices and make ours a Nation of House-owners. But then we need sincere politicians like the Amarasuriyas, CWW Kannangara and Philanthropists like CH de Soysa.
The leaders we now have sadldy come from low backgrounds they have no comnpunction in stealing even from the very poor.
If China and India so wish they can solve the housing issue in the Wanni in a brief period. Mr Sivathasan needs to be congratulated for focussing in this issue.
ISS
" To the shelterless in the Wanni, God will appear in the form of a house."
This is an opportunity for the Tamil diaspora to be God to these helpless people.
Rs 400,000 is only $ 4000. Most of the well heeled diaspora Tamils earn this in a fortnight. For some rich ones like surgeons and cardios this is two days work.
The money spent on GTF and TTNG must amount to millions. The funds which were collected for the LTTE ran into Billions. Why do the government have to beg from China and India to house Tamil people when there brethren are in a good position to help them.
One of my nephews and I are providing funds to build a house costing Rs 200000 in the South for a poor family of five.We are just battlers.
100000 houses seem to be the number required according to the writer.Diaspora which numbers one million should be able to build at least a quarter of these without any hassles.
This is the way to show your solidarity and care for your people
Dear Friends and comrades,We have to thank for your presentation on the immediate problems faced by the Vanni people.You have mentioned that ,it is the prime duty of the Srilankan government .To our knowledge it is the prime duty of the diaspora tamils who are directly and indirectly guided and directed the Mafia and fascist LTTE or Tamil Tigers in favour of the imperialism.Therefore it is the prime duty of the diaspora Tamil or the pro imperialist tamil ruling class to look after the people.They have to support the poor people of the Vanni who have lost everything due to the pro- Imperialist civil war.The Srilankan government also has to play its part in building new infrastructure for the Vanni people.Still the politically bankrupted Tamil Saiva,Vellala rulling class has been playing their same old game infavour of the Imperialism .Still the LTTE's fund collection is going on in favour of its stooges who are living in others money for the last 25years.It must be totally stoped .There is no more thamasha will be allowd ,like tansnational eelam or vaddukkoddai koddaipakku.
I am astounded by the contrasting nature of two comments about the plight of the homeless people in Wanni.
Ex Lankan, I assume is a Southerner and probably a Sinhalese,who in his own words is a "battler"( not a well off person) setting an example of humanity and generosity towards the less fortunate in his or her homeland.by providing hisor her own money to build a house for a poor family.
Mr ISS on the other hand makes unsubstantiated allegations and innuendos about unnamed past politicians which has no relevance what so ever to the issue confronting these unfortunate people in Wanni.
From what I have read in these columns ISS is a well heeled and well connected person in Colombo who always portrays himself as the guardian angel of the rights of the Tamil people of the North and the East.He also pretends to be high class by calling everyone else especially the Sinhalese in the Rajapaksa team ,low class people.
Emminent people like him should lead from the front and set an example by words as well as deeds and do something practical.instead of blaming and making low comments about the past and present leaders of the country.
The issue in question is of immence importance. For those of us who have traveled in the interior areas of eastern Sri Lanka & the Wanni recently the sight of people in very flimsy shelter is common. This in a country where most people affected by the Tsunami were fortunate to get good houses within a few years.
But the Tsunami is over and there seems to be very little money available. May I ask that while we all work to find the money to buld these people all secure houses in the future, we both give as inividuals and as communities and also work to provide our fellow brothern with atleast a semi permanet shelter which is less expensive and will atleast give them all a place to shelter. Lets also not forget the families in the east who have been resettled for over 2 years and who still languish without adiquate shelter.
We need also to advice the government and people to be pragmatic on the matter.