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| Friday, 11 February 2005 |
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Sri Lanka: awakening after the quake by Oscar A. Forero
Although conscious of my ignorance about Sri Lankan environmental and cultural history, I feel compelled to write a few lines about what I have observed during the month I have been travelling across the island. I hope that my appreciation, partial and subjective as it is, could be of some use to the people involved in reconstruction and development of Sri Lanka after the hazardous tsunami. My deepest sympathy goes out to all those peoples who have lost their loved ones in this tragedy. I have no authority to speak on the matter of meditation, but being a foreigner and having practised Vipassana meditation for some years, I may be of some help. Local guides that look for ways of explaining to a foreign tourist what 'meditation' is about should explain that meditation is a medium to tame the mind and that it has not been exclusively a Buddhist practice. There is evidence that Hindus, Christians, Jews and Sufis meditated. However the technique of Vipassana as taught by Buddha seems to be unique. Among other things, Vipassana leads to the realisation that the self is a non-transcendent coincidence of mind and body. While few remarkable Western philosophers have devoted themselves to explaining this simple though complex logos, the Buddha taught a very simple technique, the concentration of the mind in one's own breathing process. By practicing this technique a person of any discipline is able to come to such realisation from the inside. After my three-day retirement for meditation at the International Vipassana Meditation Centre, I was energised for some more touring of the island. I have read in tourist guides that the best sites to appreciate coral reefs were near Hikkaduwa. I headed enthusiastically to this place. Previously I had visited and had made assessments on the management of coral sites both in the Mexican Caribbean and in the Tao island of Thailand. On my way to Hikkaduwa in Sri Lanka, I commented to my hosts about the increasing risk of people settling so near the coastline. Here I witnessed a constant line of settlements between the railway and coastline. It was obvious that regulations were either absent or ignored and that the authorities were not interested in the assessment of risk. Further on I commented about the transformation of mangrove forests into housing and coconut states. This unconscious transformation of mangrove forests into unsuited housing is something I have observed in other countries as well. I could see that patches of mangrove were now unconnected to the coastline and it was rather obvious that human use of these resources was badly afflicting the forest. In the town of Hikkaduwa we accessed the beach through one of the hotels. The hotel was literally on the coastline. Once in the ocean I was stunned by the devastation of the coral reef. It was like a cemetery. There were scattered patches of exhausted corals where fish concentrated to feed. There was evidence everywhere that this used to be a remarkable and lively site. Boats with glass floors went back and forth every fifteen minutes. These boats seem to carry excess people disregarding any safety precautions. In order to please the clients they took the boat up to forbidden places where signs stated that no boats were allowed, and to places where obvious damage to the corals was been made. The boats went about with little concern for the safety of the people who were snorkelling and diving. On the way back to Colombo, we looked for marine turtle hatching centres. I was very suspicious of some of these nursing places which were located in the midst of human settlements. I was quite intrigued to know how turtles manage such disturbance. However proper assessment of these nursing homes requires more time to evaluate the impact of operations on the reproductive cycles of these endangered marine creatures. I was so challenged by the environmental overview which I went through that I wanted to remain in the coast for a few days. I gave up the idea because other tours were planned and hotels had already been booked and payments were made in advance. The following day the tsunami would devastate the South and East coast of Sri Lanka. Since the day of the tragedy I have heard some horrific histories. The worst of them were not related to what people suffered during the tsunami but of what happened after it. Some morbid unscrupulous criminals have taken advantage of the most vulnerable of the affected people. However, I do believe that the majority of Sri Lankans, whatever faith or ethnic background, have reacted with solidarity, compassion and generosity. I hope Sri Lankans view the aftermath of the events as an opportunity to re-think, re-unite and rebuild their country. As far as the reconstruction of the tourism and transport infrastructure is concerned, partisan and populist policies should be avoided. If Sri Lankans want sustainable fishing and tourism industries they must ensure that reconstruction work is carefully managed in accordance to social and environmental capacities. Healthy mangroves and coral reefs are the basis of sustainable fishing. They prevent coastal erosion and serve to slow and minimise damage by tsunamis. Both hostelry developments and housing projects should not be licensed without proper risk and environmental assessment and such assessment should inform credit and insurance services. The first impulse of people involved in reconstruction is to try to return to their sites without thinking in what would be a sustainable livelihood strategy. Populist politicians courting the electorate will be tempted to compromise potential voters to facilitate business as usual. Sri Lanka is in need of responsible long-term visionaries with the managerial capacity to manage the aftermath of the tragedy. (Oscar A. Forero is a Tutor in Environmental Management (Imperial College) and Research Associate of the Department of Geography (King's College - London). |
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