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| Monday, 28 February 2005 |
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Reconstruction no quick-fix by Chandani Jayatilleke
Sri Lanka should tell its people that tsunami reconstruction is a long-term process and that resettlement cannot be done overnight, according to an Indian post-disaster expert. Nowhere in the world, had we seen quick reconstruction and resettlement after such disasters. It takes a very, very long time to rebuild. Therefore, there's nothing wrong in telling the people that it is a long process, said Kirtee N. Shah, a well-known Indian architect and post-disaster expert. So, the Government should give the people, politicians, administrators the correct picture and convince them that reconstruction is a huge task; it takes time to make assessment/collect information, he said adding that "It is better to say that early." Shah was speaking at a public lecture at the Indian Cultural Centre last week. Shah is known as an architect who believes in promoting better houses among low-income dwellers than creating expensive houses for the rich. Accordingly he founded an NGO called ASAG to provide low cost housing for the poor. In the aftermath of a calamity like this, it is important to do things in the right perspective. "If you do a wrong thing at this stage - everything under the sun will go wrong. Decision-making requires time. So, if you tell the truth now, people will accept it," he reiterated. If we look at the past records of natural disasters in the world, over the last several decades, each nation had taken a long time to rebuild. It is impossible to rebuild within three months or six months. Japan being a technically advanced country took about seven years, took rebuild after the Kobe disaster. Mexico, after a terrible earthquake in 1981 to eight to nine years and India's Gujarat also took over five years. In Gujarat five major cities were damaged and one million housing units destroyed. India's Maharashtra, also took about five years to rebuild about 60,000 housing units, he said citing several examples. Shah was in Sri Lanka on a brief tour visiting the tsunami hit areas and meeting several Government officials, sharing his experiences as a post-disaster consultant. On a such meeting with the Urban Development Authority Chairman, Shah had discussed these points. "I told the UDA Chairman to put up a huge board in front of his office saying that Reconstruction cannot happen overnight."
At a time like this, you don't have correct data, information, people's information and their neighbourhood. So if you start with the wrong footing, you are bound to make wrong decisions, he added. Continuing his lecture, Shah said that in the process of reconstruction after a natural calamity like the recent tsunami, it is important to get the participation of the people. "When we build houses in this part of the world, we think of economic assets. Therefore, creating economic assets becomes part of this process and that would require planning and time." For the people, this is a time to get out of psychological and economic trauma. Therefore, this is a critical period for them." Rehabilitation and reconstruction is about people. Making 80,000 homes, would appear a huge task. But with people's participation, it can be less. When 80,000 families have to build one house each, the task is minimum. Therefore, putting the people in the process is much important. Shah said, he has understood by talking to the people that they greatly respect policies. "The Government should do a proper policy - an owner driven home policy. The ideas also should come from civil society. Listening to civil society is an important aspect in this process." "I strongly believe that the right direction to go in the reconstruction process is to put the people in the centre of the process; trust them, give them money and create support structures. Reconstruction is not all about creating all what we had lost. It's about creating all what we had and plus," Shah said in his concluding remarks. He is also the Founder Trustee and Director of the Ahmedabad Study Action Group (ASAG) which is a non-government, non-commercial, non-profit organisation run by concerned professionals committed to utilising their skills for public causes in general and the poor, disadvantaged sections in particular. In his capacity as Director, ASAG, Shah has played a key role in conceiving, designing and managing many construction, reconstruction and rehabilitation projects. Some of the projects include the flood rehabilitation project in South Gujarat to rehabilitate 20 villages destroyed by heavy floods, housing assistance for over 5,000 tribal families in South Gujarat and the reconstruction of the village, Nani-boru, partly damaged by an earthquake in Gujarat in 2001. In addition, he holds a number of positions in world bodies relating to planning and reconstruction. |
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