Post tsunami redevelopment through special projects
by Chandrasiri Nanayakkara
The tsunami on December 26, 2004 devastated coastal belts of
Southern, North Eastern and Northern areas of Sri Lanka. It ruined most
of the 'permanent' and movable manmade structures those needed for
inhabitant communities and those required for income generation and
economic development of the area.
To name a few most of the residential, commercial and service
generating buildings, rail and road networks, fishing gear and boats
were destroyed. This was an unexpected and novel experience for Sri
Lanka in the recent history but the unaffected societies both local and
international acted promptly to overcome immediate impacts.
According to media reports there will be no constrain of funding for
redevelopment. Everyday we here a loan, grant or donation from rest of
the world. The government is concerned there are two types of financing
for redevelopment. First is to inject funds to accelerate and expand the
activities of various departments and semi-government organisations.
Those added activities could be administrated through existing
administrative structure but it need more resources such as vehicles,
machinery and trained staff in addition to funds. For example the
departments of education, housing, fisheries, tourism and health etc.
could involve primarily with accelerating and expanding their activities
to cater to demanding situations.
The second is through specific redevelopment projects targeting a
special area, a sector or a target group of population. Most of them are
financed by international donor agencies such as United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO),
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and some NGO's. The rest is financed by
individual countries.
For this all the projects correctly identified, well-planned and
timely implementation is necessary. The word 'project' is a well-known
word in the society and even the higher grade schoolchildren are
involved in project based education to understand this concept through
their curriculum.
What is a 'development project'? How it is planned and implemented?
What is its impact and how it is contribute to the development of the
society?
What constrains it faces in a special situation like tsunami? We have
different understanding on this sometimes vague, incomplete, incorrect
and misleading. This is an attempt to explain in brief some basic
feature of development projects, which are the cutting edge of
development of a country.
A project is a planned undertaking which is a set of interrelated and
coordinated activities designed to achieve certain specific objectives
within a given budget and period of time (Gittinger - 1982).
Several such projects would produce a Development Programme leading
to a development Master Plan of a country. A project undergoes several
phases namely identification, planning and analysis, appraisal,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
The idea and need of a project should be conceived and clearly
identified. The best who can feel the need of a project is the people
and their leaders. It is conceived in their minds but unattended until
it accumulates momentum.
Unfortunately the reality is these project ideas are generated by
experts visiting the country for a short period and with superficial
investigations, neglecting the traditions and culture of the people.
What they think the targeted group or area most suitable and needed is
not the people really need or not the way they want and not the best
possible way to implement.
The identified idea, which expanded to achieve certain objective/s,
should be well planned and documented in detail.
There are integrated projects because for balanced development of a
community or an area all the sectors namely land, irrigation,
agriculture, rural roads, health and education need to develop at once.
There are mutually exclusive projects. If we want do human settlement
of an area the alternative of reforestation has to forgone. There are
single objective (purpose) projects such as health, road development,
fisheries development, drinking water, housing and education. These are
more common infrastructure projects in post redevelopment of tsunami.
The purpose of a project is to convert a set of resources into
desired results through a set of activities or processors. The resources
are called inputs. As a result of a project we expect outputs, effects
and impacts for the society.
The inputs are the natural resource and environment, local and
foreign funds, expertise, goods and services, manpower and technology
etc. The outputs are tangible and intangible, long and short termed,
have multiplier effects, lead to new projects for the future. There may
be negative impacts. Projects generate employment and are the national
investment opportunities.
The expected outputs achieve project's objectives. The outputs are
the specific products or services which an activity is expected to
produce from used inputs. It may be the number of houses, schools or
hospitals constructed. The distance of road or trail track constructed.
The number and capacity of fisheries harbours or hotel rooms developed.
The effects are the outcome of the use of project outputs. It may be
the increased incomes because of an industrial project, better health
facilities due to new hospital, better education because of new schools,
more tourist arrivals due to good hotel facilities etc.
The impacts are the outcome of project effects. It is an expression
of the results actually produced, usually at the level of border, long
range objectives. It is the ultimate change in the living conditions of
beneficiaries resulting from a project.
Monitoring is the continuous or periodic review and surveillance by
management at every level of the hierarchy of the implementation of an
activity to ensure that the deliveries, work schedules, targeted outputs
and other required actions are proceeding according to the plan.
The evaluation is a process for determining systematically and
objectively the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and impact. There
are on-going and ex-post evaluations. The on-going evaluations are
necessary from time to time to check the direction of the project and
re-direct it to achieve the planned objectives.
To see the 'profits' of the project investment we do what is called
'cost-benefit analysis'. It compares project alternatives to select the
best. Usually the project benefits are calculated up to 25-30 years and
discounted to estimate the costs and benefits within the project life.
To measure the benefits we have to compare 'before' and 'after' project
situations. For future price changes of inputs and outputs of
'sensitivity analysis' is needed. To know the impact to the environment
we have to do an environment impact assessment.
In tsunami projects because of the urgency and time constrains,
people's demand, more projects concentrated in a given area, a large
number of donors' additional problems can rise. Hence they need extra
attention.
* Hurriedly prepared projects without considering environment,
climate, culture, alternative uses of resources, legal aspects and
future expansions can create conflicts, delays and resource waste. Hence
planning and appraisal should be done using multidisciplinary team
incorporating the experiences of local experts and considering
beneficiaries' requests.
* They should plan for the future with 'break through thinking'. They
should have more forward and backward linkages.
* They should be more resistant to any future disasters. Need buffer
zones and reservations.
* Capable of changing attitudes eliminates dependency syndrome and
strengthens self-reliance.
* The rules and regulations of the general administration can delay
the procurement, and implementation.
* Scarcity and high demand of inputs (raw material) may be a
constraint for project implementation.
* The lack of experienced local operating staff is an obstacle.
Because we are exporting our best-experienced and talented human
resource to other countries rather than investing in our country. This
'brain drain' is a set back for development of the country.
* After the implementation the integration it to normal system and
maintenance should be well thought. It may need strengthening the
present administrative structure to cater to new developments and have
extra energy to maintain them without negligence and deterioration.
* They should use new technologies, which are appropriate and
affordable, and resource saving methods, considering environment and
sustainability.
We should remember that any project is meant for its target group or
the beneficiary people and the growth and development of the country.
Hence the 'trickle down' of benefits to the target group must be high.
Such projects are not failures but successes. The writer was a former
consultant to GTZ and EO projects in NWP) |