Lanka rising from debris
The Sri Lanka Development Forum began in the historic city of Kandy,
at a time when the international community has expressed satisfaction on
the manner in which the tsunami aid has been disbursed by the State
among the affected people.
During the deliberations of the conference, the donors and the
Government were expected to reach agreement to ensure that nearly US$ 2
billion of pledged aid is effectively used to rebuild areas hit by the
December catastrophe.
Many political and diplomatic analysts believed that the Kandy
conference would bring fruitful results as far as the tsunami
reconstruction and rehabilitation projects are concerned.
At present donor funds are being distributed very effectively,
covering some of the remotest areas. This novel system has eliminated
unwanted red tape and won praise worldwide, Dr. Amunugama told a press
conference last week.
The strategy was launched under three categories: Rs. 5,000 allowance
scheme, Suhasana loans for small and medium sector entrepreneurs and
grants scheme for housing.
A major portion of work was done by the two State banks, People's
Bank and Bank of Ceylon.
We spoke to the officials of the State banks to find out how they
implement this successful disbursement system and the challenges that
they faced over the last few months.
People's Bank has released the Rs. 5,000 allowance for 200,000
beneficiaries under the first round. "So far the Bank has released Rs. 2
billion for this purpose. We are in the process of implementing the
second round of this program at present and the third round will also be
implemented soon," a senior official of the People's Bank said.
Referring to the initial stage of the program he said, it was a slow
process. There were various matters to be sorted out. "We were targeting
the small and medium entrepreneurs and most of them did not have a place
to restart their business - they also had various opinions about the
100-metre buffer zone. Once the initial issues were settled, we could
smoothly implement the loan scheme," he said adding that "a good
progress was made within a short time."
"We also granted housing loans to 4,000 persons to the amount of Rs.
400 million. These loans were in two categories: Rs. 100,000 for partly
damaged houses and Rs. 250,000 for fully damaged houses," he said. Most
of these loans were given to the people in the North and East.
In achieving its goals, the People's Bank constantly worked with its
islandwide branch network, communities and other organisations.
"It was tough work. We had to work almost everyday - and all 24-hours
to make the program effective and efficient," the official said.
The bank has also computerised the whole program and information can
be collected within minutes. In certain areas, they had collected
information manually and transferred them to the computerised system for
easy access. "The technology also supported us a lot to achieve our
goals," he added.
Assistant General Manager (Credit Suhasana) of Bank of Ceylon Sarath
Wimalaratne said that as a State bank they are dedicated to perform any
duty on behalf of the Government and the people of Sri Lanka.
Bank of Ceylon joined the Rs. 5,000 allowance scheme at a latter
stage and so far it has distributed Rs. 145 million among 16,300
families.
In the first stage of housing grants scheme, the bank has been able
to release Rs. 80 million among 1,525 recipients. Each recipient has got
Rs. 50,000 in the first stage and the balance will be given according to
the success of the construction project.
Describing the practical issues they had to overcome, Wimalaratne
said in certain areas people were not prepared to accept Rs. 250,000 or
Rs. 100,000 housing grants saying that 'it was not enough'. In other
areas there were issues with regard to the 100-metre buffer zone.
"However, we managed to find solutions to many of these problems," he
said. The bankers also said that the Development Forum which begins
today will be another boost to continue their rehabilitation and
rebuilding work.
"We hope that the people affected by the tsunami will also be
encouraged to build their own lives as a result of this conference,"
they said. In addition to the two State banks, other commercial banks
have also participated in the Suhasana loan scheme, which turned out to
be quite a success.
Meanwhile Sri Lanka's tourism sector is also expecting 'a good
response' from the international donors for post-tsunami recovery in
tourism.
Sri Lanka is expected to receive a grant of US$ 132 million from the
World Bank for this purpose. The two day conference which will highlight
many aspects from a Sri Lankan perspective was to focus on post-tsunami
recovery in tourism which will be presided by the Minister of
Industries, Investment and Tourism Promotion Anura Bandaranaike.
(CJ) |