An exercise in academic eclecticism
Sri Lanka: Challengs of the New Millennium
Author: G.H. Peiris
Professor Emeritus, University of Peradeniya
Publisher: Kandy Books
Review: Dr. B. S. Wijeweera
The book is an attempt to project the major challenges that the
country will have to face in the present millennium.
The three parts of the book discuss the challenges that lie in the
use of our limited physical resources; in the structure of production in
economic activity and in equity in the distribution of its product; and
in the tensions that may arise in the above arenas and how they will
impinge on inter-group relations, especially those associated with
ethno-identity.
Overtly futuristic though in intent, much of its content is in
retrospect.
One can discern a certain nostalgia pervading the compilation of this
monumental work running into 500 pages: the psychological compulsion of
a university academic, who has devoted over 40 years of his productive
life to teaching and research, to leave behind for posterity (and
leaving nothing untold) the intellectual insights he has gained over the
years. This explains the unusual length and also the diversity of topics
and themes.
Scholarly treatment
A few Sri Lankan public administrators have also done this in recent
times, with varying degrees of success, but Professor Peiris'
contribution is breathtaking both in the broad sweep of its content and
scholarly treatment of the subject matter.
Part 1 which deals with environmental degradation is a veritable
geographer's handbook. Forty odd years of teaching and research in this
field has placed the author upon a panoramic vantage ground to survey
the field.
The topics covered include depletion of forest cover, the
hydrological function of forests, soil erosion, siltation of river beds
and reservoirs, environmental pollution, topography, morphology, soil
taxonomy, agro-climatic zoning, rainfall patterns and cycles, ground
water potential and many more that will be of immense interest to
specialists.
Man-elephant conflict
The general reader can gain insights into the man-elephant conflict,
the Muthurajawela project, the flash floods of 1992 that inundated
Colombo, the Sinharaja Forest Reserve and several others of common
interest.
In addition, pertinen issues have been raised; whether de-forestation
causes lowering of surface drainage (the conventional wisdom) or whether
it is a co-relation that has to be explained by more complex causal
processes; whether the increased temperatures we experience are a
concomitant of global warming.
Part II an academic feast laid out for economists, especially those
who relish welfare economics. There is an introductory chapter on
economic geography which examines the impact of State sponsored
plantation industry on peasant agriculture.
Post-independence economic growth patterns, changing structures of
production, foreign investment, labour force participation, consumer
finance surveys, household expenditure and income surveys and several
other economic analytical tools are discussed with lucidity.
A discussion on poverty related issues finds a special place with
poverty lines, poverty headcounts, poverty gap ratios, Gini coefficients
and physical quality of life indices brought within the overall
explanatory framework of equity concerns.
The consistency over the years of the theme of peasant proprietorship
in agrarian policy (as opposed to large scale mechanized farming)
receives intense treatment. The twin strategies followed in irrigation
policy of restoring ancient tanks and establishing new reservoirs by
damming rivers are contrasted for their costs, benefits and
environmental impacts. In this context, the Paddy Lands Act of 1958 is
also discussed both in terms of its intentions and efficacy.
Colonisation
A subject close to the heart of the author receives adequate
coverage. The history of colonisation schemes is traced to its origins.
one thing is made clear; the policy of dry zone colonization was not the
brainchild of local Sinhalese politicians.
Rather, its paternity points to British Governors and administrators
who laid the early groundwork.
Under colonization policy, the Gal Oya Project and Accelerated
Mahaveli Development Programme are discussed in detail. The arguments of
both apologists and detractors are analysed with academic discipline;
and so are the debates in academic circles of the relative merits and
demerits of large hydraulic systems of recent times and the water-soil
conservation ecosystems of connected village tanks that had prevailed in
the Dry Zone in ancient times.
The contribution of settlement schemes towards greater food security,
especially in rice, is also brought into the equation. |
