6.1 Environment
6.2 Urban Development
6.3 Provision of Housing Facilities
The human settlement development of the area can be divided in to three categories, namely environmental management, urban development and provision of housing needs.
6.1 Environment
Situation
The Eastern Province is endowed with a variety of environmental resources which are not properly managed at present and the benefits are at sub-optimal level
- The Eastern Province is located in the Dry Zone of the country and 40 percent of its land is under natural vegetation ranging from tropical mixed evergreen forest to thorn scrublands. It has been reported that the largest extent of non-protected natural forest is found in the East.
- The ilmenite deposit, which is estimated to be over 4 million tons, is located in Pulmoddai. The concentration of Titanium mineral in this deposit is said to be the best in the world. Apart from these resources, limestone and clay are abundant in the region.
- The Eastern Province has about 400 km length of the coastline which is endowed with industrial mineral sands (ilmenite, rutile, zircon and monazite) and fishery resources.
- The Eastern Province has a high potential for eco-tourism with a related environment consisting of national parks, wildlife sanctuaries. etc.
The main issues confronting the environment in the Eastern Province include:
- Deforestation and depletion of forest cover and land degradation
Practice of shifting cultivation and clearing lands for roads and buildings are the major reasons for this situation. Loss of biodiversity, natural vegetation, increased soil erosion etc. are the major effects of deforestation.
- Over extraction of sand, gravel and clay for the construction industry
At present over extraction of sand, gravel and clay for the construction industry is identified as the major environmental issue in the East. Over extraction of sand results in the collapse of riverbanks, salt-water intrusion and deepening of riverbeds.
- Increased pollution of air, inland water and sanitation
Air, water, noise coastal and marine are the major types of environmental pollution and have become prominent with economic development in the East.
- Improper solid waste disposal
Improper solid waste disposal has become a serious problem mainly in the urban and town areas in the East.
- Depletion of coastal resources
Coastal pollution, coastal erosion, and unplanned development activities within the coastal zone are the major challenges in the coastal zone which result in a depletion of coastal resources. Further, recent Tsunami destruction created coastal zone pollution, and the proper management of the coastal zone with effective monitoring and law enforcement are required for the conservation of coastal resources.
- Increase the tree cover and productivity of the forests to meet the needs of present and future generations.
- Conserve wildlife resources through protection, research, education, sustainable use and benefit sharing.
- Increase, improve and sustain the quantity, quality and unit value of output of mineral resources in the region while minimizing the adverse impact on the environment.
- Reduce land degradation, restore land productivity and thus uplift the living condition of the people.
- Manage output of the all waste products and their disposal in a manner that will cause minimum adverse impact on the environment.
- Protect coastal resources and minimize degradation such as coastal erosion, through environmental management of coastal habitats.
- Promote effective monitoring and strengthening of rules, regulations and procedures to control adverse environmental impacts within the region.
- Develop partnership with all resource users
Involvement of all stakeholders in the management and protection of forest resources – state agencies, forest-dependent people/resource users, farmers, rural communities, local communities, local forest industries, NGOs.
- Sustainable commercial and aesthetic utilization of wildlife resources to ensure maximum contribution to national income and wellbeing
- Promotion of environmentally sound socially acceptable and sustainable mining and exploration practices
- Establishment of integrated solid waste management systems for waste management task
- Proper law enforcement
Over exploitation of mineral resources and timber resources have been a threat to the sustainability of the environment. A proper law enforcement and management plan has therefore be formulated and implemented.
Table 6.1 Environment Projects
Investment Plan for Environment
Table 6.2.3 Investment Plan for Environment Sector, 2007 - 2010
6.2 Urban Development
Situation
The urban development policies and strategies will focus on a systematic urbanization process to ensure that the life of the citizens of urban areas will be more comfortable, decent and healthy. While improving the urban infrastructure in the area to cater to the growing needs of urban dwellers, measures will be taken to introduce new laws and regulations and enforce the existing laws and regulations effectively.
Objectives
- Promote city/town development as the engine of the regional development.
- Develop urban infrastructure and settlements in line with the Physical Structure Plan.
- Ensure systematic urban growth process through enforcement of the laws and regulations effectively.
- Develop and modernize provincial and district capital cities on particular themes.
- Develop small and medium townships in the region as regional growth centres.
- Upgrade urban environment as per the existing rules and regulations.
- Provide capacity development to urban Local Authorities to ensure better urban governance.
As per the Physical Structure Plan of the Eastern Province prepared by the National Physical Planning Department, five types of urban centres which act as regional and local level growth centres have been identified. These centres will be connected each other through main roads, link roads and by roads with a view to providing easy access to markets for the products produced in hinterland. The identified growth centres are as follows:
First Order Service Centre (Town) - Trincomalee
Second Order Service Centres (Towns) - Batticaloa, Ampara
Third Order Service Centres (Towns) - Tiriyai, Morawewa, Kantale, Muttur, Kinya, Valachchenai, Eravur, Kattankudi, Dehiattakandiya, Maha Oya, Samanthurai, Oluwil, Akkaraipattu, Thirukkowil, Pothuvil.
Fourth Order Service Centres (Towns) - Pulmodai, Kuchchaveli, Thampalagama (South), Sittandi, Rugam, Padiyatalawa, Panama, Echchalampattu
Fifth Order Service Centres (Towns) - Walauttu, Morawewa, Mollipotana, Palathoppur, Oddumadu, Padagoda, Thottama, Bakkiella
According to proposed hierarchies of service centers, 1st, 2nd and 3rd order service centres will be in the three development areas and Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara are to be developed as an industrial and port related city a fisheries and tourism related city, and an agriculture and tourism related city respectively. The 4th and 5th order service centres will continue to function as nodal points linking the main development areas through a radial road network. All service centres will provide the required economic, social, physical and recreational facilities to the residents in order to sustain the level of the service centres. Investments required for infrastructure development will be allocated for the relevant public agencies.
Investment Plan
Fund requirements for the proposed town centre developments are given in the Table 6.3.
Table 6.3 Investments in Urban Development
Map 6.1 Urban Centres of the Eastern Province
6.3 Provision of Housing Facilities
Situation
Due to non availability of data, the estimation of housing needs has been carried out using a general assumption of the size of a family. Housing needs do not correspond directly to the number of families because of the extended family system which is prevalent in the country. Therefore, the numbers of housing needed can be less than the number of families. Further, the actual housing demand can be different from the number of units needed due to reasons of un-affordability. In this situation, the major assumption with regard to estimation of housing needs is that every family would need and demand a house. Housing needs are given in Table 6.4
Table 6.4 Housing Need Estimates for Eastern Province by District
By 2010 the estimated number of required new housing units will be around 106,550. This will increase to 130,520 by 2020. As far as the first phase of the housing development programme is concerned, priority will be given to resettlement of all families displaced due to the conflict in their original places (This programme is dealt with in a separate section). In addition, nearly 106,550 new housing units of which 70% represents rural needs will have to be constructed within the province to fulfil the housing requirements by 2010. However, the existing institutional capacity is not adequate to meet the total demand.
Housing policies and strategies will be developed to cater to the needs of the different income groups considering their affordability. In addition, particular attention will be given to increase the housing stock in the region in an orderly manner with easy access to basic urban services. Within this overall context, the policies and strategies of housing development will be as follows.
Objectives
- Ensure planned human settlements in terms of the criteria such as population density, land suitability and environmental sustainability.
- Adopt a participatory approach with close involvement of house builders and the relevant agencies.
- Improve the housing finance market through introducing innovative measures.
- Provide concessionary financing for lower middle income group through home lending agencies.
- Provide public assistance for needy groups by way of concessionary financing and material grants.
- Promote private developers to cater to the affordable groups.
- Provide buildable lands to promote cluster type housing settlements, particularly for middle and lower-middle income groups.
- Develop rental housing and condominium apartments for public servants and private sector employees.
- Promote self-help approach for low income families and other vulnerable groups through loans, grants and technical assistance.
The overall housing needs of the Eastern Province are presented in Table 6.4: Respectively, 122,930 new houses are required and 90,000 houses need to be improved in the Province during the 4-years period from 2007 to 2010. The proposed programmes for meeting these needs are outlined below.
Table 6.5: Housing Needs in the Eastern Province, 2007-2010
- Jana Sevana / Gama Neguma
This programme is focused on providing low-income families with concessionary housing loans and technical assistance by the NHDA. The maximum amount of loan is Rs. 100,000.
- Jaya Lanka
This is a programmes for the reconstruction of houses damaged or destroyed through the conflict or the tsunami. It has an owner-driven component as well as a relocation component.
- Houses for Conflict Affected Families (Foreign-aided project)
This is a World bank funded project whereby each affected family is entitled to grant assistance of Rs. 250,000 for a fully damaged house and Rs. 150,000 for a partly damaged house.
- Individual House-Building Scheme / Bank Loan
This programme targets the lower middle income group. It promotes the construction of houses by individual home-builders. Housing loans are made available through banks.
- Private Developers
The aim of this programme is to increase the contribution of private developers to the housing stock. It is targeted at upper income groups who can afford to purchase completely built houses at market price.
Table 6.6: Investment Plan for Housing 2007-2010
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