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| Friday, 6 August 2004 |
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Editorial | |
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| Please forward your comments to the Editor, Daily News. Email : editor@dailynews.lk Snail mail : Daily News, 35, D.R. Wijewardene Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Telephone : 94 11 2429429 / 94 11 2421181 Fax : 94 11 2429210 The tank at the centre of development The rampant poverty and material deprivation in Lanka's dry zone tend to beg the question: how effective have been our development strategies? That economic growth is overwhelmingly registered in only the Western Province is sure proof that our growth models to date are fundamentally flawed and inappropriate. If growth with equity is our aim, we certainly are off target. This is the reason why some down - to - earth development thinking is called for. Essentially, what this country has been trying for a good part of the post independence era is to "get rich quick". Unfortunately, there are no quick-fixes for a complex problem such as poverty. Some have certainly struck it rich over the years but development in the truest sense of the word is growth with equity. If only some are getting rich while the majority of the people are wilting in poverty, our development strategy has failed. Considering all this, the Government's Sahasak Maha Wev project - which could well be translated into the clarion call: "May 20,000 tanks be restored" - could be considered a timely attempt to get back to the basics of development thinking, in a Lankan context. In a sense, it is a nostalgic throw back to the tank, temple and village concept, a development formula which may not have yielded princely comfort and wealth for everyone but at least ensured that no one went hungry to his or her mat at night. In the area of development, hard decisions need to be made and we congratulate the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation on rethinking the development strategy of Sri Lanka and on correctly analysing what has gone wrong in our efforts to find food self sufficiency and economic independence. It is true that the past cannot be exactly replicated but it should be clearly understood that growth without equity or equal distribution of the national income, is no development at all. As we see it, the fruits of development should be visible in the smallest of our villages and among the "smallest" of women and men. While our industrialization program needs to be sustained along with the diversification of our exports, the majority of our population, who are poor, need to be provided the basic resources to live above want. Hence, the need to usher in an agricultural resurgence through the revival of our ancient tank - fed irrigation system. The mere fact that poverty is widespread in the dry zone is proof that the majority of our farming population lacks resources such as substantial land plots and water to keep themselves going. To be sure, we have had glitzy prestige projects in this region but the presence of poverty explodes the myth that they have helped in easing the lot of the poor to a noteworthy degree. We, therefore, commend this back to the soil approach of the Government. Let there be an abundance of tanks, is our wish. |
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