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Let us rebuild, now or never

Sri Lanka needs to build 75,000 new houses and repair around 50,000 others. This has to be achieved in a country which builds less than 5,000 houses annually and sets up only around 200 business establishments during the same time span.

This point which was brought up by President Kumaratunga during her Independence Day address to the country, sums up one of the major challenges facing Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the tsunami tragedy.

We associate ourselves with the principal sentiment expressed by President Kumaratunga to the effect that we could meet the challenge of re-building the country, provided we are united on every front, but caution that such success needs to be predicated on continuous, dedicated labour on the part of all towards the common good in a spirit of absolute unity.

Besides, we need to reflect iron discipline, moral integrity and a keen dedication to honesty and the Rule of Law.

As we have time and again mentioned in this commentary, a spirit of self-sacrifice and total commitment to the common good needs to be reflected in all layers of society, beginning with the rulers of the land.

People tend to follow practical examples and this is more so why they need to have demonstrable proof of dedicated, selfless commitment to the well-being of the country, at the highest levels of society. We hope our politicians would take note.

At this critical juncture of rebuilding Sri Lanka, we tend to gravitate towards the widely-accepted principle that the Rule of Law should take precedence over men and their might. The need for this is particularly seen amid widespread reports of irregularities and corrupt practices in the present relief-distribution effort.

Despite the steady and abundant inflow of aid and assistance only 30 per cent of the tsunami-affected have received assistance so far, thereby substantiating the view that the aid distribution process is not free of corruption and malpractices.

We, laud President Kumaratunga's efforts to rectify these anomalies and her commitment to bring relief to the people equitably, but the present laws should be shown to be having teeth - and very sharp ones at that. In other words, wrong doers in the aid distributing process should be brought to justice speedily.

Besides, it needs to be demonstrated in full that aid is reaching the affected, regardless of region, language and ethnicity. In fact, a great opportunity awaits the State to prove that it could be of service to the people, disregarding, all these man-made barriers.

However, if the perception gains ground that these differences are being paid heed to, all that we would be having is stepped-up rumblings and disaffection among groups that see themselves as being discriminated against.

So, it is now or never. Sri Lanka can make use of this tragedy to overcome past ills or forego another chance at being united.

An alarming scenario

South Asia, battered late last year by tsunami waves, has more bad news coming its way. According to projections unveiled last week at an international conference on global change, Africa and South Asia are likely to be the regions worst-hit by climate change a few decades from now.

No part of the world will be spared from climate shift if fossil-fuel gases - carbon pollution which stores up heat from the Sun, causing Earth's surface to warm - continues to be emitted at the present rate.

Everyone will be affected - but not equally. This is why South Asia must be prepared to face another catastrophe - this time spurred by climate change.

The predictions are that higher global temperatures will change rainfall patterns in South Asia, including Sri Lanka, adding to already acute water stress or boosting the risk of flooding.

The consequences range from stress on food supplies in hot tropical countries to prolonged droughts and floods, violent storms, shrinkage of the polar ice caps and the meltdown of alpine glaciers.

Moreover, the projected water shortage in many countries will make it more difficult to grow crops, to have industries and provide basic human needs for water and sanitation.

Some of us will be able to experience such a nightmare scenario, around three to five decades from now. A rise in the global average temperature of two Celsius could be reached on current trends and policies. At present, temperatures have increased 0.7-0.8 C above pre-industrial levels.

According to a study quoted by Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the UN's top scientific authority on climate change, by 2050 as many as 150 million "environmental refugees" may have fled coastlines vulnerable to rising sea levels, storms or floods, or agricultural land that became too arid to cultivate.

Africa will be worst affected, but South Asia will be a close second. In India alone, there could be 30 million people displaced by persistent flooding, while a sixth of Bangladesh could be permanently lost to sea level rise and land subsidence. The Maldives is similarly vulnerable.

These are indeed alarming scenarios. We have already seen the havoc that nature can create, as three South Asian countries (India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives) were adversely affected by the December 26 tsunami.

The world must act now to save itself. Urgent work would be needed to keep the overall temperature increase to within 2.0 C.

There are already many technology options for slashing emissions and the costs are likely to be smaller than previously considered. That would be a small price to pay to avoid a global cataclysm.

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