Handing over a copy of the Master Plan to the Government Agent (GA) for Ampara District, Mr. Sunil Kannangara.

Handing over a copy of the Master Plan to the Government Agent (GA) for Ampara District, Mr. Sunil Kannangara.It has now been three years since the devastating effects of the Indian Ocean tsunami impacted many countries including Sri Lanka Master on December 26, 2004. The international mobilization was immense and the response unprecedented. In Ampara District the tsunami left over 10,000 dead and another 75,000 homeless. For the residents of Ampara District in eastern Sri Lanka, the tsunami was but another in a long line of incidents that has set back development.

For the past thirty years, the east and the north have been the subject of conflict between the government and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) who wish to secede from the rest of the country to create their own homeland. In 2002 the Norwegian government brokered a ceasefire and directly after the tsunami the hostilities subsided. In 2005 both sides engaged each other in sporadic conflict and in January 2008 the government unilaterally withdrew from the ceasefire agreement stating that the LTTE was using the ceasefire to rearm. The movement of people from areas of heavy fighting to relatively calm parts of the country has seen another 20,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) enter camps in Ampara District.

Municipality of Akkaraipattu, Sri Lanka
Photo credit M.A. Phakurdeen, Addalaichenai group correspondent.

Southern road to Pottuvil, Sri Lanka Photo credit M.A. Phakurdeen, Addalaichenai group correspondent.

Municipality of Akkaraipattu, Sri Lanka Photo credit M.A. Phakurdeen, Addalaichenai group correspondent.

January brought the onset of the northeast monsoonal season and with it too frequent and too heavy rains that caused flooding in many places affecting 66,000 families. The millions of dollars in aid and assistance over the past three years has made some difference but more to get citizens to where they were prior to the tsunami. There are still thousands impacted by thirty years of conflict. The government provides security but has little capacity to provide much more. Investment is virtually non-existent and planning is short term move from crisis to crisis.

David Boyce working with a Charlottetown company called the CASP Overseas Ltd. has been working over the last 18 months to prepare a Master Plan for the district that sets out a plan for the next 20-25 years. “Minister Ashraff was the driving force behind getting the plan completed,” says Mr. Boyce. “It was her vision that the people should move from short-term recovery to long-term relief.” In December Mr. Boyce presented the completed Master Plan to Minister Ashraff and her advisors. The plan is all encompassing to look at economic, social and environmental sectors. “”Since Ampara District is one of the largest agricultural regions in Sri Lanka, it is only fitting that CASP use its Canadian expertise to assist the people with long-term development,” says Mr. Boyce. “What is even more exciting is that the minister has asked CASP to be the body to coordinate and implement the plan.” Mr. Boyce has been working on site full time in Ampara since the beginning of December and will continue to lead efforts there for the next few months.

CASP is working with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to implement two of the three components of the China-Canada Agriculture Development Program, specifically, the Small Farmers Adapting to a Global Marketplace Project and the Sustainable Agriculture Development Program.

CASP will be working in the provinces of Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Gansu, Hubei, Hunan, and Xinjiang to conduct environmental impact assessments of the demonstration projects, introduce the concept of environmental farm plans, develop a local environmental network among the agriculture community, establish a monitoring and evaluation framework for the project, and mainstream environmental issues in the work plan for the projects.

In addition to its earlier work on the Hardy Biogas Project, CASP has completed a variety of demonstration projects in association with its work on the Ampara District Master Plan. These projects have received great media attention and CASP was privileged to have several of these visited by federal Sri Lankan Minister Ferial Ashraff.

CASP’s Gender Centre at South Eastern University has a mandate to assist with gender-based curriculum development at South Eastern University, to undertake gender-related research, and to play a leading role at the community level in promoting gender awareness and equity. Part of CASP’s funding support includes up to twenty small gender-based projects to be undertaken at the community level throughout Ampara District in areas such as increased employment opportunities for women, increasing knowledge of women’s rights, enabling women to play a greater role in the political process, and other important areas.

As part of its efforts to bring computer and technical facilities and training to the area, CASP has also opened the Akkaraipattu Computer and Training Centre. This facility contains twenty new computers and support equipment, plus high speed Internet access to instantly link computer users to the world. The Centre can be used by local residents wishing to access the Internet for their own personal reasons or as a training venue to upgrade computer skills for public and private sector workers and others in need of enhanced computer expertise. The facility also houses a separate large training room and other break-out rooms that used for English language training and for seminars/workshops in agriculture and other sectors.

In order to help diversify the agricultural production in Ampara District, which is dominated by decreasingly profitable rice paddy production, CASP has also undertaken a highly successful potato cultivation pilot project. Two varieties of potatoes, ‘Granola’, a white variety, and ‘Oseiree’, a red variety, were cultivated at the trial plots at Barakkathnagar in Irakkamam and gained great praise from locals and government officials alike.

Finally, a Handloom Demonstration Project has also commenced. This will include the creation of a Centre of Excellence, modernization of product dyeing facilities through equipment acquisition and appropriate environmental measures, and provision of management advisory services by CASP to assist business development of the handloom sector.

Details on these stories and more, including local media coverage, can be found at the Rebuild Ampara Project Blog.

(January 11, 2007 – Source: Daily News by M.A. Phakurdeen)

ADDALAICHENAI: In order to provide a comprehensive knowledge on seed paddy production to the farmers who produce seed paddy in the district, a workshop ‘Quality Seed Paddy Production’ was held at CASP’s Computer Training Centre in Akkaraipattu recently.

The Workshop sponsored by CASP Overseas Ltd. was organized by Akkaraipattu Seed Paddy Producers. CASP’s Project Co-Director Victor Petrescu, the chief guest at this programme, declared open the Workshop which was presided over by M.I.M. Nazeer, the officer in charge of the Malwatte Seed Certification Unit, Malwatte.

Asst. Director (Seed Paddy) H.M.J.K. Herath, Asst. Directors (Extensions) A.R.A. Latheef and M.S.A.Kalees were present here as resource personnel and delivered lectures on Producing Quality Seed Paddy, Usages of Straw as fertilizer in paddy fields, seed certification process, and paddy field inspection.

Problems confronted by the Seed Paddy Producers and the solutions were also discussed at the conclusion of the Workshop.

QUALITY SEED PADDY PRODUCTION: A one-day training programme for selected farmers on “Training for Quality Seed Paddy Production” sponsored by CASP Overseas Ltd. was organized by Akkaraipattu Seed Paddy Producers Society members at CASP’s Computer Training Centre recently. Here, CASP’s Project Co-Director Victor Petrescu is lighting the traditional oil lamp to inaugurate the workshop. OIC Malwatte Seed Certification Service M.I.M. Nazeer and President of the Society N. Nadarajah were also present.

(September 16, 2006 – Source: The Guardian by Jim Day)

The PEI agriculture sector is ready and able to tackle lucrative development projects in Sri Lanka, said an official from that tsunami-ravaged country. Dr. Gerry Jayawardena, a consultant to the Sri Lnakan minister of agriculture, told The Guardian that Prince Edward Island has plenty to offer his country in agriculture expertise.

Earlier this week, Jayawardena and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Agricultural Development Chamal Rajapaske were viewing the Island’s agricultural facilities, technologies and other aspects of PEI agriculture which can be relevant to Sri Lankan agriculture development. The visit was on the heels of Island-based CASP Overseas Ltd. reaching an agreement to provide Sri Lanka a comprehensive “one-stop shop” of agricultural services, including farm production, food processing, farm equipment and facilities.

The Sri Lankan delegation is impressed with what PEI has to offer. “We are fully convinced that you have the capacity and the necessary institutional arrangement to handle a huge project in Sri Lanka,” he said. Jayawardena said an initial project could be worth about $6million with the potential to expand to between $10 million and $15 million. He said Sri Lanka’s agricultural and fishery sectors were both seriously affected by the devastating Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami.

Jayawardena said his country could benefit by tapping into PEI’s more advanced research, food safety practices and agricultural technology. “What we have seen here after visiting PEI is that there are many institutional arrangements here to help the agricultural production and marketing in PEI,” he said.

CASP president Doug MacArthur said prospective development work was getting “firmed up” during the Sri Lankan delegation that was here for three days. “We’re talking things like Island producers going over to Sri Lanka and working with the Sri Lankan dairy industry to show farmers there how to improve there dairy practices,” said MacArthur. “We’re talking about a demonstration project for potatoes in an area that has never grown potatoes before. We’re talking things like food safety in a big way.”

MacArthur said the tsunami, while a major disaster, resulted in unprecedented global donations that leaves Sri Lanka able to afford to buy goods and services the country never could have even considered before the tsunami hit. “There’s as many projects over there as you can imagine,” he said. “The big thing they are looking for is good project management and good projects.”

MacArthur said he would be amazed if PEI did not enjoy at least $5 million to $10 million in direct economic benefits from agricultural development work in Sri Lanka in 2007. “And the potential for it to grow after that, I don’t think there is much of a limit.”

PHOTO (above left): Sri Lanka’s minister of agricultural development, Chamal Rajapaksa (far right) was given a tour of the PEI Vegetable Growers Co-op in Charlottetown Tuesday by plant general manager Don Read (middle right). The minister spent a few days earlier this week visiting agricultural facilities across the Island with Dr. Gerry Jayawardena (middle left) and Doug MacArthur (far left).