Page 1
المي
FONOMIG
W
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A People's Bank Publication
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Page 2
OVERVIEW
Are the centralized state and existing provincial boundaries sacroscant? This question assumes added importance in the Current Context of the APC sessions on devolution and the effort to find an acceptable political solution to the ethnic problem.
Decentralization and Devolution are important aspects not only in our development effort but also in the struggle to democratize the state. Without decentralization and devolution, democratization will be incomplete. Decentralization and devolution are necessary prerequisites if we are to ensure peoples participation in the process of decision making in the development effort. Devolution and decentralization, like authentic peopleisation, will help to ensure the maximum participation of the people in the managing of the economic and political system. Today there is a general consensus about the need for devolution and decentralization and the ongoing APC Session on devolution is the latest in a Series of efforts to decide on the nature and the degree of the devolution and decentralization We need.
Devolution is important not only as the basis for a political solution to the ethnic problem. It is also necessary for our development efforts and it's this area that we have highlighted in some of our articles. The examples of the USSR and some of the Eastern European Countries have shown that economic centralization and the lack of political devolution can be inimical to economicdevelopment progress. If we are to Overcome our economic crisis it's very important that we find ways to give full play to local interests and the creative ability of our people. Deepening and broadening devolution and decentralization is an integral part of this effort.
The EC publicatio many of
ControVer particular leading : distinctiv: you have
 
 
 

This month's issue also deals with the issue of provincial boundaries and the need for a change in these. It's strange that in a country where anti-imperialism has an important place in political discourse, that Colonially imposed boundaries are regarded as sacred. If the existing boundaries are unsuitable for our development need and if they stand in the way of achieving ethnic peace then may be the time has come to think of changing them.
But it should be said that the answer Would not be on any attempt to re-impose what are regarded as historical boundaries. Any effort to do so will only compound our problems. If any attempt at changing the existing provincial boundaries is to be a Success, two factors will have to be taken into account - the ethnic factor - (Prof. C. Suriyakumaran) and the water ways (Mr. H. M. Wikremasinghe among others). We should also mention here certain propOSals On the re-demarcation of the North-Eastern Province which have gained some acceptance across the political spectrum - the December 19th (1986) proposals and the proposals in the DPA Manifesto.
it's true that both devolution and redemarcation are very sensitive issues which have to be handled with care. But this doesn't mean that we can keep on postponing the task indefinitely - if we are to achieve political stability, economic development and ethnic peace. Already time is running out.
T. G.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
:onomic Review is a very lively and readable }n. The magazine covers topical questions, which have been the subject of debate and 'Sy. have enjoyed reading the views expressed ly since you have succeeded in engaging the proportents. The "Review' is stimulating and 2 - certainly for publication of a bank - and my best wishes for its continued improvement.
Gamani Corea

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:ONOMIC) REVIEW Volume ܥ ܠ
Published by the People's Bank, Research Department,
Head Office, Sir Chittampalam A. Gardinar Mawatha, Colombo 2.
Sri Lanka.
S. W. R. D
V. K. Nan
Nath Ama
THE ECONOMIC REVIEW is intended to Jan. A. Su promote knowledge of and interest in the eCOnomy and economic development process by a many sided presentation of Views & reportage, facts and debate. A. N. Ahau THE ECONOMIC REVIEW is a community Service project of the People's Bank. its contents however are the result of editorial considerations only and do not necessarily reflect Bank policies or the Official viewpoint. Signed feature Next issu articles also are the personal views of the authors and do not represent the 1 The Th institutions to which they are attached Similar ContributionS aS | We aS e Comments and viewpoints are Welcome. Productio THE ECONOMIC REVIEW is published W. G. S monthly and is available both on s \se Vse Subscription and on direct sale. Typeset
Sumathi
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

16 Numbers 4
CONTENTS
2 Introduction
). Bandaranaike 2 Federation. As the only Solution
| DEVOLUTION / REDEMARCATION
ramanayake i 3 Devolution of Powers -Provincial
Councils
Utara 7 Devolution and Development
N. Fernando 10 Proposed Management
Development oriented Land Boundaries for Sri Lanka
ayakkara - 13 Why Retain irrational Provincial
boundaries
rakOne 16 The need for devolution of
authority and regional participation
---- ہ:تجني
18 Some of the suggestions of
All Party Conference Innambalam 19, Comments on Devolution
量를
FEATURES
urland 20 A Framework for Environmental
Policy-Final Part
ned 26 Mechanized Paddy Cultivation
and it's Problems in the Ampara District.
e
ird World
In Co-ordinator
Walidyanatha
ypes

Page 4
| - DEVOLUTION /
INTRODUCTION
The present Provincial and District boundaries in the country are a historical accident and were drawn by the British. The objectives behind these demarCations were Confined to law and Order maintenance and Collection of revenue. Since, the controversy on uneven development became more important in the second half of the 20th century, the existing demarcations were focused upon the discussions of development planners and policy makers. These discussions emphasised centre-periphery interactiOnS.
Regional development is a process, which discusSeS within the parameters of national goals, policies and strategies, the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes, projects and activities which take place at the decentralized "local' level and are managed at the regional level, by and on behalf of the beneficiaries wherein the investment decisions are made locally, local resources are mobilised for development programmes and local self-reliance is focussed. The development literature abounds in studies in and arguments for decentralized development.
SS
"FEDERATION AS THE | OUR PRC
A Centralised f assumed a homoge no part of the world Was Carried On und CUmStanCeS aS WOt
Ceylon, ван вно
to by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
28 ܫܪܪ
Mr. Bandaranaike said that it was necessary in the first place to realise the importance of the present time. A revision of the constitution was due in 1928. A satis
factory measure of self-government was
expected. It was therefore necessary to
think very clearly and realise in its entirety the whole political question. A false step taken, a false proposal made now would be very difficult to retrieve in the future. They all wanted Self-government. The ques
tion remained what was the measure of self-government they were aiming at.
The moment they began to Speak to |{aဂြိုဌ the Govermnet in their hands, then
the differences that were laying dormant smouldered forth. If they considered past history they would see that the three communities, the Tamils, the Low Country Sinhalese and the Kandyan Sinhalese had lived for over a thousand years in Ceylon and had not shown any tendency to merge. They preserved their language, their customs, their religion. He would be a very rash man who would pin his faith on the gradual disappearance of those differences.
2.
Those would be tralised form of Gove into Countries with enCeS.
In a Federal Gov unit had completep Yet the united ar assemblies to disc the whole country. Government inth America. All the self Australia, South Afi same system. Switze example for Ceylon. but three races lived and italians. Yet SWi Where the federal foi Very Successful. Eac own affairs. But ques commerce, defence Which differences ar.
be at a T W
 
 
 
 

REDEMARCATION
In the developing world. "human-focussed development' Could be easier achieved and the basic needs of the people for food, nutrition, health, shelter and clothing, education and skill development for meaningful Work and for participation would be better satisfied, if the process of development were decentralized.
While decentralization involves delegating authority to lower levels of the Central Government apparatus, devolution involves creating or legally and financially strengthening local political bodies where activities are largely outside the direct control of the Central Government.
For meaningful planning, monitoring, implementation and evaluation in a region, it is imperative that the Region must have development oriented boundaries, which should be based on the resources both human and natural.
This month's issue of the Economic Review presents different views and opinions relating to the redemarcation of Administrative boundaries in the context of regional development and devolution of power.
S. L. Tilakasiri & Lal de Alwis
ONLY SOLUTION TO
JBLEMS
orm of Government nous Whole. He knew Where a Government
er such conflicting ciruld be experienced in
the troubles if a cenrnment was introduced arge communal differ
ernment, each federal OWer. Over themselves. ld had one or two Jss matters affecting That was the form of e United States of Governing dominions. ica, Canada had the rland afforded a better It was a small Country, there. French, German zerland was a country m of Government was h canton managed its tions of foreign affairs,
etc., matters about d controversies would ere dealt with bv the
శిక్స్ 1 వ్లో
Federal Assembly. In Ceylon each Province should have complete autonomy. There should be one or two assemblies to deal with the special revenue of the island. A thousand and one objections could be raised against the system but when the objections were dissipated, he was convinced that some form of Federal Government would be the only solution. He had not dealt with the Smaller Communities. For such communities temporary arrangements could be made for special representation. Those temporary arrangements would exist till the fear existed about one community trying to overlord the other. He would suggest the same for the Colombo Tamil seat. The three main divisions in the island were the Kandyan Sinhalese, the Low Country Sinhalese and the Tamils. It was difficult to find a system that would completely satisfy everyone. That was in brief the Federal system. He would be amply satisfied if it was recognised that the problem did exist. If there were a better form of plan he hoped someone would think about it and place it before the people.
Ceylon Morning Leader - Saturday July 17th 1926
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990

Page 5
HDEVOLUTION /R
. DEvOLUTION PROVINCIA
H. M. Wikramanayake
For Provincial Councils to function effectively, certain essential pre-requisites are necessary. They include:
(a) Development Oriented bound
aries and viable units-of-deI volution.
te autonomy including several ingredients of the right of self-determination.
(c) Restatement of Science and Technology Policy in consonance with the departures from
centralised government.
(d) Personnel, in entists and
entists and Soft-Scientists whose Primary Loyalty is to
the Unit-of-Devolution.
! Finance including On for Research and velopment. Ni S soft s
ട്ട്
(f) Answerabi
* Accessabi :سے منہ Annual Budgets, A
(g) Politik Of
or successful devolution of
powers, meaningful development oriented boundaries are essential. A Development Oriented Boundary is a boundary that does not cut across a river and does not frag
a Catchment Area/R
鑫
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
including Hard-S }i-
.ment ܚ.
Basin. The prese Vince and the lan SabaragamuWa no means mea units from the
Economic Develo Country must eve ganised into v
Units. The emph
Integrated Rural efficient watersh including equita Water as betwee mers and dowr The re-demarca volution must be ning and of ACC
Page 6 of the of January 1990 following were a mendations of th Sion appointed
二。王
“The best stra develop and Co
related natural re
ning their use wi management frar
As the daries are a reli past established
o the natural res Commissions re redefinition of bo tion to natural re
3.--~~~~--> }}
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

EDEMARCATIONm
OF POWERS L COUNCILS
The Accord of July 1987 prejudiced the power of the Sri Lanka
nt Southern Prod-locked Uva and Provinces are by ningful territorial
point Or view of
pment.
entire
Bntually be re-or
riable Economic
asis must be on
Development and
led management ble i sharing of
stream farmers.
the units of Plan
ountability.
, آق النبیصلى الله عليه وسلم یخ == Economic Review
indicates that the
mong the recomle Land COmmis
thin a watershed mework."
undaries in rela
*Source manage
艮
opt for the former, the
GOvernment tO alter all the Provin
cial boundaries. Re-demarcation of ; the Northern Province and the
astern Province boundaries Canot be accomplished until after he de-merger poll in the Eastern
Province.
So, at the present moment, only a two-stage Operation can be attempted. Only the boundaries of the Sinhala majority Provinces can be altered at the present moment.
New Provinces can be carved
Out of
Catchment Areas 4 to 12 Catchment Area 3 Catchment Areas 1 and 2 Catchment Areas 99 to 103.
These areas do not touch the Northern & Eastern Province boundaries. They are not i land-locked. See National Atlas at page 39.
-colsՆՅ։ Շirror harsists of or Mahaveli Catchment Area No. 60 less those parts thereof that belong to the Eastern Province, could be a new Province as an interim measure. (Eventually, no
Province should be land-locked).
As a matter of expediency, the southern parts of the Catchment
52 and 54 and the we
ern parts of Catchment Areas 44, 56 and 59 and also the north-western part of Catchment Area-54 would have to be tagged on to
this new Province as an interim
measure. The Muslims of Kinniya and of Mutur should be free to
decide whether they prefer to be
ty within a majority or a
within a minority. If they,
n, Catchment,
s
3

Page 6
saDEVOLUTION / Rf
area No. 60 could be a Province
by itself and it will not be a
land-locked Province.
The Eastern Province boundary cannot be altered without the consent of the people of the Eastern Province.
Catchment Areas 13 to 31 could be a new Province but, as a matter of expediency, the western parts of Catchment Areas 35, 36 and 37 would have to be tagged on to it for the same reason, namely that the Eastern Province boundary Cannot be altered Without the COnsent of the people of the Eastern Province. Catchment Areas 32 to 59 cannot be made a new Eastern
the people in the present Eastern Province.
The remainder of the Sinhala majority Provinces could be a new Province as an interim measure. The Northern province boundary Cannot be altered WithOut the COnsent of the people of the Northern Province.
Devolution of powers to mean
ingful territorial units (not exceeding 9) is conducive to stability and to accelerated Economic Development and sharing of prosperity by
all. It will help to reduce the Concurrent List to a bare minimum. As a necessary consequence, integrated Rural Development will
become an Unit-of-Devolution subject. Important functions such as provision of employment opportunities, increasing production
levels, making the best use of local raw materials, ensuring equitable distribution of food, alleviation
of poverty, ensuring at least prim
ary education for all, etc. will then be Unit-of-Devolution Subjects.
RIGHT OF SELF-DETERMINA
ToN ー
in the Lanka Guardian of 1st May 1985, Mr. Nihal Jayewickrema said:
"The principle of self-determination is contained in Article 1 of
s
4
the U.N. Charter
of each of the . Covenants, to a
Government of Sri
scribes. It mean:
ethnic groups ha choose for thems political organisat such organisation their economic, S( development....' Later, he proceec “However, if til concerned alreac Within the territori a sovereign state has a governmer resentative of all pective of race a ment respects thi of non-discrimina termination, then
the ethnic group to the creation of a State.'
On this basis, th North ought to b mine for themselv want Pradesh Gramodaya Man Committees, etc. number and what
At the Political ence of August 19 that all local bo brought directl units-of-devolutio
ment Minister. Thi be implemented.
--- The U.N.P. man
1988 said:
"it is a new
Local Governmen organisation and needy groups or hamlet basis so access to resour which have been able.'
 

EDEMARCATION
and in Article 1
Human Rights Of Which the Lanka now SubSi that Cohesive ave the right to selves a form of ion, and through to freely pursue DCial and Cultural
led to Say: he ethnic group dy has a home ial bOundarieS Of and if that state ht which is repthe people irresnd if the governe twin principles tion and Self-de, the choice of
does not extend an independence
e Tamils Of the e able to deterres whether they niya Sabhas, dalayas, Village and if so, what
boundaries.
Parties Confer86, it was agreed dies Should be y under the n instead of
central governS decision should
ifesto of October
responsibility of t to facilitate the empowerment of a Gamgoda Or
that they have Ces and Support hitherto unavail
Accordingly, Central government need not directly attend to matters such as Social welfare, VOCational training, domestic agriculture, agro-based industries, etc. at hamlet level. There is no Case for a mobile Presidential Secretariat. There is no case for a parallel administration for Janasaviya.
Report No. 7-of the Administrative Reforms Committee on Rationalisation of Functions in Government, Sessional Paper II - 1988 contains the following obserVatiOnS ViZ: -
“35. A final important principle is the need to ensure that the two key points which monitoring and evaluation of the functions of the system as a whole to be carried
out should not be cluttered with operational responsibilities of a Sectoral and programmatic nature. The Committees Considers the two such key points where systemic Supervision is carried out to be the Office of the President and the Office of the Prime Minister. These SeCtOral and programmatic responsibilities should, instead, be entrusted to appropriate Sectoral and functional ministries.'
'46.... a central ministry is not an operational Organizational unit. Operational activities belong to a level or levels removed from a central ministry, namely, in departmentS, Corporations and authorities and in sub-national operational units. Therefore, unless the organization which one normally refers to as "a ministry' at the Centre stands apart from the Operational Organizations Such as departments, etc., it cannot adequately discharge its responsibility of monitoring and evaluating departmental and parallel operational organizations."
“47. i hie Committee, therefore, regrets the increasing tendency on the part of ministries to become
ECONOMIC REVIEW JLY 1990

Page 7
I DEVOLUTION / R
directly involved in operational activities. It also Considers the organic integration, which has occurred in several instances, of operational departments with the respective ministry structures as being a Counter-productive development. This also runs counter to the need for flexibility in the periodic allocation of subjects and their linked departments to Ministries at times of formation of Cabinets. The Committee recommends that the process be reversed wherever this has OCCurred.'
It cannot be denied that Articles 44 and 45 of the Constitution have conferred on the President the power to allocate Subjects among ministries. But this power is circumscribed. In the first place, there is the entrenched requirement that the President must act in a reasonable and sane manner. Next, there are provisions in Article 27 (4) and in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution by Which the President has to Concede a genuine scheme of devolution. Finally, there is the ground situation. At least one party in the North will not be laying down its arms unless and until a genuine scheme of devolution is Conceded.
The Indian Constitution provided for Executive Governors. This provision was exploited by the central government to Substantially Curtail the autonomy of the constituent States. The result was frustration, and demands for Secession in Some states. In Canada hOWever, after Quebec was given more autonomy, the demand for secession ceased. Our Constitution proVides fOr an EXecutive President and for Executive Governors. The Executive Presidency is unsuitable for Sri Lanka. It should be done away with. And there should be ceremonial governors instead of executive governors.
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
SCIENCE 8 TI POL
In 1984/85, 9 Sc ogy Policy docul pared. All were b tralist Model of SC ogy Policy. Thi devolution of po tional units Was that time.
A Science & T. DOCument must ples and method visions at nationa tional level, pe organizational an
tors and financia
at national and at for the purpose stimulating, mobi Organizing S. technological pot ing the standa ity-of-life of the avoiding regio therein.
It must be a keeps abreast reforms designe administration pe
It must anticip tion of the bounc
tional units for rationalising the and Other natura
Where Central subscribed to Covenant pertain SOCial and Cultu has subsequentl tions and po thereto, the Scier Policy Documen the formats of needed by the Ce from the unitscontrol purposes, tial because it is ernment that is
 
 

EDEMARCATION
ECHNOLOGY ΙΟΥ
LienCe & TechnO|- ments were preaSed On the Cen>ienCe & TechnOlS Was because WerS to Sub-nanot envisaged at
echnology Policy deal with princis, legislative proal and at Sub-narSonnel factors, d managerial facfactors needed Sub-national level e of identifying, lising, using and CientifiC and ential for improvard-of-living/dualpeople, whilst na disparities
document that bf administrative d to make the !ople-oriented.
)ate re-demarCadaries Of Sub-na
use of land, water
resources.
Government has
an international
ing to economic, ral matters and y devolved funcWers pertaining nce & Technology t must prescribe periodical reports }ntral GOVernment of-devolution for . Control is essenthe Central GOV
a Party to the
.
the purpose of
Covenant and not the units-of-devolution. It is the Central Government that is answerable to the International Community for breaches and not the units-of-deVolution.
Where peoples' participation in the decision-making process has been encouraged, the Document must not detract therefrom.
The Document must seek to increase the volume of work necessitating the application of science and technology within each sub-national unit. It must Seek to Contain the brain-drain primarily by providing opportunities for job-satisfaction through service to the people within such units. It must avoid unit-wise disparities and promote national harmony.
Under the Pluralist model of Science & Technology Policy, resources are made available directly to various research objectives in various Sectors. Sectoral policies are determined indepenidently. The overall national science policy is the constellation of the sectoral policies. Under this approach, research and development objectives are more easily linked with the real problems of different sectors and with individual national goals. But there is a tendency to ignore long-term problems which may not be sectorally relevant.
Under the Co-ordination Model of Science & Technology Policy, various departments, Ministries and Research Agencies independently take initiatives. They have common policy objectives. Various Advisory bodies link the activities of the different departments, Ministries and Research Agencies.
In the case of devolved subjects such as domestic agriculture and small-scale agro-based industries in particular, the Science & Technology Policy Document must leave no room for ambiguity regarding the Model to be adopted.

Page 8
In DEvoLUTION /
The Centralist Model of Science & Technology Policy must be
adopted only in the case of sub
jects on the Central Government List in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
STAFF
There are over 3,000 trained scientists in the country. The work that these scientists do is very much connected with the subjects on List I. Not many scientists are needed for work pertaining to the Reserved List ill. Each unit-of-deVolution should have not less than 300 hard-Scientists and Soft-scientists. Centralised government was
Conducive to brain drain.
Neither in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution nor in the Provincial-Councils Act was it provided that persons in the public service who were performing functions pertaining to List on the date of Commencement of a Provincial Council should be automatically absorbed into the Provincial COuncil service on terms not less favourable than what they enjoyed in the public service. This omission must be rectified.
FINANCE
Not less than 1% of estimated Gross National Product should be Voted as a first charge on the Consolidated Fund each year for Research & Development, Science & Technology. Of this, each unit-of-devolution Should be alloCated not less than one-tenth of 1% of estimated Gross National Product.
Not less than 70% of current
revenue needs of each unit-of-de- .
volution should come from within the unit. The unit should be permitted to collect all business turnover tax. Consignment tax should also be permitted.
Any unit wishing to promote ayurveda should be permitted to have its own customs barriers against
MNC pharmaceuticals. ,
Dumping agains Voters in the ur |OWed.
LAW 8
The D.P.A. November 198: Armed Forces C be enlisted Stri
of ethnic propor
to the Armed place immediat them to reflect the ethniC COI Country.'
Once Conditic mal, there shou demobilisation i financial resour ment purposes. after normalcyre tion should be
The role of developing cour sideration. Whe Waters Authority in view of the ge in the Indian O needs examinati
Over 95% Of Lanka comprises ritorial Waters CC sq. miles. In thi of activities take riage of goods, ( ing, transport ( Other items ha effect on those land area), marip tal fisheries, poa Cises, etc. Theri activities in cont Coast protection harbours includi bours, boat builc tion. For more r it is desirable activities should administration of ernment authOri Waters Authority this purpose shc Whether Municip Ports, big and sm unorthodox, mų should be consic

REDEMARCATIONH
t the wishes of the it should be disal
ORDER
manifesto of 3 Said that 'The f the country shall ctly on the basis tions. Recruitment Forces shall take 2ly So as to bring the percentage of mposition of the
)ns return to norld be large scale n Order to divert ces for developIn the initial years turns, demobilisa100% sinhalese.
the Army in a try needs reconther a Territorial is not imperative o-political realities cean Region also ՕՈ
the territory of Sri S Waters. The terjver over 500,000 is area, a variety *S place. eg. Carincluding Smugglof narcotics and ving an adverse who live on the e research, Coasching, naval exere are also allied iguous areas eg. , maintenance Of ng fisheries harling and registraeasons than one, that all these COme Within the One central govty, a Territorial . Legislation for )uld be enacted. a Jurisdiction in all, Orthodox and Ist be ousted fered. A chain is
not stronger than its weakest link. The chain of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka needs examination in all its aspects.
Recruitment to the Armed Forces should be considered Within the Overal Context of manpower planning for the purpose of accelerated economic development in Consultation With the units-of-devolution. The more the amount of Funds voted for the Armed Forces, the less will be the amount of Funds available for development purposes.
COLONISATION
The D.P.A. manifesto of November 1988 Said "There shall be no state-aided Colonisation in such a way as to change the demographic composition of any area.
Where demographic imbalances have been created through Schemes of land settlement since 1971, priority in future land allocation in those areas will be given to correcting such imbalances and
Proposed Adli
flJ & E Provi
Contd on page 25
ECONOMICREVIEW JULY 1990

Page 9
| - DEVOLUTION / Ri 'DEVOLUTION AN
; Suriyakumaran ha
By Professor C. Suriyakumaran (Based on the lecture series by Prof. Suriyakumaran at the BCIS, May 1987 and an SLBC Interview)
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SS
I would have liked to define straight away what devolution means, but in the present state of a lack of understanding of what devolution is really, I think I must preface this by saying two or three things about the question of underStanding. I used the phrase 'crisis of understanding' and I used it advisedly on One Occasion, because what we are having precisely, now, is an inability to understand what devolution is. And SO long as we don't understand what devolution is, any solution which is based on devolutionary concepts will be unacceptable to one side or to the other. For instance, we have concepts of devolution which are varying and varied as between peoples, within our country and also as a matter of fact, outside. Whereas the practices are different, we want the practices to be different; certain parties have expectations of a type but the realities are different. When it comes to implementing, we have very difficult situations. But right through I think, in order to answer the question of what is devolution, We have to understand that there are imperatives, fundamental imperatives and it is very important to distinguish clearly between the concept of central government and the concept of shared government. In other words, it is imperative to understand that there is a thing
Called Shared responsibilities, tl not Concentratec and that this is r the unitary conce either in governn stitutional terms, All over the world have this type oft they are called
mentS, SOmetime Union States, sc State with plenty tion; and so, I ha the politics of dev in fact, — let us fá been and can be principles of devc grative. I think this that I must emp principles of devic integrative. having in a position to Satisfactorily, you what is meant by
Now we can dis devolution, dece deconcentration. sharing of governi agreed terms, wh Varied according t fancies of the par ment tO Share power obviously rogatives of natio national functio respects. We do into those details. is aware of this. these overall poli prerogative that th ment has, it has il obligations, to sha
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
 
 

DEMARCATION –
D DEVELOPMI
governmental hat everything is in the Centre lot an erosion of pt of a Country, nent, Or in COnor as a Society. d, of Course, we hing. Sometimes Federal GovernS they are called )metimes just a of decentralisawe felt that While olution has been, ace the fact, has 2 - divisive, the Dlution are interS is the first thing hasise, that the blution are highly g said this I am answer, I hope r question as to f devolution.
tinguish between ntralisation and Devolution is the mental power on ich are not then O the whims and ties to an agreepower. Central has certain prenal policies, and nS in Certain n't have to go think everyone
But subject to cies, that is the e Central governhournbrancies or are power at the
NT
periphery. In a sense, this has nothing to do with the multi-ethnic society, or a pluralistic society. It is a valid se principle in fact, even in a unitary Society in the sense of being unitary in terms of language, religion, Culture and so on.
Now, decentralisation is quite different from devolution. I am emphasising this because very often people, when they think of Solutions, talk of devolutions but really are thinking of decentralisation.
Decentralisation is simply the allocation of Certain functions to the periphery, whatever that periphery is, whether it is a region or province or district or whatever, at the discretion of the Centre; and these functions are simply law and Order and administrative functions, in experience at least. They need not be, but in actual experience they are, and that is all that we have as far as decentralisation is concerned. So obviously, in a political situation, and a social situation, a cultural situation, where there is a felt need by the periphery and an agreement in the country as a whole, from top down, that something has to be done to meet Satisfactions of a multi-ethnic, a plurulistic society, then decentralisation is inadequate. What we need is devolution. That is What is meant by devolution.
And when we talk of deConcentration, this word is not very often used here, but it is very important

Page 10
an DEvOLUTION /
to remember, because We are really peddling this in practice. Deconcentration is really the effectuation of administration in the periphery, very effective administration sometimes, but by the use of officials; in other words, the outposting of officials through bureaucracies. It is the decentralisation of bureaucracy, and this is the typical Colonial system, or as we know it here, the kachcheri system. And this of course has nothing to do and is not an adequate substitute for what is called devolution.
So that, essentially, is what is devolution and why there has been so much emphasis on this idea Of devolution.
Extremes
lf. We think in terms of extremes then we run into problems. At the one extreme, is the unitary state and at the other extreme, is the threat of a periphery which is on the point always of alienating itself from the Centre; and alienation is a polite euphemism for anything that could happen in terms of declaration of itself as a separate entity, or in this country as we have it an Eelaam, and SO On.
The phase which we had in this Country, just before the Eelaam request came up, was a request for a federal structure. Now if you will recall, I think, right through the years, in fact some people may not remember, they can only remember the days of the Federal Party which is just about ten years ago, but really from 1926 when S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike addresSed think a Law Student's Union and advocated the establishment of a federal structure, there has been a lot of misunderstanding and this is what I mean by polarisation. And misunderstanding has been influenced by the sense of polarisation in our minds that we have had, that anything other than a unitary state is a separate entity. NOW this is the furthest from the truth.
SO, when we the unitary state ourselves, . Whet of a leviathan, itSelf On the er the top right dow Or whether We state System maximum initia
people. And tha go back again tC
 

REDEMARCATION
are talking about We have to ask er we are talking /hich is imposing ire system, from n to the periphery, are talking of a which is gives ives to its Own 's why I want to the example, not
of a multi-ethnic Society, not a pluralistic Society in that sense, or multi-linguistic society, but just to a single state society where there is one religion, and one language and One Culture. Now I think it is absolutely essential that there must be the maximum scope for self-expression at the periphery. And if you view it that way, then you come back to the concept of
ECONOMICREVIEW JULY 1990

Page 11
| - DEVOLUTION / RI
devolution of functions. So if you view it that way, and if you do not allow yourself to run into extremes of formulation, or fears, then your question can be answered in the positive. That is, a unitary state, the concept of a unitary state is slightly outmoded. But I WOuld not rest at that. WOuld not answer it still in that way because I think I could run
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
into the danger derstood. What \ We need the umbrella, unitary
state, CO-terminOu ously With the Cou OuS devOlutionar down to the perip this System is of c. duestion. It cant provincial counci Councils as Mr suggested in the
or it can take the structure. Again, f
as you know are are federal Structu States, and Austra which are quite d federal structure
Sense, the Indian "federal' governm a union governme
think this is the now being talked ị this country. So ti is the position at i the unitary state.
Type of Devoluti There is always
fact there is the fection even in a i elementS Of SOCie
When we provi ally, for a slightly of government, th used as a leveral where the role Comes in. Let me {
first of all it depe
depends, when W. tion and disaffectic of devolution has Suppose we ha lip-service to de We are sowing d than COntentment. dissatisfaction rath tiOn. And the mOr then it is most not have devoluti devolutionary sys false system. So,
have a devolutiona provides, as saic it provides for t really identified o One, a SenS because this is at
 
 

EDEMARCATION
of being misunwould say is that Oncept of an concept, for the S and simultaneole Of a multifariy system right hery. Now what DurSe a different ake the fOrm Of ls, or regional Bandaranalike nineteen forties, form of a federal ederal Structures different. There res in the United alia and - Canada, ifferent from the in India. In One system is not a ent system but int system and
pattern that is about more in hat, l Would Say DOut the rOle Of
On
the danger, in danger of disafunitary state, by ty. de, Constitutiondifferent pattern len that can be ge. Now this is of development 2xplain. Because nds, everything e talk of devoluDn, on what type been effected. Ve given only folution. I think iscontent rather We are sowing |er than satisfachent We do this, mportant rather Dn, than have a em which is a the moment We ry system which in my lectures, hree things — | nly three things 2 of 'identity, the root of the
demand in the peripheries, or multi-ethnic societies, a sense of identity for the groups concerned.
This is no great sin, because even in the family, one brother wants to have a different identity from the other brother, a sense of identity. Two, it provides for a Sense of 'security', internal security. i am not talking of national security, which is a state function. And there, it provides for a sense of "opportunity', that is, for cultural, social and economic opportunities. This is where development comes in of Course. And these are What call the 'equalisers'. If a devolutionary system is able to provide for this, then the pull 'away from the Centre, becomes far less; in fact, it becomes minimal Or even Zero. I think I would say, in order that it may be zero, and I am convinced about what I am saying, there is one more factor. Don't forget that when we are talking about devolution, in the way that we have been talking about, we are also talking about unitary government in the Centre. Now, an important component of honest devolution has to be an honest provision for "participation in the Centre by the various components of society'. In other words, if there is a System of government, where there is a President or Prime Minister, or Cabinet of Ministers or Whatever, there must be 'Sufficient and Satisfactory' participation by the minorities in that system of government. Given this, think all the chances are that there Would be much more interest in preserving that system rather than breaking it down. -
Now as I said, this bears on development. That's why, I have the thesis - and I don't know how many will share this fully with me, everybody will agree with me in terms of playing lip-service, but, how inherently and in fullness of understanding, they would say this - that there is no devolution that I see as satisfactory unless it is accompanied by development. When I mean development, let us
Contd on page 29

Page 12
nDEvOLUTION /Rf
PROPOSEDM DEVELOPME
LAND BOUNDARIE
1. introduction: -
From the most ancient times Sri Lanka was known to have three traditional Regions namely the Ruhunu, Maya and Pihiti (Rajarata). These were in fact natural divides of the country, dileated for rule under the immediate direction of the King and his heir apparent.
According to Claudius Ptolemy the .
King ruled over 13 tribes of people who came from different parts of the World and made Sri Lanka their homeland. Rajarata and Ruhunurata were the most important as they were the agricultural
regions which had the Hydraulic
Works under them. In the 13th century due to a cataclysm and internacine wars that destroyed the Ancient Hydraulic Works. The Major part of the population moved towards Mayarata from where the King ruled.
The regions were further sub-divided into provinces or Disavanies under Disawas, the Disavanies, in turn were further sub-divided into Pattus. These were under Rate Mahathmayas, Mudliyars and Vanniyars. These heirachical officers performed functions pertaining to civil administration Osbehalf of the King. In addition to these were the Adigars (ministers) who advised the King. The military command was directly under the King.
The country like any other Country had its share of invasions. But by and large it was ruled as a single country under a single King for the greater part of the 2500 years of its known historical record.
10
1.2 Migration
during the
The Colonial E coming of the F 16th century, tl advanced their f Coastline from Negombo upto i Northern region Mannar and S Jaffna Peninsula
• dOm Of 600 Cat
The bitter enim Arabs and the trade made the refuge and setti territory where n to farming, esp were settled by t in the Eastern Re continued as p was followed by cutions by the migration of Negombo and Kadyan Territor) the muslims We more migrated areas as well for
The Dutch in encouraged the Vation of cinnam scale for the first ern Region from N where the state Of Cinnamon tra time, the Tobac
 
 

EDEMARCATION
ANAGEMENT NT OPIENTED
ES FOR SRI LANKA
within Sri Lanka
Colonial Era:
ra began with the Portuguese in the ney progressively rontiers along the the South of
from Kalpitiya to subsequently the after the martyrholics in Mannar. ity between the Portuguese over Muslims to Seek e in the Kandyan nost of them took ecial those who he Kandyan Kings gion, while others etty traders. This | Religious perseDutch caused the Catholics from Colombo to the s. In this era too 'e persecuted and to the Kandyan the second time.
encouraged and there was a "gold rush' to the Northern Peninsula from South lndia were large members of "Malabars' imigrated to grow hand irrigated tobacco, with Well sweeps and dug wells which were constructed by the thousands for the purpose. They also used lift irrigation methods with leather buckets to grow tobacco. It was the period where lift irrigation was in vogue. This legacy of the thousands of dug wells which today have replaced the well sweeps with pumps are yet part of the landscape of the Jaffna peninsula where today they not only to grow tobacco, but other cash crops like potatoes and vegetables, as Well, and for horticulture purposes where grapes are grOWn.
The Dutch followed the traditions set by the portuguese before them in administration, like the keeping of local records of Lekammitties and Tombos, which formed a valuable record of their times. It is also interesting to note that the Dutch styled their Governors in charge of Districts as Dissawas in
Keeping with the traditional Kan
dyan system. The British who followed the Dutch were also enamoured by the trappings of the fuedal times, possibly because
the mean time commercial cultion on a plantation time in the WestNegombo to Galle, had the monopoly de. In the meanCO economy was
it reminded them of their own Medieval lords in their own Country, which suited them well; to emphasise their own importance and reflect pomp and glory. How
ever after independence, one would have normally expected in a democratic Set up to pay little
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990

Page 13
heed to such ceremony. On the Contrary, the peoples representatives in the Districts and the Government Agents or "Dissawas" as they were called seem to enjoy such ceremony to show their own importance and they seem to revel in the organisation of such ceremonies at the drop of a hat. Be that as it may. -
With the British take over of the entire country, the maritime pro
DEVOLUTION / R
management of t ject even Over-a ( completion (which districts) can be C impossibility to
management to: donkey. Because it has now been be managed by Economic Agency that only after a its completion, it ņi
vinces and the Kandyan Kingdom Was first divided intO Five PrOvinces, North, South, East, West and Central, which were in fact compassi directions, for the convenience of the Colonial Administ
ration. With the waste Lands Ordinance, the traditional lands of the Kandyan peasants were taken over and converted to tea and rubber plantations, which were estab
lished by indentured South Indian Labour. The British constructed roads and railways for their military strategy and for infrastructural development for transport which
was crucials for the plantatios
industry. It was this concerted
effort that brought about the plan
tation economy to pay rich dividends not only to the agricultural SeCtOr but alSO tO Other entrepreneurs in the Kandyan districts. Subsequently these five provinces were expanded to the nine provinces, as we known them today. These were further sub-divided to Districts which were mainly for the collection of revenue and law and order purposes to run a Colonial Economy'.
1.3 After independence
With independence we yet carry on with the outdated Colonial provinces and districts completely
unsuited for development needs. The example of the creation of
the Ampara District clearly is indi
cates the necessity of Development Oriented District Boundaries.
The inability to decentralise the
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
rehabilitation prog
are yet unable to t
sion making proc tricts level.
 
 
 
 
 
 

EDEMARCATION
ne Walawe Projecade after the falls under three compared to the decentralise its a three headed of this inability handed over to the Mahaweli '. Today. We See few years after, OW faces a major
gramme and We ransfer the CeCicess to the Dis
This management by the Mahaweli Economic Agency cannot be considered a permanent arrangement, as this is a pure unadulterated bureaucracy with no peoples representatives. This arrangement could neither meet the peoples needs, or be sensitive to operation and maintenance requirements, as there is no feed back from the people who matter and who are affected by any mismanagement. A democratic system of management demands that a new district has to be carved for the Walawe Project for the integrated management of its Water, land and people.
The same decentralisation of powers would also have to be achieved with the massive Mahaweli Project, where billions
HOROWAPATANA V s
w
ANURADHAPURA ડ્ઝ” TRINCOMALEE Vị
- ჯJ}>S , -3 s vad དད་་་་་་་་ "كاديمي
Y ९O KAUAWEWA e à PUTTALAM : འདས་པ་ལ་
KURUNEGALA. is is
MAALE స్టో
potoNNARUWA e ;な
a Y WELIKANDA
BAfriCALOA
ܐܝܪܳܢܝ ܠܓ "؟ هވ. سح ۔۔۔ ہند KApY MAثryAGANA ر»&* AMPARA
1

Page 14
| | DEVOLUTION / I
of rupees have been invested, other wise here too, after a few years we would have to once again reinvest billions of rupees for a massive rehabilitation programme possibly even before its completion, if the management is weak and technically incompetent. One has also to prevent it from being a super bureaucracy insensitive to peoples needs. Its management strategy demands that it merges with the democratic processes in short merge with the provinces and districts of which it forms part, if it is to be meaningful to the people. However, one must not foget the scale of the project, which by itself is a region and has to be treated as Such. Provinces and Districts have to be carved out of this region. One has also to merge the three levels of management in the Mahaweli region to be interlinked meaningfully.
One cannot afford to breed tragedies and cateclysms and internecine Wars like What toOk place in the 13th centuary that led to the destruction and abandonment of our ancient hydraulic civilisation. We cannot afford to tolerate the existence by mismanagement or sheer ignorance of the scientific and technological principles of
ing mass Suicid project is so larg of its Size and Would have to seperate agro-Hy the SCientifiC -> a management of resources, as W Who should be human developm
it is in this O' the historical bac neW Develop Administrative La
Vinces and dist
technical
proposed so tha managed in a s all political dec eCOO parameters, for Sri Lankan.S.
it must be st not the first time for having devel district boundar made. They ha before by develc Water and land re The author tog James H. Lanerol Managing Directo Development BC the Sri Lanka AS Advancement of decade ago, on
management known in the World of today, in the management of this Project. To ignore present knowledge would be like commit
12
MANAGEMENT A SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR MANA
LEWE Uda
CENTRAL MANAGEreNT
REG
ONAL r - RAJARATA ANAGEMENT MAYARAA
PROVINCIAL NORTH MANAGEMENT ESTERN NAARAKALAW- I NORTHERN SABARAGAruu
PROVINCE I IYA PROVINCE || PROVINCE PROVINCE
oISRCT aC i eC MANAGEMENT eK s 三 实。 الــــــــــــــــطــــــــــــــــــــــــط
홍 홀 풀 s 墨囊蟹*露毒囊。疆,囊囊 Cl Y ܐ 도 r- Y C. u
when the Mahay being considered tion, what was t and more urgent

EDEMARCATION –
. The Mahaweli both in Context vestment that it be treated aS si a iraulic region for ld technological s water and land II as its people, partners of such ent.
erall tradition of kground that the nent Oriented nd regions, proicts have been t they could be cientific way, as sions hinge on mic and Social he benefit of all
sted that this is
that suggestions opment oriented ies have been ve been made pment planners, Sources experts. ether with Mr. e, C.C.S. the then Ir of the Industrial )ard, addreSSed Sociation for the Science, Over a this very topic,
Lest some one put the question as to why I have introduced the Word 'Land Boundaries', this was done with a definite purpose, as there is also the need to do a similar planning exercise for the new Territorial Boundaries within Our Economic Zone that falls within the jurisdiction of our country, which covers more than twenty times the land area and does not fall within the ambit and scope of this paper.
2. Land Regions, Provinces and
Districts
Today we do not have regions but provinces imposed on us by the colonial powers for revenue collection purposes. These boundaries today have no bearing whatsoever for development purposes. Sri Lanka was known to have three
traditional regional boundaries from the most ancient times namely Ruhunu, Maya is and
Rajarata (or Pihiti).It is known that these boundaries changed with time due to political and strategic considerations. But they essentially followed natural boundaries. It is recorded in the 2nd-century B.C. that the Mahaweli Ganga was the
GEMENT, DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN ANO NATURAL RESOUENCES
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OFSRI LANKA
TABLE -
RuuRATA MAHAELIYA -- -- ESTERN SOUTHERN EASTERCENTRAt UVA | LDLER ROVINCE PROVINCE PROVINCE PROVINCE PROVINCE *器志
|
|
དྷ་ ac 를 낼 조 鬍對疆醬疆讓罪。羅罪 폴 ž Čý Sz U) 3 OO SEYzZ ca E
Veli Project was traditional divide between the
for implementaTue then is truer
ՈOW
Rajarata and Ruhunu, while the Mayarata was bounded in the north
Contd on page 31
w
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990

Page 15
. DEVOLUTION ,
(V. K. Nanayakkara) (Additional Secretary, Ministry of Defence)
- Ersin Povca and Disc boundaries in the Island are an historical accident and a legacy of British Colonial rule. In 1833, when Colebrooke established five provinces, it was a simplistic exercise of demarcation into North, South East, West and Centre. With the passage of time, through modifications other units were added for a final toll of nine Provinces.
These nine Provinces Continued as the Sub-national unit of administration until Independence and for sometime thereafter. It was in 1955 that this system of Provincial Administration was abolished and District Administration introduced in its place. The Districts are really sub-divisions of the ProVinCeS.
There was never unanimity as regards an appropriate unit for development administration. In fact, the post independence era Witnessed experimenting with varying units ranging from the Local Authority, Assistant Government Agents Division, the revenue District and the Province. To achieve popular participation smaller units are advocated. For development
planning, larger units are preferred.
Divisional Development Committees and Development Councils mooted at various times Were Considered failures. The establishment of Provincial Councils (with possibilities of merger of adjoining Provinces) is the latest attempt in
this regard. However this repre
>=< =චූ ܗ
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
WHY RETAIN IRRA PROVINCIAL BOUNDARIES
SentS a reVerS Carded in 1955
Thus it is See are proposed a Before giving makes Sense to formulation of St
lt is Our Vie\ lies in the way t daries are draw of the five pro not matter very Onial administ limited function and Collection independence requirements Today, the G longer a passiv development st participant as
Integrated dev
A few illustri to demonstrate existing provinc integrated dev WalaWe Basin h by the fact til PrOVinCial Auth in the implemer Project. As Mai reaches in the Southern Prov higher reaches. Within the juris Vince and the Sabaragumu Wa back to a Pi administration Cated as at lea Capitals are i ni farther. Integrat
the Walawe E
 
 
 

/ REDEMARCATION
TIONAL
iOn to a unit dis
.
n that varying units ind then discarded. up in despair, it plodk again at the ub-national entities.
w that the malady he PrOVinCial bOuinwn. The boundaries VinCes in 1833 did y much as the Coltration had very s of peacekeeping of revenue. With and Self rule, the have changed. Overnment is no we observer of the Cene but an active well as a catalyst.
felopment
ations may suffice
the inadequacy of cial boundaries. The velopment of the has been hampered nat at least three orities are involved ntation of this single o shows the lower river flows through ince While at the the left bank falls diction of Uva Pro
right bank within Province. Going rovincial Unit, the is further compli1st, two of the new OW situated much ed development of Basin has suffered
s
due to a multiplicity of administrative authorities.
Pollution control
The strains caused by existing Provincial (as well as District) boun
daries are revealed in other instances too. For example, environmental protection is
extremely difficult where the development region cuts across a natural river basin, as at Walawe. The Walawe Ganga receives the effluents discharged from the National Paper Corporation factory
at Embilipitiya which is situated in
the Sabaragamuwa Province. Downstream water is used as a source of supply of drinking water for the towns of Ambalantota and Hambantota situated in the Southern Province. If the entire river basin fell within a single administrative entity, the abatement of the pollution created by the discharge of toxic effluents would necessarily have been dealt with in a more effective manner.
Sharing of water
To illustrate the point how existing Provincial and District boundaries hinder development, let us take the water resources available for agriculture which is the main plank for poverty alleviation in the Dry Zone. The ad-hoc, nearly North-South line demarcating the Eastern Province separates the Sources of water from the downstream users. Any “Kanna meeting" serves to highlight how the passions can rise when it comes to decisions for distribution of irrigation water which is the life blood of the Dry Zone farmer. When different ethnic groups inhabit the higher and lower reaches of rivers controlling the respective Provincial Councils, the conflicts are likely be further aggraVated.
Rivers that Cross national or sub-national boundaries present governments with thorny issues of water sharing. The neighbouring
13

Page 16
Indian sub-continent is replete with instances of wars and strained relations over shared river basins. The division of water resources was at the root of the Hindu-Sikh dispute fin the Panjab where the Akali Dal, the political party of the Sikhs, have been agitating for a
14
greater share of the These events fina dreds of deaths v Army stormed the at Amritsar in 19 the Indus waters reaches had been of contention bety
 

2 regions waters. ly led to hunwhen the Indian Golden Temple 84. Division of
at trhe upper a major bone
Ween India and
圈
Bangla Desh.
Pakistan. Similarly, the construction of the Farakka barrage by India in the upstream Ganges led to a dispute between India and
These are lessons of experience for us to avoid potential conflicts
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990

Page 17
| | DEVOLUTION / R
among the users of water. When water is the limiting factor for cultivation in the Dry Zone, the growing population can pose an immense problem for coordinated river use, unless the decision making authority encompasses a whole river basin.
Natural Hazards
Provincial boundaries render it extremely difficult to manage natural hazards. Very often, CO-riparian areas belong to different Provinces, where the provision of relief and mitigation measures is hampered by separate administrative authorities. For effective Control of floods, the entire river basin in best administered as One unit. Can two different authority namely the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council and the Western Provincial Council, being two independent decision makers effectively grapple with the vexed problem of the perennial flooding of Ratnapura and Kalutara districts? Clearly, the two latter townships should be placed within One decentralized entity.
Transport
Topography and transport netWork are two other relevant spatial considerations. The existing Provincial boundaries throw up grossly anomalous situations. In a provincial system, the capital of Sabaragamuwa, namely Ratnapura is less centrally situated for inhabitants of Kegalle and Mawanella. In
fact both Kegalle and Mawanella
may be within speedier commuting Admittedly, the current Provincial (or its sub-division, the District) entity presents an elusive physical unit that has absolutely no relevance to development.
Optimum spatial unit
What then is the most optimum spatial unit? How can its boundaries be drawn? Should they be economic regions, political regions, natural regions or regions
based on ethnicity, religion or lan
guage? Should minimum physica and a resource ideal if all Sub-r Of One uniform siz However, in th populated areas
delineated units v Smaller in size re the sparsely pop
A paramount r of governmenta Sub-national leve active local pa entity should be Coordination o activities within the Subnational Whether it be the ʻʻPrOvinCeʼ = s ShO bridge between local levels. Can vinces provide a ing demands an national policies from working tow they contribute Seeds of dissens Conflicts in resol
Watershed appr
Our Suggestion ical unit that will re iments to distance from Ka rather than from Similarly, for resic Province, Galle || ideal administrat and shape of teh Vince makes trav SOme Within that
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
 

EDEMARCATIONE
they have a
| size, population
base. It would be
ational units are
e and population. e more densely of the Island, the vill necessarily be lative to those in ulated areas.
eason for sharing power at a is the need for rticipation. This an instrument for f development
the region. Thus,
devolved unit,
"District' or the
uld provide a the national and the existing proway of aggregatd disaggregating and plans. Far fards these goals to sowing the sion by potential urce sharing.
oach
to create a phys2move the imped
Socio-economic indy or Colombo
its new capital. ents of Southern may not be the ive Centre. Size
NOrth-East PrOel mOSt Cumber
territory.
development, points to the "watershed' as the best Criterion
to delineate Sub-national territorial
entities. A watershed is simply an area of land that drains into a
single waterway or body of water. It is the most optimum natural
region which permits decsion makerS to foCuS On land use, CropS,
Contd on page 17
15

Page 18
. DEVOLUTION / RED
THE NEED FOR
AUTHORITY A
PARTICI
Science City Corporation
By Dr. Nath Amarakone (Chairman - Citizens Solidarity F.
SRI LANKA trapped in a viscious cycle of power pschychosis of leaders Superposed on a fear pschychosis of the masses has slipped down on the Scales of economic growth to reach the bottom 10% of the poorest of the world's nations. Allegations and counter allegations thrown at each other by political leaders have brought about only increasing frustration among the youths who have risen up in arms against the very system of power transfers through the Westminister type Parliament.
The time has come, as appealed by the OPA and National Amity MoVement last year, the Mahanayakas, Bishops Conference and other non-partisan leaders lately to ask the intellectuals, political leaders to re-examine the entire philosophy of development pursued over the last 40 years without being able to meet the aspirations of the people. New vistas are needed in the entire national drive towards economic regeneration.
In this context the clamour by the population groups most affected for liberalisation of segments of the economy from the clutches of centralised political planning, a process now termed
16
as devolution nee nation as a practic tralisation Of deci
The devolution from Tamil ethni the North Who W the Central gov implementation stop-go-situation agro-industrial ec serious hardship population giving separatism. The m South has risen left wing agitation WithOut Serious im tics of the country When the whole risen up in arms
Following the p struggle of the No. tor, the devolution taken a character by the separatist regional power g than economic de tralisation Of decis results of negotia ment with politica North, introducing interVentiOn Of Ir has led to the P. system of units delegation of auth porated in the 1 of the Constitutio
 
 

EMARCATION
DEVOLUTION OF ND REGIONAL
ΡΑΤΙΟΝ
Concept of Devolution
’ont)
dS Careful examical step in decension maaking.
Cry mainly arise C population of vere affected by 'ernment policy leading tO in the Northern Onomy, creating to the farmer rise to Tamil arginalised deep n arms through for generations pact on the politill recent times population has in rebellion.
olitico-economic thern Tamil Secof authority has much influenced
pSchychosis of roupings rather mands Of deCenon making. The ions of governgroups of the the unavoidable dian politicians Dvincial Council For purpose of ority now encorth Amendment
.
The demarcation of provincial boundaries by the British to suit the Colonial needs of administration which is still carried over, has very little relevance to the economic development of these areas. The perpetration of the system has been the main problem that has to be Corrected in a new strategy for economic revival.
The emphasis laid by successive governments over the last 40 years on agro-industrial strategies has clearly pointed to the need to conCentrate decentralisation Of administration to geographic zones based on watershed management and inter Communication. A Carefully thought out redemarcation of economic Zones that leads itself to an efficient management of population activity is shown in the Proposed Regional Boundaries Map I. This follows clearly on the major Rivers System, Map ll brought out by A. D. N. Fernando some time ago. Such sub-units for devolution of authority be termed Prefactures. Thus Sri Lanka Would be divided into 8 Prefactures, each lending itself to a climatic zone of development. It may be noted that the above Sub-diviSions Commands Socio-economic and regional interests of the commUnities.
Each Prefacture Will have a population ranging from 1 million to 2 million, with a land area ranging from 5,000 square, kilometers to 13,000 square kilometers. A close network of economic linkages between reSOurces, activities, road and trading can lead to efficient development of
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990

Page 19
SOcio-economic projects through coordinaiton. A significant feature of the demarcation is that each Prefacture Commands a stretch of the coast as well as the river valley and a population base. The 8 Prefactures are listed below and Contain the main city centres listed against them:
IT must be emphasised that properly planned economic urban Sub-Sections Within each of these river valleys would lead itself to the development of the agro-industrial linkages to enhance the benefits to the people.
The Science City Corporation concept of regional planned with R & D, Industry, sports, community, leisure facilities under each Prefacture can project the community demand into the 21st century by careful long term planning.
See Chart 'A'.
Superposed on the 8 Prefactural
development programmes, located at regional centres are 4 FreeTrade Zones located close to the main ports of entry and exit to the Country which Control Customs. The GCEC in Katunayaka and Biyagama near to Colombo have already developed. The Galle Industrial Zone at Koggala is under planning stage. Trincomalee FTZ and Yalpanam Kankesanthurai-Paranthan FTZ must be planned as a base for Industrial Zones in the North and East. This Cater to the growing needs of large Scale industrialisation and rapid growth in the neighbouring areas.
These four industrial ZOneS would attract the labour, road networks and draw on the research and development potential associated with the technical and university institutions around these zones, apart from collaboration with the foreign business activity.
These proposals for development zones under the Prefacture system will take out any regional disputes among the ethnic groups. The inter-dependence will promote collaboration, cooperation and Co-existence, a much desired change in Outlook for a political
stabilisation of the country. Citizens Solidarity Front Conference 14th September, 1989.
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
DEvOLUTION /
Chart. A
Approach View Point
Promotion of Research Activity
Re-ogranisation of Regional structures
Industrial Development
New Urban Factories
PREFACTURE
DEDURu oYA
Sq. km. 5473
 
 
 
 
 

REDEMARCATION
SCIENCE CITY CORPORATION
Subject of Re-organisation Planing Concept
improvement of basic and "Coordination of University 8 applied research based on Technical Institutions with R 8
reSOurCe utilisation. D Centres.
- Socio-Economic reSear Chr: rnational exposure. − မြို့မျိုးမျို ဌိဌိို and around multi-core network units. ". Community-Industry relatec
Thin u fi tleS. technological Co reSearch.
Recognition of Agro-industrial Optimum use of population. Zones, based on Human activity
and resource utilisation. " Ease of migration, Inter-city netCoordination of population Work:
based activity " Harmony between work place Establish multi-core network in and living environment.
cities. Maximum security and sharing
Promote regionalism towards of Social burden. regional administration.
improve basic industries with New science based industry.
multi-Core network. * Recorganise science facilities. * Fordward and backward lin- " Creative technological develop
kages for Industrial Zones at ninent. national level. Science Parks and Service "'Promote national and foreign Parks.
exchange policy "Job creation. Rationalisation' in the distribution Multi-core network structure. of labour material resources. * Positive link between R&D and Response to new urban trends. Society. * Conversion of old/new towns to High amenity based city Centres.
urban network. * High compact city. Pluralistic development. "Maintenance of optimum urban
management. munumo
CITIES AREA SON. KM
Contd from page 15
Soil conservation, forests, flood control, management of natural hazards etc. A watershed boundary always passes through sparsely populated areas 'unlike the existing Provincial boundaries which separate human activities at their most dense points.
Map 2 presents eleven sub-national units drawn on the basis of the watershed. Table 1 indicates the approximate area of each unit, the major townships and the river basins that fall within each designated region. We reiterate that the watershed region be given a fair trial in place of the present one. Unless we do so, we will be permanently trapped in our difficulties, faced with Constantly explosive situations.
17

Page 20
. DEVOLUTION / RI
SOME OF THE SUGGES AND PROPOSALS FOR
RECEIVED BY ALLP
OBSERVATIONs OF TAMIL UNITED LIBERATION FROWT - SEPT 1989
The provisions contained in the 13th Armendment to the Constitution and the Provincial Councils Act are both in qualitative and quantitative terms inadequate in Substance and Content. it is regrettable that the political leadership in this country has shown reluctance to follow the numerous examples of the resolution of internal Conflicts in multi-ethnic diverse and plural Societies, such as Canada, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, USSR, and India by the evolution of systems of government which ensure power sharing, equality and justice to all their peoples. No Constitution that has been framed thus far in this country has been founded upon a Tamil consensus. Need for such a consensus, we submit has become an inescapable reality.
MAHAJANA EKSATH PERAMUNA To initiate negotiations between representatives of all sections in the North and the East in which the ethnic crisis originated and therby install a new devolved structure suited to the particular provinces and abolish the present provincial council sysfenn.
THE LIBERAL PARTY The adoption of a federal constitution with a bicameral legislature and on the basis of nine provinces. The powers devolved upon the Provincial Legislatures and Provincial Governments should be based upon those set out in Part II of the Programme of the Democratic Peoples Alliance. The boundaries of the current Eastern ProVince could by mutual agreement of all interested parties be redrawn.
DPLFS OBSERVATIONS - 19TH SEPTEMBER 1989 Devolution based on a Canton system could be an answer to the national question. The canton system is based on linguistic regions. The Tamil speaking region has a large Muslim community, whose language though Tamil, has a distinct identity of its own - religion, culture and way of life. Their numbers are greatest in the East where they comprise a substantial percentage of the population. This community feels that in the North-East Province they will be reduced to the status of an innocuous minority. TAMMIL EELAM LIBERATION ORGANISATION : The present constitution deserves to be replaced by a new and dynamic tone, socialistic in a content and is federal in its
sAu
form. Though we do executive Presiden proportional repres believe that the Cou stitution providing and ensuring
Socio-economic anc sections of the peo set-up we demand Eastern Provinces S Tamil linguistic state majority areas woulc under an autonomo
THE EPRLF
When we say that a of a development it lishes the right to a guage, Culture, eCOr its' polity. Powers that shoulc subjects on the Nort ernment Should not t enjoyed by the Indial ship in the administ between the Cent North-East Provincia nOf be le SS than tha ral Government and of India. It should be assume Province Will not be and in anyway and one Province. The Provincial Gov the powers to negot tries or foreign coun ing investments and of the negotiations decisions arrived a are not contrary to policy and the gene the Sri Lankan Gov
The Provincial Gov legal rights not less by the private secta and maintenance ofe
THE EKSATH LAM PAKSHAYA
lt is our contention ti tion can be realise r7nent.
it may be created a a provincial level. S must be the link be and the Local Aut shallbe constituted elected at the gene. No separate electio elect members t Chair-persons and authorities in an all
18
 
 

DEMARCATION – STIONS, OBSERVATIONS DEVOLUTION OF POWER ARTY CONFERENCE
not disapprove of the ial System and the 2ntation system, we try needs a new conOr a union of states equal justice irገ political terms to all Ole. In such a federal that the Northern and hould together form a in which the Muslim be granted autonomy uS Council.
evolution is a function
means that it estabevelop a nation's lanomy and the mode of
be devolved in all h-East Provincial Govbe less than the powers is States. The relationation and the finances ral Government and al Government should between Indian-Cent
the state Government
ed that the North-East bifureated at any stage it will Continue to be
ernment should have late with foreign countries' agencies regarddonations. In the event
ending successfully
these negotiations if the general foreign ral económic policy of 9rnment.
9rnment should have han the rights enjoyed r in the establishment COnonic institutions.
A JAWATHA
at the desired devoluthrough self-govern
a district level or at uch a unit, however, tween the Parliament ority. These councils from the members all and local elections. is should be held to the Councils. All Mayors of all local a concerned and all
members of Parliament elected from the area Shall become members Of the ProvinCial Council.
THE CEYLOW MWORKERS CONGRESS
CWC wishes to re-iterate its position on the need to create ethnic community oriented Pradeshiya Sabhas wherever feasible in order to enable ethnic minority communities that are dispersed and may be concentrated in limited areas to have focal points of development. Such focal points are imperative for development and for fostering the culture of the different ethnic communities.
THE DEMOCRATIC MWORKERS COWGRESS
There shall be a predominantly Tamil unit comprising of what is the combined Northern and Eastern Provinces but excluding the area covered by the predominantly Muslim unit.
There shall be a predominantly Muslim unit comprising the predominantly Muslim areas in the Amparai District as the base and the identified predominantly Muslim areas in the Batticalda and Trincomalee Districts. All State powers, legislative executive and judicial, except those reserved to the centre, shall bẻ devolved to democratically elected bodies called provinces. Parliament shall, however, be able to override legislation of the provinces by a 2/3 majority of its whole membership, with a minimum of 50% Members of Parliament of the minority communities voting for such a motion.
ALL CEY LOW MUSLIM LEAGUE
It is necessary to strengthen the Executive powers of the Chief Minister and Board of Ministers, and provide sufficient funds to Carry out the works, which come under their pureview. The Institutional Organisations for the proper functioning of the Provincial Councils' should be established without delay, otherwise Provincial Councils will go the same way as District Development Councils. Employment in Provincial Councils should be in the ethnic proportion of the Province which should be distributed in the ethnic proportion of the district.
SRI LANKA PROGRESSIVE FRONT Urban Councils and Village Committees should functions progressively with more vested power in them. The system of Village Committees should be modernized. No Provincial Council should exceed the powers of the Central Government.

Page 21
U DEVOLUTION / RE
Commento ΟΥ Aga
DeV olutiOs
the p
will g(
bound
I have had the benefit of perusing the article on W( "Devolution of Powers and Provincial Councils', to rea given to me. politic tO Sta Development oriented boundaries is not an essen- Sharin tial prerequisite for the effective functioning of Pro- be su
vincial Councils. It must not be forgotten that the bare Provincial Council system was adopted only as a COntrC possible political settlement to the Ethnic Problem.
Therefore, it is best to leave the Provincial bouńdaries dc as they are. If they have to be redemarcated, let it Self-d be done so for political reasons - to ease tensions COnsic
and maintain peace. Jayaw - termir The reason why the District Development Council the ris system failed miserably was because the politicians, organ
who helped to introduce that system as a political DurSU solution to the tensions of that time, sought to. ment” hoodwink the masses by trying to explain that accel- termir erated economic development would take place by grOup Such a system. Let the same mistake not be made to det with regard to the Provincial Council System also.
minati any r No doubt the present provincial boundaries are a wheth relic from the colonial times. The politicians will want Mandi to redemarcate the boundaries in one way; the daries economists will want to redemarcate the boundaries under in another way. Whose will should prevail? Each We ar would have their different, and perhaps valid, reasons to do S.O. wi
least
I will not subscribe to any "interim measures" as its ar regards the redemarcation of boundaries. It is far devoli too sensitive a matter to be tinkering with at regular group Or given intervals. If a redemarcation of boundaries aS pC has to be done, then it must be a once and for all their matter. One cannot be allowed to experiment with
tO ke boundaries. do wi
was particularly interested in one statement in On
paragraph 1.6. That is the sentence "the Muslims P. A. of Kinniya and of Mutur should be free to decide defini: whether they prefer to be a minority within a majority raphic
or a minority within a minority". Are you not bringing drafti in politics into the redemarcation of the Mahaveli WΘ. Οι Catchment area? Either Provinces have to be carved like til out for political reasons or for economic reasons. sions think We Cannot have both. group
in yo
if I understand the present Tamil dispensation recog Correctly, they would never agree to the Mahaveli "dem Catchment Area No. 60 as you have shown on the Musi map - whether the Muslims agree or disagree to Оya your suggestion. It cuts off the Northern Province situat from the Eastern Province and the present Tamil not re dispensation will go to war on this issue!! That is by ús why I think that your idea to eventually have no para. Province which is landlocked would not work - certainly not if you are seeking a corridor through G. G the Northern or Eastern provinces. Gene
All C.
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990

DEMARCATON
n, your statement that " I fle Eastern Provisice ary cannot be altered without the consent of ople of the Eastern Province' is conceding isition that ultimately political considerations vern reasons for redemarcation of provincial aries and not economic arguments.
uld alter the first sentence of paragraph .9 d"only meaningful devolution of powers to ally oriented territorial units will be conducive bility, to economic development and to the g of prosperity". Devolution of powers must ch as would reduce the Concurrent List to a ninimum otherwise it will lead to considerable versy with attendant delays.
not know how the principle of the right of termination is relevant to the article under leration nor will agree with Mr. Nihal ickrema's proposition that the right of self-deation "means that cohesive ethnic groups have ht to choose for themselves a form of political sation and through such organisation to freely e their economic, social and political develop'. I would rather say that the right of Self-delation is the inalienable right that an ethnic which satisfies the definition of a nation, has ermine its own destiny. The right of self-deteron of the Tamils of the North does not by means end with determining for themselves er they want Pradeshiya Sabhas, Gramodaya alayas, Village Comittees, etc. and their boun... if this is what Mr. Jayewickrema or some stand to be the right of self-determination, then e heading for a lot of trouble.
ili also disagree with your propósition that “at one party in the North will not be laying down ms unless and until a genuine Scheme of ution is conceded". Not a single Tamil militant , who have all been now officially recognised litical parties, will ever give up the arms in possession. Each party has its own reasons ep their arms. These reasons have nothing to thany Scheme of devolution.
the subject of colonisation, referring to the D.
Manifesto of November 1988, you ask for ion of the word "area' and the phrase "demog: complexion'. As one of those involved in the ng of the D. P. A., Manifesto, I must say that artainly did not have any given area in mind, ne Pradeshiya Sabhas or Grama Sevaka DiviWe were thinking of areas in relation to ethnic s. For instance, take the two areas mentioned ur article — Kinniya and Mutúr. We would nise these places as Muslim areas and the )graphic Complexios' of these areas would be m. A situation contemplated by you in Maduru atchment area was certainly not the type of on we were contemplating, because it was levant as it goes outside the principle explained in the Manifesto (and quoted by you under 7.1).
Ponnambalam (Jr.) al Secretary ylon Tamil Congress.
19

Page 22
| ENVI
A FRAMEWORK FO ENVIRONMENTALP
Final Part
Continued from May
Mr Jan Suurland, Policy Advisor to the Central Environmental from 1988. Earlier he was Director, Environmental Polic Management in the Ministry of Environment in the Netherland Chairman of the Group of Economic Experts of the OECDE from 1981 to 1983 and since then a member of this Committe
by Jan A. Suurland
Specific Control Strategies
Implementation of environmental strategies requires a tuning of objectives, instruments, organization and actual execution to the specific conditions of particular ecosystems and different source categories. With regard to environmental quality control this implies that an area approach should be followed reflecting the characteristics of particular natural and economic ecosystems. Thus, where the main function of a natural ecosystem is to conserve genetic resources (nature reserves) there will be only very limited scope for human activities. Where an ecosystem is being used as a natural resource base (lagoons, coastal seas, rivers) economic use Of Such resources Should be COntrolled and protected to avoid over-exploitation and to avoid damage to ecosystem conditions.
In case of cultivated ecosystems (paddy lands, forest plantations, pastures, etc), land use should be compatible with soil characteristics, morphology and other physical Conditions and where necessary such conditions should be adapted to sustain cultivation. In case of urban systems, we only can maintain stability if we provide the necessary infrastructural and Other technical means to take Over or compensate for natural ecosystem regulation. Therefore, quality control requires tuning of management objectives and means to specific ecosystems, i.e. an area approach.
Variations in ecosystem conditions and the purposes for which they are being used also have to be reflected in source Control
strategies. To reServe. We W the establish industries in impose very Contro mea over-exploitatic reSOurCe We ha Cedures tO di among the loc sibly to ban and SO On. The trol strategies target group the particular S ditions of loca instance in rela ment Of nature resources) or Conditions of tions of the industrial Sectic
tors, etc.
It may be e group approaс participation o and interest g lation and Specific qua Strategies.
The main specific cont being present
IV. IMPLE
SOURC STF
AS in other that also in Sr tion of adeq strategies wil most problem mental manag may be useful what more de elements of Thereby we w
20

tONMENTIm
R ΟLΙΟΥ
Authority for two years y Development and
Also he had been the vironmental Committee
e
LSLSLSLSS protect a natural
II have to prohibit ment of polluting heir vicinity or to stringent pollution sures. To avoid on of a natural ve to establish prostribute user rights all people and poscertain techniques erefore, SOurce COnshould follow a approach reflecting Ocio-eCOnOmiC COnals communities (for tion to the managereserves and natural the Socio-economic particular subsececonomy, such as ors, agricultural sec
vident that a target h implies an active flocal Communities
roups in the formu-, implementation of
lity and control
elements of Such rol strategies are ed in figure 5.
MENTATION, OP E CONTROL ATEGES
Countries, it is likely Lanka implementalate Source Control prove to be the atic part of environement. Therefore, it to discuss in sometail the most Crucial Source Control. Il focus on problems
related to economic ecosystem management.
(1) Internalization of Environ
mental Costs
We have stated that the major objective of economic ecosystem analysis is to sustain the productivity of renewable resources and the stability of vital ecosystem functions.
This being the case, it is obvious that the se sound management of such ecosystems should be the
prime responsibility of all who are
in-charge of such ecosystems and make use of it. Under ideal cirCumstances there would be no need for government interference, because a rational use of economic ecosystems would be in the interest of all users. Also each and everyone should be willing - in his own interest - to make the costs necessary to sustain the productivity of such resources, that is by taking appropriate environmental protection measures. In short, there would be no discrepancy between economically and environmentally sound management of economic ecosystems and all costs associated with the maintaining of ecosystems stability would be "internalized" in the production Costs of the various economic activities.
However, the actual situation is duite different and does require government intervention due to the following circumstances:
(a) Though everyone in the end
will benefit from healthy (sustaina
ble) air, water and soil conditions Some will benefit more than others. For example: Though a textile com
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990

Page 23
ENVIR
FRAMEVVORK SPECFC CONTROLSTRATEGE:
pany (its employees) will benefit from higher yields of paddy fields through lower food prices, this benefit does not necessarily compensate the Costs to be made by this Company for pollution abatement to protect same paddy fields. So there is an uneven distribution of Costs and benefits of environmental management. In economic terms this means that in the absence of abatement measures, the price of textile products does not reflect the real Social Costs of production.
(b) Even if individual users recognize the importance of ecosystems stability as a common resource for all users, they will try to minimize their share in the Costs of maintaining this common resource. For example every farmer knows that an adequate
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
and regular Sup
Water is i depe adequate forest
sides. Neverthele that he Will Volu share' in the cost tion of eroded
applies to ever vidual users of
resources prefer ride” rather thant
(C) Our econon being determine COStS and bene available Opportu ally choose that Will render us r Over COStS. AlSO value On returns the short run-th begained in a mc Consequently, W price on costs t
 
 
 

ONMENT
pply of irrigation endent On the coverage of hill ss it is not likely nteer to pay his ts of re(afforestahills unless this yone. Thus indiCommon natural to have a "free D pay for its use.
nic behaviour is ld by balancing efits of different nities. We gener
opportunity that naximum returns
We place higher
to be earned in an on profits to Dre remote future. se put a higher O be made now
Compared to future COSts. The Combination of these factors results in a behaviour that favours options rendering short-term profits of economic resource use even if this means a loss of Sustained productivity in the longer run.
In an open market economy, which is being managed on the basis that prices should reflect real scarcities, effectuation of the principle of Environmental Justification means that the aim should be to "internalize' the COsts of environmental control. This principle of “internalization of environmental costs' means that any use of a Common resource, direct or indirect, made by an individual economic household should be paid for by that household in proportion to its - use. (Direct individualization of Internalization) Where it is impossible or impracticable to have the user paying directly, Costs may be redistributed by means of Some kind of levy, again as much as possible in proportion of the individual use made by households. (Indirect individualization or Internalization) In cases where we are dealing with typical, Common or Collective resources (goods) for which it is impossible to assess individual user benefits the costs of maintenance should be borne by Society at large. This is for instance the CaSe With “natural reserves”. (Collective Internalization) (The term Collective internalization is being used to underline that Society as a whole is bearing the cost and that those cost are being internalized via general taxes.)
it must be noted that various combinations of the three means of cost-internalization are possible. For example, a farmer can be obliged to invest in Soil Conservation measures on his own land (direct-internalization), in combination with a land-tax (or alternatively a surcharge on the use of irrigation
water) to let him pay for collective
conservation measures in the catchment area concerned (indirect-internalization), while by
21

Page 24
HENVIROI
means of general taxes he will contribute to the funding of the protection of vulnerable steep slopes. A gem miner may be obliged to re-fill the mine after exhaustion (direct-internalization), to deposit a sum for the restoration of the surface (indirect-internalization), to deposit a sum for the
restoration of the surface (indi
rect-internalization), while general taxes may be used to promote R & D of more environmentally sound mining practices, although in this case such R & D also could be financed by a surcharge on the sale of gems. A distillery may be obliged to have its own waste
water treatment facility (direct-in
fernalization) but because it residue may need further treatment in a collective treatment facility it will also have to pay for the costs of sewerage and collective treatment for instance by a levy on the waste watero volume (indi
rect-internalization) and finally the
distiller will have to pay taxes to finance i.a. the Costs associated with the establishment and funding of environmental control agencies (collective internalization).
These examples illustrate that there are many ways to internalize the costs of environmental Control. Also it may be clear that there are different views possible as how far internalization' should go. Some will argue that only those costs for which a 'direct casual link' between user' and 'environmental control costs' can be established, individualization of such costs is allowable. Others will argue that the "need for environmental Control' is primarily caused by the economic households using the environment as a "resource' or "dump' and therefore, those costs should be borne by them, at least in first instance. What should be done in practice is thus again a "political decision'. However, it is evident that any major departure - for a longer period of time - from the "principle of internalization' will result in less efficient Solutions, if not obstruction of environmentally sound manage
ment Of natural ri these grounds th tation of enviror ment systems s User Pays and P ciples.
(2) New and E
We have introd of Environmental the general Co regarding the a development act is combined with Internalization o Costs, we may developments w SuCCeed in bala COsts and benefi knowledge reach
However, the mental problems today are due ti lished activities. rapid deterioratio that takes place mal-practices We SOme kind O Strategy'. Also, emphasized that knowledge of th (the whole comple and of the doseOUS (chemica released into it everyday, it is im lish Once and fo tally sound contro ing new develop is most likely demonstrated ag: we systematicall the environmenta in all kinds of a of this "trial and We will have to to time the pra established proc sumption activiti the i diStinCtiOn bo existing Source environmentald important one economic and point of view an
implications for th
of environment neaSureS.
22

IMENTI
sources. It is on ut the implemenmental manageould follow the pluter Pays Prin
tisting Sources
Iced the Principle
Justification as de of Conduct pproval of new vities. When this
the Principle of F Environmental expect that new more or less hcing real Social Es (as far as our es).
bulk of environwe are facing D already estabin view of the n of ecosystems due to existing have to develop f "rehabilitation
it must be due to Our limited le functioning Of 2x of) ecosystems effects of numerI) Substances he environment possible to estabrall environmenol systems regardment activities. lt as has been ain and again that y under-estimate hazards involved ctivities. Because | error approach” adjust from time ctices of already Uction and COnes. Nevertheless, etween new and st of (potential) egradation is an from a sociotherefore, policy di should have its he implementation al management
(a)
(b) The
(C)
factors are taken into account and
Present income and employment is generated by existing enterprise. Any environmental control resulting in higher unit costs of operation may adversely affect the market position of existing manufacturing firms, the income position of farmers and so on. This problem will be more serious if we have to deal with low competitive units of enterprise operating at the margin of the market or even operating below the bottom line.
introduction of new resource Conservation and pollution control technologies - needed to comply with environmental management objectives - will generally be more easy for new than for existing enterprise both for technical and eCOnomiC reaSOnS.
Even in case where it can be demonstrated that the Social cost-benefit ratio of environmental control measures (short and long term) outweigh the loss of capital and employment vested in existing enterprise there is the Socio-political problem that the gains and losses do not accrue to the
same categories of people.
It is obvious that - unless such
actions are taken to overcome obstacles that may arise due to these factors - we cannot expect to make any significant progress in environmental management. In
Ve
iW of these circumstances. We
can derive the following general guidelines for implementation:
(i
) Standards of environmental control for new enterprise should generally be more stringent than for existing enterprise. This principle holds both for pollution control measures and perfor
mance standards related to
',ാ, ടീ
many countries this distinction is described as;
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
resource conservation. In

Page 25
m ENVIRO
- best available technology
for new Sources, and
- best practicable means for
existing Sources.
Although, this distinction leaves ample room for differences in actual interpretation and further elaboration it may be very useful as a general guidance for implementation.
(ii) In cases where an existing
(iii)
(iv)
Source is required to apply Control methods that are more stringent than best practicable means there is a Case for financial compensation of the extra Costs involved. Su Ch CaSeS may occur where the protection of "natural ecosystems' do require more Severe control measures. (Environmentally Justified Compensation).
In Case where application of the principle of best practicable means is beyond the financial capabilities of an existing firm compensation should be allowed only if otherwise the economic viability of such enterprise would be undermined. (Economically Justified Compensation).
Financial compensation of environmental Control meaSures in enterprises of which the economic vitality is doubtful, should take place only in the context of a comprehensive set of measures to restore SOund economic performance.
It is bad - although rather common - policy to exempt marginal or unprofitable enterprise from normal (best practicable) environmental standards on just these grounds. The problems with such enterprises are "economic" in nature (bad rhanagement, old equip
ment, over-sized capacity or
under-sized units of operation, under-investment, low-skilled or low-motivated labour and
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
(V)
SO On). Only problems are Sed, there improvement and enviror mance. If no will loose.
Existing firm: shold be gr period of time Selves to ne requirements. period is ne entrepreneurs
-to find optim methods of COntrol turneC Operational C
- to Combine the need fo Control With
energy - and ing technolog
- to avoid n in the Cash endanger t Sound' liquidit Such transitic differ from S depending u nitude and L environmental the specific CUmStanCeS SectOr.
(vi) in order to fa
sible to S implementatic mental Con industry, agri Sectors of the ernment may cial incentive environmenta Such incenti reductions,
reSOUrCe SaV direct invest the installati abatement ( and SO On emphasized tỉVe - SChem: limited to the

IMENT
Such economic properly addresS a Scope of n both economic mental perfor, all but a few
, farmers, etc., anted a Certain to adjust themW environmental
This transition eded to enable
al (cost-effective) environmental
to their specific
Onditions,
} where possible r environmental
investments in raw-material savly, and
hajor disruptions flow that may neir “otherwise y and Solvability. On periods may ector to Sector, pon the magIrgency of their problems and economic cirapplying to the
cilitate and pospeed up the n of environrol throughout culture and other economy, govintroduce spes to comply with objectives. "es may be tax premiums on ing technology, ment grants for on of pollution -Ontrol facilities
it must be hat Such inCenis should be transition period
(for various sectors). Also it is important to note that such incentives Schemes will only be effective with regard to basically sound enterprise.
(vii). Apart from typical economic adjustment problems, one of the major obstacles for existing enterprise to comply with environmental objectives is the lack of feasible low-COSt non-waste technologies. In Order to promote the development and introduction of such technologies government may consider the establishment of a "Non-Waste Technology Promotion Fund'. Such a fund should grant subsidies both for the development and demonstration (pilot-projects) of such techniques.
To conclude this section, it may be emphasized again that, most of the obstacles hampering the implementation of environmental control measures are due to weak economic performance of (the various sectors of) enterprise and the lack of an effective industrial and agricultural sector policy. For this reason, it is most important that the implementation of environmental Control measures takes place in conjunction with an "economic structure policy' aiming at rationalization, modernization and restructuring of sectors of enterprise by providing proper incentives, technological guidance and human resource development.
3. Target Group Approach
From the two previous sections it may be clear that the environmental management of economic . ecosystems cannot be carried out without due regard of the factors determining the economic performance of various sectors of enterprise.
If Government expect entrepreneurs to integrate environmental Considerations into their invest
23

Page 26
ENVIRC
ment decisions and management practices, entrepreneurs have the right to demand from government an se understanding is of their economic environment. Such an understanding requires of the Government;
- that environmental management objectives pertaining to their activities will be established by
a proper assessment of priorities,
- that implementation schemes
will be based on an assessment of the availability of feasible and cost-effective control methods, and
- that implementation will allow entrepreneurs to find most optimal solutions to comply with environmental objectives.
Since the Combination of environmental problems and technical-economic conditions prevailing in different (sub) sectors of the economy are quite different there should be a flexible approach reflecting such differences. This certainly does not mean that the general guidelines for implementation as presented in the previous Section are not valid for all Sector but rather that there is room for further elaboration (refinement) on a sector by sector basis. Such an elaboration is needed to tune the implementation of environmental objectives to specific conditions prevailing in different sectors and branches of the economy. In other words, we should follow a Target Group Approach.
A target-group may be defined as a group of decision-makers representing a set of more or less similar economic activities with common environmental management problems.
The basic philosophy of the target group approach is that by means of careful analysis, consultation, policy planning and implementation it is possible to
match ecologica economic oppo that Will be be productivity of Cerned.
The main (opel of a target group be to establish (3-5 years) scher tion of environm sures consisting
(a) general levels Control to be out the targe aCCOunt rele scale and it activities;
(b) a time-Schec tation, event regard to sp tal li issues activities;
(c)
identification, Selection of
COntro meth eventually c technology-d ramme to mental Contr longer run;
(d) assessment
appropriate f to Overcome for environm
assessment
for training a Vices to faci tion to be foll ment On mut and COst-sh (f) assessment
for monitorir of the imple again followe On mutual tre cost-sharing.
(e
)
ESSential fo approach is th COnCerned is by people who to negotiate onb Also essential is
24

NMENT
Constraints and tunities in a way eficial to overall the SeCtOr COn
ational) objectives approach should a medium-term
he of implementa
nta COntrol meaOf:
of environmental
applied throughgroup taking into vant Variations in pe of economic
ule for implemenually phased with CifiC envirOnmen
and types of
assessment and
feasible physical |Ods (technology), :Ombined With a evelopment progenhance environrol options in the
and Selection of inancial incentives existing obstacles ental control;
of specific needs and extension serlitate implementaowed by an agreeual respońsibilities aring, and
of specific needs ng and evaluation mentation scheme d by an agreement esponsibilities aned
r target group at the Sub-SectOr peing represented
have a mandate behalf of the SectOr. S that the environ
mental, technical and economic information on which decisions regarding the various elements have to be made in reliable and reflects major variations in type or Scale of activities and environmental problems as there may be.
A major advantage of the target
group approach is that the interac
tion between economic and environmental issues is being analyzed and discussed on a level that is most appropriate from a socio-economic point of view. Socio-economic issues like prevailing market conditions and pros
pects, production Structure, technology development, employment and human reSOUrCe
development play a dominant role at the sectoral or branch level.
For example, some individual enterprises may be weak while the economic position of the majority of enterprise in the sector is strong. In this case it would be wrong to grant exemptions or subsidies for environmental control to Weak individual firms. Poor economic performance of an economic (sub) sector as a whole may be due to over capacity, out-dated product assortment, old production equipment, etc. In such a case there is a need for modernization and rationalization of overall production capacity within the sector. Such a restructuring process can very well be combined with improvements of environmental control. Another example may be that due to lack of know-how, capital or land-security more profitable types of land-use are not being undertaken (agroforestry, horticulture, animal husbandry). A change from low earnign or subsistence agriculture to more profitable cultivation systems is probably the best way to ensure appropriate soil and water Conservation measures.
All these examples illustrate that much can be gained by having a comprehensive analysis and policy planning of environmental and economic problems at the sectoral
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990

Page 27
E ENVIRON
level. Another major advantage of a target group approach is that it provides clarity with regard to environmental objectives and ways and means of implementation to all people concerned. If the sectoral environmental objectives and implementation schedule is published and distributed everyone concerned may know what the policy is and what its implications are. This certainly will facilitate the implementation process because entrepreneurs will be able to anticipate and i decision-makers will known how to place problems related to individual enterprise in their proper context.
However, there is also the other side of the coin. First, it must be noted that by presenting environmental problems on a sectoral level there may be a strong pressure on behalf of the target group to "relax" environmental objectives (target levels of control) and to buy time by lengthening the time schedule for implementation. this will be less of a problem if there is a strong political commitment towards the achievement of environmental objectives or in cases where enforcement Of environmental control may result in the shut down of marginal enterprise to the benefit of more viable enterprise.
Secondly, a target group approach requires a lot of information gathering, analysis, consultation and planning. This means an investment in time and manpower efforts On behalf of both the environmental and economic management sectors of Government. It also can result in the delay of tackling very urgent environmental problems. Such capacity problems and possible delays in actual implementation have to be balanced against the advantages of a target group approach regarding overall effectiveness and efficiency of implementation and enforcement. It is however obvious that priority should be given to (sub) sectors which cause major environment problems.
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
Thirdly, and nected to the f point, it must be a target group a the full co-op “eCOnOmiC mana of Government. they be convince appropriate envi agement system this is of Suffici “eCOnomici intere their Own Secto instruments for Environmental po experience quite in achieving such This points againt tion of target gro ticular to sectors expect that both “en VirOnmental” bé group approach
Conclusion
The efficiency a of environmental boe CdetermineCd tC by the ways anc control strategies and implemented. should aim at a environmental ( environmental COS ognition of the \ Cumstances betw available for ne' activities as well a between Subse economy. This accomplished by group approach. group approach developed and Close Consultation groups involved. requires an appro tion between the tors involved in respectively ecol ment, not in the efficient source much dependant enhanced SubStar ing the econom agriculture and developing such approach priority to those SubSec

MENT
ery Close conrst and Second emphasized that )proach rėquires 2ration of the gement' sectors Not only should of the need for "Onmental manS but also that ent priority and st' to (re) adjust all policies and this purpose. licy-makers may Some difficulties active support. O a Careful SelecJps more in parwhere we may 'economic' and nefits of a target will be large.
nd effectiveneSS management will ) a great extent means Source will be designed Such strategies n integration of objectives and its with due recrariations in Cireen and options w and existing S the differences Ctors in the S Ca be ollowing a target Such a target Should be mplemented in with the interest However, it also iriate, co-ordinaJovernment secenvironmental, Iomic manage
least because.
control is very On and Can be tially by improvc efficiency of ndustry. When a target group should be given OrS WhiCh are
Stantial
creating serious environmental problems and where there is subscope for improving economic efficiency by upgrading production technology, Saving of energy and raw materials.
Contd from page 6
restoring trise status quo ante with regard to the demographic proportions of those areas.
State land available for allocation Will be made available to the landless Of the area.
Areas from which people have been forced out of lands they have habitually inhabited (including refugees) shall be identified and Such inhabitants shall be rehabilitated in those areas completely. All persons shall be free to purchase land, live and carry on their livelihood in any area of this coun
try."
The word 'area' needs to be defined. Does it mean a Pradeshiya Sabha of around 81 sq. miles on an average or a Grama Sevaka Division of about 4sq. miles on an average?
“Demographic complexion also needs elucidation. If Tamils subject to Thesawalamai in the Jaffna peninsula are given land în the Maduru Oya catchment area along with Batticaloa Tamils subject to Mukkuwa law and Tamil-speaking Muslims subject to Muslim law and Indian Tamils subject to the common law, would that be considered as changing the demographic complexion in the Maduru Oya catchement area?
Column 170 of Hansard of 19th February 1987 sets out the propOsed allocation in Scheme B in Batticaloa District as follows:-
AlOtmentS 18,690 (approx)
Sri Lankan Tamils 10,449 + 30
Muslims 4,830 + 15
Indian Tamils 270 + 3
15,558
This proposal has been incorporated in the Peace ACCOrd of 29th July 1987 and should be adhered tO.
25

Page 28
-——
aAGRicUil
MECHANIZED PA CULTIVATION A T'S PROBLEMS IN AMPARA DISTR
A. N. AHAMED
Department of Agricultural Economics East
Results (41 years) than t
Characteristics of the sample (24 years old). Th farmers: no significant c
The tractor hiring farmers were, mean educationa on the average, significantly older ween these two
26
 

TURE
DDY ND Ι ΤΗΕ
ΟΤ
ern University
le traCtOr OWnerS ere was, however ifference in the attainment betarm groups. The
average farm size of the tractor owners (11.7 acres) was significantly larger than that of the tractor hirers (6.4 acres). The rice farmers with large farms generally have their own tractors to facilitate faster land preparation. They usually rent out their tractors to earn additional income, which in turn, has been used as supplementary capital for the purchase of material inputs Such as fertilizer and other chemiCalS.
There were no significant differences in yield and cropping intensity between the two farm groups. However the average yields per acre in the 'Yala' Season were
significantly higher than those of
the “Maha” SeaSOn fOr bOth grOupS.
This is due to the abundance of sunshine and the availability of irrigation water throughout the dry season. The average cropping intensity of the tractor owners was 192% While the tractor hirers had an average Cropping intensity of 188%. High cropping intensity in the study area might be attributed to irrigation and mechanization.
Eighty two percent of the tractor hirers are land Owners and the rest are lesses and share tenants. In the case of tractor owners, 72 percent of them are land owners and the rest are lesses and share tenants. Rice farming is the primary occupation of the majority of both tractor Owners and the tractor hirers (70 percent of the tractor owners and 60 percent of the tractor hirers). A large percentage of the tractor Owners, however, had reported that rice farming was their primary occupation as Compared to the tractor hirers.
Type, Age and Source of Capital:
The most common make of tractor (68 percent) used in the sample villages was MF 240. About 32 percent of the sample farmers used MF 135. Ninety four percent of the tractors were solely owned, with an average age of 3.7 years.
Since a large amount of capital is
required in purchasing a tractor,
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990

Page 29
AGRIC
the tractor owners had to obtain loans from Commercial banks and other financing companies for the purchase of a tractor. Forty eight percent of the tractor owners obtained loans from Government Commercial banks while only 22 percent borrowed capital from private companies. About 30 percent of the farmers used their own capital in purchasing their tractors.
There were 137 four-wheel tractors in service in the sample villages. Out of this total, 80 percent were hired out. On the average a tractor ploughed 56 acres in the 'Yala'. Season and 68 acres in the “Maha”. SeaSOn.
Reasons for Using and Renting-Out Tractors:
Table: 1. ShOWS the reasons for
the study villages. Timeliness in land preparation operations was the most common reason cited by the sample respondents for using tractors (60% of the tractor hirers and 36% of tractor owners). Most of the farmers believed that machine Services would save time in land preparation, thus enabling them to plant earlier and increase their cropping intensity. In the past, the slow pace in land preparation With the use of draft animals had caused delays in their planting Schedule.
The second most important reason cited was the unavailability Or lack of draft animals that COuld be hired in the study areas (24 percent of the tractor hirers and 16 percent of the tractor owners). The other reasons mentioned for using tractors, were the increase in leisure time and less strenous land preparation were more efficiently done with the use of tractors. Mechanical land preparation also relieves the farmers of the proolem of hiring or maintaining work animals. Tractors can prepare much larger areas duickly than the work animals and require none of the care and feedling that the work animals require during the off-seaSOn.
di
ECONOMICREVIEW JULY 1990
In the case of tİ the primary reaSc their tractors Or work was to augr
Problems with
USBe
Lack of availa they could hire need was the mo lem that the trae enCOuntered. Du ital reduirement of tractors, mar
to buy their ov was, therefore why there were sample villages. tractors was f because of the
of performing operations simuli of the high work drivers or operat the high deman vices in these a therefore, to do Order to meet tractor Services, were hurriedly d reported that th{ aration Could ha weed Control thorough land g population WOt reduced, thereb cost of weeding (
Moreover, the plained about t rate for tractor
 

JLTURE E
le traCtOr-OWnerS, ns for renting-Out for doing custom hent their inCOme.
regard to tractor
ble tractOrs that
at their time of st important prob
2 to the large capfor the purchase ly farmers in thu could not afford
Wn i tractors. - This *
he major reason ew tractors in the
The shortage of urther intensified
farmer's practice
land preparation aneously. In view load of the tractor ors as a result of d for traCtOr Serreas, they failed, a good job. In the demand for land preparations one. The farmers brough land prepve substituted for methods. With reparation, Weed uld have been y minimizing the
r weed control. ractor hirers COmhe high contract work. Due to the
peak months for land preparation
high fuel and maintenance costs, the tractor owners had to charge the tractor hirers Rs 800-1000 per acre. Because of the high contract rates that they had to pay, the production cost of the tractor hirers had, in turn, increased thereby reducing their profit margin. Hence, the tractor hirers mentioned that the benefits they derived from tractor use were fewer compared to those of the tractor Owners because their farms were not thoroughly prepared and also because of their higher production cost.
On the other hand, the main problem faced by tractor owners was the fuel shortage during the
activities (Table: 2). Due to fuel shortage, land preparation tasks were often delayed and this was also mentioned as a major factor for the inability of the tractor drivers to meet the tractor hirerS demand for custom services. This delay in the completion of land preparation operations Sometimes caused lower Crop yields or Crop failures in a number of farms.
Another problem that the tractor owners encountered was the increasing cost of hired labour. Due to the increase in their COSt of living, the tractor drivers even
pressure on the tractor owners to meet their demand for higher
27

Page 30
AGRIC
Wages. These labour disputes betWeen the tractor Owners and the drivers mostly took place during the peak land preparation Schedule. Such labour disputes also served as a Contributing factor to the delay in the completion of land preparation activities in the sample villages.
Unavailability of spare parts and inadequate Servicing or maintenance of the tractors were also among the major problems Confronting the tractor owners. Political allegiance or affinity was often found to be a barrier to obtaining spare parts from authorized agents. Moreover, due to the fact that the authorized agents have limited stocks of spare parts, the "tractor - OWnerS had to purchase
their spare parts from private agents who charged from 1.5 to 5 times higher than the official price. Maintenance cost, therefore, varied from 4 to 74 percent of their total gross income from their
tractor-renting operation. Repairs
and maintenance expenses have risen due to the scarcity of spare parts and the black marketing Operations in the district. Hence, the tractor business Operation can be considered as a highly complex one. The type and age of the tractor, the type and combination of jobs performed, the contract rates charged, the number of days worked, fuel costs and the repair
and naintenan Cé to make profitab ership highly va
Conclusion
In view of the traCtOr Contract paration operatic done by the t operators. Anoth tioned was the charged by the which averaged per acre. This in profit margin ear hirers. High trac were attributed wage rates of til rising fuel costs increase in repa expenses. Lack
parts & blackr spare parts con extent to the i and maintenanC tractor Owners. ing the peak activities Were have caused accomplishment tion operations major factor for ers' inability to Of Other farmerS Services. Such caused crop fa Of farms.
Based On the sions, it can
28
 
 
 
 
 

ULTURE
COSts, all interact lity of tractor ownriable.
high demand for services, land preons were hurriedly
ractOr drivers or ner problem menhigh custom rates 2 tractor OWners
RS 800 - 1000/=
turn, reduced the ned by the tractor tor custom rates to the increase in he tractor drivers, S, as well as the ir and maintenance of available spare
narket selling of ributed to a large ncrease in repair 2 expenses of the Fuel shortage dur
monthS for land also reported to delays in the
of land preparaand Served as a the tractOrS OWnmeet the demand for tractor Custom delays sometimes lure in a number
foregoing diSCtuse Concluded that
there has been a Substantial increase in the demand for tractor custom services in recent years in the Ampara district, but the number of four wheel tractors in the district is Still insufficient to meet the increasing demand for tractor Custom services. The high demand for traCtOrl COntract Services in the district might be correlated with the availability of assured irrigation facilities and the scarcity of labour and working animals in the area. Such high demand for traCtOr COntract Services in the Study area has increased utilization of tractors, thereby increasing repairs and maintenance expenses of the tractor owners. Maintenance problems attributed to lack of imported spare parts and skilled mechanics were among the major problems of the traCtOr OWnerS.
Findings of the study have also indicated that large farmers were the tractor Owners and had a higher demand for tractor Services compared to the small farmers, implying that the rich and large farmers would largely benefit from mechanization of land preparation. The fact that tractors can prepare much larger areas rapidly than the Work animals has motivated the rich farmers with large landholding to OWn a tractOr.
The high Custom rate appeared to be the most serious problem confronting the tractor hirers. This might have a serious implication On the future demand for tractor custom services depending on the availability and rental cost of working is animals in the district. Increases in the prices of fuel and the wages of the tractor drivers, as well as repairs and maintenance expenses had made tractor use more expensive in the study area. Despite the increase in tractor custom rate, the hirers could not revert back to the use of animal power because of the scarcity of working animals.
Contd on page 30
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990

Page 31
. DEVOLUTION / RE
Contd from page 9
take the regional councils or the provincial councils, I am talking of the capacity to be afforded to these councils, not just to waste Central government mOnies, squander them on corruption - as called it once, the decentralisation of corruption, rather than the decentralisation of government - no, not for this purpose, but really for them to be able to engage in the use, in the study, in the examination and in the development of their local resources for production. That is because, given what we call a gestation period, shall We say five years or six years whatever - sometimes gestation periods are related to the life-time of a tree, a rubber tree takes five years to grow and a cashew tree takes so many years to grow and So on - but given the use of resources in each area and the development of these resources for production, the product of Which then becomes the basis also for increasing prosperity to the people, and to the regional councils or provincial Councils and to the central government, then you have a buttress for the devolutionary structure which will make it unshakable.
AS I said in my lectures that is why development will also benefit. I have not gone into that. Development will also benefit by having devolution, because participatory democracy, economic democracy, is an important Concept. But devolution itself will not stand. Let me go as far as Saying that will not stand, unless it is backed up by power to the Provincial Councils Or to the periphery, to engage in productive developmental activities. This has been borne out also in a recent experiment in Karnataka State. Karnataka State
Southern States, it suppose you can put it that way. It is a very interesting experiment, where the Zilla Parishads, which are equivalent - one of these states is as big as or bigger than our country — to the Provincial Council, or
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
Regional Council, Where their chief Chief Minister; the vant is simply his the local resourc are in the hanC Parishad for planni Cation of investme purposes. It attra attention that Dr. F then Chief Ministe Kashmir, made a he intended to fol as a device. I am as a footnote, to ill tical importance accepted, by those it, development a the devolutionary
There is a neec understanding of We Can really impl of devolution. We exCellent devolut intelectually Worke people are not re it would collapse.
History
In 1926 We had t by Bandaranaike Structure. We had before the Donoug Sion in 1931 - developed this ide 1925 - for a feder We had the inter Where the Tan opposed the settin Structure. Now he example of a sta as to what they wa Sure of Course, tha its own sectional ir Ways. But your poi illustrated when W When the 'B - C' F lated. And it was Structure in One Se down on the grou a threat Of a feder federalism was the was the Worst pa With the threat of S I am not saying t threats should be I am not saying is phenomenon whic

DEMARCATIONm
set up a System executive is the Chief Civil Serexecutive, and es Of that area S Of the Zilla ng and for applint for productive acted so much arouk Abdullah, r of Jammu and Statement that low this up also mentioning this, ustrate the practhat has been who have done is a support to process.
to develop an concepts before ement a system e Could have an ionary pattern, ld Out, but if the ady for it, then
he first proposal for a federal the Kandyans, hmore COmmisin fact they a before that in al structure. And esting situation nil Community g up of a federal "e, Was an early te Of COnfusion Inted. I am quite ut each One saw terest in differnt ‘nt is even more e COme down, Pact was formuhardly a federal nse. It was shot ind, that it was al Structure and nequated, this rt of it think, separation. Now hese fears and set aside. What that here is a h Came up as
a reality. And I think what I would underline is that it is very important in Society to meet these fears, however wrong or ill-based they are, as much as to provide for Solutions.
It is necessary for Society to be advanced enough in ideas to be able to accept a change. I think, fortunately in one sense, but unfortunately through the price that we have paid, through the cirCumstances and events that have happened in this country, in a Sense from 1956 Or 1958 onwards, and increasingly after 1983 - these are all very unfortunate - but think fortunately we now have a situation where, I hope I am not wrong, there is fairly wide understanding and acceptance of the fact, that We need a devolutionary system, and that a devolutionary system is not bad after all. So all I would say is that, if this comes up, we have to assure the people, and I hope this will be done, to assure especially the majority com: munity who now feel also that they are a minority in the larger geo-political context in the Indian Ocean area, that this is not divisive. And the only way to do this nationally, is by injecting the development component into this; by applying a fair mechanism, where in sincerity and honesty, "identity, security and opportunity’ are provided; and by ensuring the participation in the Centre of the minority Communities. I think if this is done, then, in concept, the people will begin to accept that this is not a divisive thing and there would be a convergence, as I said, between the politics of devolution and the principle of devolution.
Switzerland and India
The classic case that people like to quote is Switzerland. In this century we forget that Switzerland had 700 years of war, of fighting, just sheer fighting, before it forged an arrangement, a federal structure, through the cantonal system, . which makes it a model Country.
29

Page 32
. DEVOLUTION / F
Now if anybody asks whether the Swiss are Swiss, or something else, whether they are Romanche, or Italian, or French or German, think the Swiss themselves will be the first to laugh at you. They will say 'we are Swiss'. At the same time, they are proud to display their own special characteristics. This is a classic case and I think is a great hope. If they fought for 700 years, we did not fight so long, hope I can Call it 7 years instead of 700. But Whatever it is, it is a classic instance.
Now there are other instances where obviously the same story has been enacted but with much less drama. It has happened in Belgium, it has happened, in the United States, in Canada, which it has happened in Australia. It has happened in India. Now in India it is a subtle way, as I Would like to put it. India, at independence, was one country. There were states which were set up not on linguistic terms. If they were linguistic in Some cases it was just by accident. And I want to put it to you, that as it happened, and the states got redefined in linguistic terms, that if this had
not happened, of the politics of have Come intO words, that the the Union Of been a reality reckoned with. was a federal a linguistic basis to components this large COur allowed room fi Which then led to
AS far as the ation is Concerr a trans-India ph not attribute it of devolution. See that th phenomenon - Ayudhya or it Maharastra or, Hyderabad or is is a phenom trans-Continenta nent Of |ln( State-phenomer try-wide phenor not say it is Sc to the State-stri
In the Punjat trates what I a
With these problems confronting the tractor users in the study area, the following recommendations are, therefore made: 1. Local manufacturing of small tractors and spare parts should be promoted by the government without government protection or subsidization in order to reduce the Cost of tractor con tract services and to serve on foreign exchange. Local manufactures should develop effective, easy to operate and mainstain Small tractors. As a result, cost differences between animaland-tractor power services
will become small enough to induce an increasing number of farmers to purchase or rent
small tractors.
2. The government should also
30
assist in training mechanics and
" machine op of able skilled
19 study area ar 3. The gove * Subsidize vi ? purchase ol through low rammes (si rates). Base ences invari programmes benefitted t farm popula Es credit (more O should be pi interest sub local manufé the manufac well as top enough cap o ble them otc is locally prod S tOrS. Sfi 4. To help the
 
 
 
 
 

EDEMARCATION –
he divisive forces devolution would peration. In other divisive threat of ndia would have or a force to be he fact that there ystem set up òn gave satisfaction of the Society, of try of India, and }r self-expression, a strengthening.
Hindu-MuSlim Situled I Would call it nomenon. Would to the Weakness Because, you will e Hindu-Muslim it may manifest in may manifest in it may manifest in somewhere else - lenOn Which iS l, in the sub-contidia. It is a non. It is a Counnenon. So | WOUld pmething germane uiCture.
situation, it illusUm saying, in fact
rators since availmechanics in the e Stil inadequate. rnment should not the manufacture, use of tractors cost credit progubsidized interest d on past experiDus countries, such have seldom le, majority of the ion. Instead, easy and bigger loans) bvided without any
sidy to attract the
cturers to invest in uring business, as ovide the farmers, cal which will enapurchase or rent
ced, low-costtracՇ: Եriր, ՀՅ Շր: S
small farmers, who
リ三窪
Yala, Ampara - District, ist is
because there you have the case of a minority which is de facto, concentrated into one physical area, and the fact is, I am not here to sit in judgement on anything or anybody, the fact is think, the present situation can be largely explained by the fact, that the need, the extent of devolution that was necessary, was not effected in time. In other Words, if five years ago, or ten years ago, a type of devolution had been effected in Punjab, then We Would not have been in this present situation.
AS for the rest, I don't think it is fair for me to go into, because then we are trying to pick holes, find fault with the application of government policy as at present in the Punjab. So I grant you the phenomena, the phenomena exist. But we have to be very careful, The Hindu-Muslim phenomenon is not the result of devolution and the Punjab situation is the result
of delayed devolution. Too little,
too late, as Marshal Petain said, when Hitler invaded France. It had too few people to defend the motherland. But too little too late is a fearsome consequence. And
that may be an example for us also.
a cannot afford to buy their trac.itor avail of tractor services, the government through existing Di farmer "" organizations and cooperatives, should look into the establishment of a tractor Upoof or the organization of a tractor contract system in the area similar to those existing it in Thailand and Malaysia. If this will yield the desired benefits, farmers's training on the opersation and maintenance of the it tractors should follow.'"
References.* *ತಿಂಡಿ ||
21. Agricultural Development implement tation Programme (1984/85) Maha and
2. Ahamed, i. 1975. Green revolution with or without tractors: The case of Sri Lanka, Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Vol. ༣ No. 2 is gnaniza 3. Farrington, T. and W. A.T.Abeysekera 1979, issues in Farm power and water use in Sri Lanka, ART Sri Lanka.
ASYS S A SAAS SaS ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990

Page 33
. DEVOLUTION / R Contd from page 12 In addition to t by the Maha Oya and in the south Jayawardenapura by the Gin Ganga and included necessary that t the mountainous area eastwards have their own m up to the Mahaweli Ganga. established at C
it was recorded by Claudius Anuradhapura anc Ptolemy (Circa 150 A.D.) that to meet the ne Ruhunú was synonimus with Where ever the ir Nagadipa which extended at that amenities are i time to include the Jaffna Penin- Should be strength sula. The Rajarata in the south been chosen as t was bounded by the Deduru Oya, also given weight in the North limited itself to the Significance. mainland, and eastwards to include the Knuckles MaSSif. The Mayarata included the rest namely 2.1 Provinces
the area between the Deduru Oya within the c in the north, the Gin Ganga in the Regions South and the Central massif in
the east.
The four regions
There were many changes in subdividedinto Pri the Regional Boundaries between further sub-divid the time of Gajabahu I (Circa 150 retaining as far a A.D.) and the 14th century But present boundarie principally the Ancient Administra- the changes requi tive System had been to divide ment needs for t the country into Agro Hydraulic of agricultural trac Regions ruled by a King. and management, C assisted by his heir apparent and natural boundarie also assisted by Military advisors and Adigars (Ministers) under whom Disawanies and Korales, the equivalent of Districts and Divisional Revenue officers areas of present times were administered.
If we have to go back to the Management of our economy which is fundermentally based on Agriculture and fisheries, then we would have to go back to the traditional Agro-Hydraulic Regions, but in addition we would also have to demarcate a new region for the land resources, (Se management of the largest systems) and development project of all m: oriented Managem namely the Mahaweli Project. In Short še have to start with abase. Te of 4 large Agricultural Regions. EPIF ad to namely the Rajarata, the Mayarata, 'a' into the agrict and Ruhunurata and the Mahaweli Region (in short the Mahaweliya). These natural agricultural regions have to be further sub-divided again on the basis of natural divisions into provinces and districts for Development and Management purposes.
The districts hav into ten provinces natural divides of ri as they determine aries for agricultur The existing histori been retained as and rew names
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990
 

EDEMARCATION
he capital of Sri it would also be he four regions tropolises to be plombo, Kandy, Tissamaharama V requirements. frastructure and adequate this ened. They have eing central ano to their historical
and Districts lifferent Natura
s have been first Ovinces and then ed to districts, s possible their S, but subject to red for develophe management cts and fisheries lependent. On s of water and
2e maps on river Development ent Boundaries.
es the existing be spilt up to tural regions.
e been grouped Keeping in mind ver CatchmentS, natural bounda development. Cal names have far as possible Created where
necessary on a historical basis as
far as possible. The province of
Uva and the Southern province were divided to include the LOWer Uva (Moneragala) to the Southern province, while the Galle district was included to the estern proVince. This decision was taken as the Galle district belongs to the wet zone and has problems common to the natural regions of Mayarata. See Table I showing the levels of management of Central Regional Provinces and District levels proposed for a scientific basis of Development.
On the proposed Regional divisions, the Island population is approximately distributed on the following basis. Rajarata 21%; Mayarata 37%; Ruhunurata 14% and Mahaweliya 28%. The population densities is highest in Mayarata, and Mahaweliya, while it is lowest in the Rajarata and in Ruhunurata. The population imbalance in Ruhunurata Could be rectified if the Galle District is included to Ruhunurata, but as stated earlier it has this disadvan
tage. However, if population distribution is to be an important criteria, then the Galle district should rightly belong to Ruhuna.
The new Regions, Provinces and Districts are indicated in the accompaning map and is also listed here for easy reference.
The proposed ten provinces have been divided into 28 districts for better agricul
tural management, " fisheries and
industrial development. Three new Districts have been proposed for
31

Page 34
( DEVOLUTION
Kalawewa, the Walawe Project area and the third for the Negombo district. The high population in the present Gampaha district as well as the specialised fisheries activities and the free trade zone, require special management and attention by the people of this proposed district as they are directly affected by these major activities.
3. Concluding
It is apparent to every one that only by the creation of the rational divisions of the Land Areas of the country into Agricultural Regions, Provinces and Districts that the economy of the Country and the Welfare of its people and its management could be ensured. Ultimately political freedom has no meaning in the abstract, unless it is integrated to the economic and social wellbeing of its people. For this We have to Create economically viable units and areas for the maximisation of the use of the resources of land and water, for the emancipation of its people and for the good of the largest number in a socialist democracy. Political power or freedom have otherwise no meaning to the people. It has meaning to the people only when they can be partners in development, where they can help to take meaningful decisions which are technically sound, economically beneficial and socially desirable. For this purpose we would have to mobilise the intellegentsia:- the Scientists and Technologists, the Economists, competent Management specialists and others to harness the Natural and Human resources that nature has bestowed upon us, for the development of Agriculture, Fisheries and Industry, for the good of the largest number.
I sincerely hope that these proposed divisions would form a basis for the crying need for decentral sation at Regional, Provincial and District level, at this critical time of our history.
e
32
 

REDEMARCATION
ECONOMIC REVIEW JULY 1990

Page 35
Puttalam District Main Economy: Agriculture: Coconut, paddy, cashcrops, Horticulture, Major scherne: Inginimitiya, Tabbowa, Iranavilla, Venathivillu,
Fisheries: Brakish water and coastal fisheries. City: Puttalam - Towns: Chilaw, Wennapuwa.
Kurunegala District Main Economy: Agriculture: Coconut, paddy, tobacco, Cashcrops, Schemes: Hakawatunaoya, Batalagoda, minor irrigation schemes
Fisheries: Brakish water and coastal fisheries City: Kurunegala - Towns: Kuliyapitiya, Wariapola
Kalawawea District Main Economy: Agriculture: Paddy, Coconut, Cashcrops Major Scheme: Kalawewa, Rajangana, Angamuwa, Mahaweli System “H” Fisheries: inland Fisheries City: Tamnbuttegama, Towns: Kalawewa, Migellewa, Talawa, Gallnewa.
Kattiyawa,
Anuradhapura District Main Economy: Agriculture: Paddy, Cashcrops, Chena irrigation Schemes: Nuwarawewa, Nachchaduwa, Pavatkulam and further development work proposed under Mahaweli System 'i'
industries: Tourism Metropolitan City: Anuradhapura Town: Medawachchiya
Horowpotana District Main Economy: Agriculture: Paddy and Cashcrops Irrtigation Schemes: Padaviya, Wahalkanda, Huruluwewa, Morawewa. In addition to further development under Mahaweli System "M" Fisheries: Inland, Blakish water & coastal fisheries City: Horowpotana - Town: Pulmoddai
Jaffna District Main Economy: Agriculture: Tobacco, Cashcrops, Potatoes, vegetables, Horticulture irrigation Schemes: Minor ground water extraction scheme, Iranamadu, Akkarayan Kulam, Vavunikulam Fisheries: Brakish water and coastal fisheries Industries: Cement, Chemicals and Tourism City: Jaffna - Towns: Paranthan
Mullativu District Main Economy: Agriculture: Paddy, Cashcrops irrigation Scheme: Muthiyankulam, Tannimarippu Further development under Systems K. L. of Mahaweli Scheme
Fisheries: Brakish water and Costal fisheries City: Mullativu - Town - Oddusudan.
Mannar District Main Economy: Agriculture: Paddy, Cashcrops Major Schemes: Giants Tank, Vavunikulam, Tube well lift irrigation, further developed under system 'J' of Mahaweli Project
Fisheries: Brakish and coastal fisheries
Gampaha District Main Economy: Agriculture: Coconut, paddy Major irrigation: Attanagalu Oya Scheme and other minor Schermes City: Gampaha - Towns: Minuwangoda, Veyangoda
Negombo District Main Economy: Agriculture: Coconut, paddy Major irrigation: Muthurajawela drainage scheme Fisheries: Brakish water and Coastal fisheries
industries: free Trade Zone, City: Negombo - Towns Katunayake Wattala, Kandana
Colombo District Main Ecol Agriculture: Coconut, paddy, Major Schemes: Kotte and Schemes Fisheries: Brakish water and Industries: Principal Commerc Harbour, various industries Capital: Sri Jayewardenapura Regional Metropolitan City: C Towns: Moratuwa, Maharag sawella and Padukka
Kalutara District Main Econ Agriculture: Rubber, coconut Major schemes: Bentota Gan Water exclusion scheme Fisheries: Brakish water and Industries: Tourism and rubb Cities: Kalutara - Towns: Pan goda
Galle District Main Economi Agriculture: Rubber, Team P Major Schemes: Ginganga P Fisheries: Brakish water and industries: Fisheries Harbour City: Galle - Towns: Hikkad
Kegalle District Main Econ Agriculture: Rubber, Tea, Sp Irrigation Schemes: Minor Irr City: Kegalle - Towns: Maw
Ratnapura District Main Ec Agriculture: Rubber, Tea, Sp irrigation: Minor irrigation
Industries: Gems and Touris City: Ratnapura - Towns: B
Matara District Main Econ Agriculture: Tea, Rubber, Pa Irrigation Schemes: Minor walaganga Scheme Industry: Tourism City: Matara: Town — Akuress Dondra, Welligama
Walawe District Main Ecor Agriculture: Paddy and Cast Major irrigation: Walawe, Cl and Ridiyagama Fisheries: lsland Fisheries, fisheries City: Embilipitïya Town: Tan
Lower Uva District Main Agriculture: Chena cultivatio Major Irrigation: Lunugamvel Fisheries: Brakish water anc Regional: Metropolitan City: Town: Hambantota, Moneragi
Ampara District Main Econ( Agriculture: Paddy and Cash Major irrigation: Gal Oya Sc Oya Irakkamam, Andella Oya
 
 

Ceremics and tourism S: Kochchikade, Katana, a and Kelaniya
nomy:
rubber Attidiya, Bolgoda Drainage
coastal fisheries ial Capital with international
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Xolombo ama, Mount-Lavinia. Avis
bomy:
paddy gascheme, Madampe Salt,
coastal fisheries er technology, Distilleries adura, Matugama, Ambalan
hy: addy, Sugarcane 'roject
coastal fisheries and Tourism uwa, Bentota, Elpitiya
Dmy: ices, Paddy
igation aneilla, Rambukkana.
:onomy: ices, Paddy
m alangoda, Pelmadulla
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irrigation, Proposed Nil
sa, Kamburupitiya, Deniyaya,
nomy:
crops, Sugarcane nandrikawewa, Muruthawela
Brakish water and coastal
galle, Ambalantota
*conomy: n, Paddy Sugarcane mera, Heda, Oya
Coastal fisheries Tisamaharama ala, Welawaya and Buttaa
omy:
Crops, Sugarecane heme, Palam Aru, Namal Divulanga Navakiri Aru.
Fisheries: inland Fisheries, Brakish Water and Coastal fisheries
industry: Paddy processing and tourism City: Ampara: Town: Kalmunai, Tirukovil, Pottuvil and Bibile
Batticaloa District Main Economy: Agriculture: Paddy and Cashcrops Major irrigation: Unnachchi Tank Fisheries: Brakish water and coastal fisheries Industry: Paddy processing and Tourism City: Batticaloa Town: Valachchanai, Paddiruppu
Matale District Main Economy: Agriculture: Tea, Rubber, Spices, Tobacco Major irrigation: Nalanda Oya Scheme, Devahuwa, Bowatena
Hydro-Power: Ukuvela, Bowatenna Industries: Gems, Tourism, Limekulas City. Matale - Towns: Dambula, Rattota.
Kandy District Main Economy: Agriculture: Tea, Rubber, Spices, Tobacco Major irrigation: Polgola Diversion, Kotmale Hydro Power: Kotmale Industries: Handicrafts, Tourism Regional Metropolitan - Cities: Kandy Towns: Peradeniya, Gampola, Wattegama
Nuwara-Eliya District Main Economy: Agriculture: Tea, Spices, Major irrigation: Kandapola Scheme Hydro Power: Castlereagh, Norton Bridge, Mousakelle Industry: Tourism Cities: Nuwara-Eliya - Towns: Maskeliya, Hatton
Badulla District Main Economy: Agriculture: Tea. Paddy, Cashcrops, Vegetables irrigation: Minor irrigation, Number of proposed Hydro-Power Projects
Industry: Tourism City: Badulla - Town: Bandarawela, Welimada
Mahiyangana District Main Economy: Agriculture: Paddy and Cashcrops Major irrigation: Minipe Anicut, Mapakada, Dambarawewa, Soraborawewa, Wahalkande, Rathikinda, System 'C' and System 'E'
Fisheries: Inland Fisheries City: Mahiyangana - Town: Hasalanka, Girandurukotte, Dabiata Kandiya Agriculture: Paddy and Cashcrops, Animal husbandary Major irrigation: Maduru Oya, Pimburattawa, Aralaganwila Fisheries: Inland Fisheries, Coastal Fisheries City: Welikande - Town: Manampitiya
Polonnaruwa District Main Economy: Agriculture: Paddy and Cashcrops, Animal Husbandary Major irigaiton: Parakrama Samudra, Minneriya, Giritale, Kandulla, Elahera.
Fisheries: Inald Fisheries City: Polonnaruwa - Town: Hingurakgoda
Trincomalee District Main Economy: Agriculture: Paddy, Sugarcane and Cashcrops, Animal Husbandary Major irrigaiton: System 'A', Alai-Kantalai Reservoir Fisheries: Brakish water and coastal fisheries Industries: International Harbour. Tourism Major Coal Thermal Power Generation. Free Trade Zone: (Proposed) Tourism Somawathie National Park City: Trincomalee - Towns: Muttur, Kantalai.

Page 36
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