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Unawatuna in the spotlight
By Marisa de Silva
Beautiful Unawatuna, declared the No. 1 beach in the world by Discovery Channel early this year, is to be the focus of a pilot project, a joint venture between the Sri Lanka Tourist Board and Seva Lanka, a local NGO interested in developing the area.
The project hopes to improve the lives of the people in Unawatuna while promoting the area as a tourist attraction, says Tourist Board Chairman Paddy Withana.

"When tourism is encouraged it will be beneficial to the community. More and more boutiques will be able to sell crafts, tea, food and clothing. The people will also be made aware on how best the beach should be made use of while preserving its natural beauty."

Efforts will be made to improve water sports by providing the necessary know-how. There has also been a proposal to develop a fishing village in the area. This will benefit the community and tourists will be able to observe the lifestyle of the fisherfolk.
What do the people of Unawatuna think of this?

Journalist and photographer Royston Ellis says, "The best thing about Unawatuna is that it has so far been untouched by the government. For the most part Unawatuna has grown on its own. The people by the beach who own little kiosks clean up and also self-police the area."

Rohan*, an owner of a kiosk in the area, claims that the economic level of the people is not better or worse than most people in the country. "We make do with whatever we have and get on with our lives."

If at all the government wants to intervene, it should provide more job opportunities in the area. However, he laments, the government will only set up a few hotels and create a few jobs, ensuring that the revenue will flow back to the government.

There are about 50 restaurants in the area, with most people depending on them for their survival. “If the government does get involved, it would be to impose some tax or another, rather than giving aid,” is his cynical comment.

“The government has not yet provided a systematic garbage disposal scheme and the chances of improving the people's living conditions seem slim. As for garbage collection, the people have hired a tractor to pick up the rubbish on a daily or weekly basis.”

Instead of opening a hotel in the area, what would be beneficial to the people is the promotion of Unawatuna overseas. Then more tourists will want to visit the area, he says.

Hotel manager Mahesh* concedes that the government could do many things for the area if only it took the time and effort to do so. "There's little or no return on our tax payments on essential services such as better roads. Most roads have potholes."
Garbage disposal at his hotel is also a problem. "We get rid of the wet garbage on our own but the dry garbage still needs to be collected." The skyrocketing electricity bills are also causing sleepless nights for them.

Youngsters who drop out of school (most even before their O/Ls) end up getting addicted to drugs or indulging in illegal activity on the beach. Therefore, the government should adopt the policy of "prevention being better than cure" and provide jobs to them to stop them going astray, he adds.
* Names have been changed to protect identities.

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