Financial Times

Canal commuting steers into new waters
It won’t be Venice, but over the coming months Colombo’s canals are going to come alive to the sound and sight of water transport.

The building has already started and the boats are ready. It’s all part of a plan to make the city more environmentally-friendly, get commuters to work, and offer eco-tours to the natural wetlands still to be found in the greater Colombo area. Not to mention getting tourists to stay in Colombo by offering a little culture. It’s all part of International Waterways Ltd plan, with its director H. Nimal Gonaduwa, and the technological help, safety utilisation and financing offered by Canada.

By the end of this month eco- and leisure tours will be in service, showing off the natural beauty of the Kotte Marsh and the indigenous wildlife there. To follow, within the next 12 months, will be a water transport system that will bring commuters, quickly and safely, to work. The idea began with the present Urban Development and Water Supply Minister back in May 1999. The then government gave its approval the following March to develop the canals and clear up the environment as well.

The project was looked, a report published, but shelved due to infrastructure costs, such as dredging, garbage clean-up and diverting sewage, not to mention eradicating mosquito breeding grounds.

Then a slice of luck came the project’s way: a Canadian management consultancy Infoconsult Incorp eventually came across the report; and the country’s funding arm, the Canadian International Infrastructure Development Agency (CIDA) changed its policy from road construction abroad to advocate more environmentally-friendly projects. After Infoconsult Incorp paid for a feasible study and bankable report, CIDA gave the green light for funding. International Waterways Ltd was set up in 2002, and Mr. Gonaduwa persuaded to come out of retirement and head it. From then it was a matter of putting the project on paper, gathering local opinion, and waiting for approval (which arrived earlier this month).

“A total of 1,500 people were interviewed who lived within 500 metres of the canals, where 60 percent were low income. And to be honest the results were mixed, but we were confident that when the people see what developments we intend to do they would change their minds, especially when they realise they’ll be living in a cleaner, healthier environment,” the director said, adding that hopefully more community spirit will also be forged.

The Sri Lankan Reclamation and Development Corporation, that runs the canals, has backed the project, where eight jetties with additional buildings are planned. The stops are: Battaramulla, Kotte Marsh, Lanka Walltiles, Open University, Apollo Hospital, Havelock Road (next to the Havelock City Development), Galle Road (near St. Peter’s cricket ground), and Marine Drive. When completed the time for the route, end-to-end, will be 34 minutes, compared to an hour and a quarter in rush hour traffic, the ex-civil servant added.

“No mass transport system runs a profit and we’ll be no different, so other aspects have been looked at that offer more money-making opportunities. To be built will be an open-air theatre at Havelock Road, offering daily cultural shows; at Kotte Marsh, all buildings will be built on stilts to abide by environmental laws, but still a conference centre, education centres for schools, and an aquarium showing off the 47 varieties of fresh-water fish will be erected,” Mr. Gonaduwa said.

At Lanka Walltiles there will be a gym and recreation area as there are no such places presently available. A student centre and cyber café will also be built. For the Apollo site, the Public Service Club will be expanded to offer entertainment to the community and travellers. The majority of the stops will also have shops, restaurants, ATMs and other specific attractions.

As for the boats, they have been built to the strictest of Canadian safety standard and are unsinkable. The 16 boats will each carry 45 people, and show off hydraulically-operated canopies to ensure clearage when passing under low bridges. Part of the reason for the time delay before the commuter rides come online is ensuring that all the alight points and boats are up to scratch as far as Canadian law goes, one of the strictest in the world.

“Presently the canals are being dredged and the end stops have been completed. The jetties and pay-and-embarking areas will be finished within 12 months, with the additional buildings after that,” the director said.

The only thing dragging on the project back is getting access to the land so everything can be built, and as usual that is waiting for the government to make the moves. But President Mahinda Rajapakse is a fan of the project, so hopefully such red tape will soon be consigned to history and a new commuter system can take its place in the city.

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