News
Special focus on west, south and east in land use and infrastructure framework
View(s):By Niranjala Ariyawansha
The National Physical Plan prepared by the National Physical Planning Department under the Urban Development Authority (UDA) for 2025 to 2050 is scheduled to be submitted to the Cabinet for approval, the Sunday Times learns.
Secretary to the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing, Ranjith Ariyaratne said the plan was submitted to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake last week.
President Dissanayake will appoint an expert committee to revive it, and it will be submitted for Cabinet approval and then gazetted, he said.
“After being gazetted, it will become a law and then it will be presented to Parliament, but it will not need to be approved by Parliament. We hope to complete these matters soon because we are already delayed,” Mr. Ariyaratne said.
He said that the plan was prepared after broad, extensive discussions with experts, universities, district secretaries, divisional secretaries and Grama Niladharis.
Mr. Ariyaratne, in an interview with the Sunday Times, said that under the plan, special strategies have been adopted based on the Western, Southern and Eastern provinces, identified as being destined to undergo the most urbanisation during that period.
The Western Province, which includes Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts, will continue to be urbanised, and intensive urbanisation will occur in parallel with rapid development in the Southern Province, centred on the Hambantota district.
Also, based on the government’s decision to develop the Trincomalee Port and the oil tanks at the China Bay Oil Tank Farm, this physical plan considers urbanisation in the Eastern Province through the creation of a large labour market.
It was already recognised under the plan that there would be intense urbanisation in the future in Trincomalee. Therefore, there has been criticism in the past that ‘the eastern corridor’ will divide the country. However, without looking at it from such political angles, urbanisation through development based on the Trincomalee port is a ground reality and a necessity.
“Even if governments change, ground realities and requirements do not change. Therefore, we have re-identified the plans for the development of the Eastern Province included in the National Physical Plan prepared in 2012 in this plan as well. Under these plans there is no foundation for things such as division of the country,” Mr Ariyaratne said.
He says that it has been identified that Hambantota will become a region with a large population density within the next 30 years with the development taking place in Hambantota, centred on Hambantota city, with a part of the Southern, Uva and Sabaragamuwa provinces, related to the Hambantota Port and Mattala Airport. The reason for this is that the people now living in the villages will migrate to the areas around Hambantota due to the labour needs that arise in line with the development.
“We are preparing necessary facilities for future development,” Mr. Ariyaratne said.
A macro level plan is prepared to effectively and productively use the land as an entire country. The National Physical Plan is a plan for the effective use of land as a whole. It considers a wide range of important factors such as how much land will be used for what purposes, i.e., how much should be used for factories, farmland, forests, public spaces, etc., as well as sanctuaries. The development of the highway system and the lifestyle of the people.
Many important facts are considered. It is crucial to determine which areas the people will gather in, with future economic developments and development projects. Due to urbanisation, it is necessary to provide services such as water, electricity, transport, health, schools, etc. For all this, the land must be planned systematically, and factors such as mitigating natural disasters such as floods, landslides, etc. are also considered.
“Many other countries have planned the land systematically in terms of development. In several of those countries, they have allocated zones for factories, farmlands and settlements. But we have not planned in that way. The results of constructions or projects carried out without any planning based on political or public activities are the problems we are now experiencing in various forms such as floods, landslides, elephant-human conflict, water shortages, road accidents. Through the National Physical Plan, we hope to plan the land systematically according to the needs of the country in the next 25 years. For this, the support of everyone in the country, including the public, the private sector, voluntary organisations, religious leaders, etc. is essential,” Mr. Ariyaratne said
Although the National Physical Plan, which was last prepared in 2012, was re-designed in line with the prevailing socio-economic and political needs, it was delayed due to various factors such as the deadly coronavirus pandemic and
Sri Lanka’s economic implosion.
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