A ripple in development? - Channel Research

institutions amounts to over 1 million. 8 The government recruits close
to 18 per cent of the labour force in the country. Yet the dominance of
the state has not led to greater coherence in terms of standard setting
and definition of legal frameworks. One example is the absence of
information and clear decisions regarding standards. The introduction
of a 100 to 200 meter buffer zone in Sri Lanka initially meant that
50,000 families would have to move from their original locations to new
land. Lack of suitable land for resettlement, problems in identifying
beneficiaries, and changes in government policies, posed an array of
problems including the disruption of social networks and livelihoods,
difficulties in transferring the ownership of the land. Similar problems
were encountered in Aceh and in especially the Maldives with the decision
to resettle island communities onto ‘new’ islands.
Capacity issues and a difficult environment also prevail for civil
society. Associations were rare in the Maldives, severely curtailed in
Aceh, and only moderately developed in Sri Lanka. The massive mobilisation
to respond to the tsunami helped civil society to play not only
the role of facilitator of development processes, but also that of implementor.
In the Maldives, the response only moderately boosted civil
society. In Sri Lanka, four years into the response, the picture varies by
region and some studies give more credit to the lead role of non-governmental
organisations in less conflict affected areas. 9
In Indonesia the average project size for NGOs remained small
and geographically circumscribed, although NGOs were managing 80
percent of recovery projects in the first three years. In 2004 just 12 registered
national and international NGOs were operating in Aceh, while
the number after the tsunami immediately rose to 300 NGOs, as international
efforts in Aceh focused on encouraging a role for civil society in
the response. 10
The continuing conflict in Sri Lanka and the level of mistrust limited
the role of what is however a stronger civil society there. Government
officials rarely view civil society organisations as an integral part
of the country’s institutional structure. Sri Lankan politicians express
concerns over the aid agencies’ weak accountability to affected communities.
In the case of Sri Lanka, mistrust between the government
and NGOs is high. 11
Given the complexity of rebuilding, timelines were often unrealistic
and civil society has often complained about delays in the recon-
8
Excluding the military, there were 813,000 persons working in the state and semi governmental
sector, as at 1st July 2006, according the latest survey by the Census and Statistics Department
9
See Marit Haug The tsunami aid delivery system and humanitarian principles.
A view from five districts in Sri Lanka NIBR Report: 2007. This study indicates survey results that
show that the government was the major aid provider in war-affected communities in east while
voluntary organisations dominated aid delivery in communities in the south.
10
Channel/Cosgrave, Document Review (Crespin, 2006, page 445)
11
This analysis does not extend to local religious groups. These were not covered in the analysis.
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