Rebuild Sri Lanka: Are we fixing the damage or building better?

The deadly cyclone that hit Sri Lanka has left in its wake hundreds dead, thousands of houses destroyed and a devastated infrastructure across many parts of the island.

- By SRILAL MITHTHAPALA

The estimated damage is said to be over US $ 5 billion. In response, the government has swiftly established the nationwide programme ‘Rebuild Sri Lanka’to fast-track the rehabilitation work.Across the country, there is powerful Momentum: government agencies mobilising, foreign governments pouring in aid, the armed forces working round the clock, volunteers lining up to help the affected communities and the private sector stepping to support. Rebuilding work has commenced at breakneck speed, roadways are being cleared of debris and repaired, power lines re-erected, water supplies restored and even bridges are being reconstructed. A crash programme to rebuild the destroyed houses is also on the cards.

Speed is essential under the circumstances to ensure that food and other essentials can be transported to the needy in the affected areas, which were hitherto isolated and cut off. Immediate relief and the restoration of the basics is of vital importance.

Uncomfortable question

But within the humanitarian effort this lies an uncomfortable question: Are we only rebuilding what was destroyed or are we rebuilding what never should have existed in that form in the first place? Because there is a fundamental difference between repairing the damage and rebuilding a nation.