From shanty to home : Myth vs reality of

Colombos Urban Regeneration Project

Ph
oto by Abdul-ali! A"ee"# courtesy $he Picture Press
by %romi Perera
- on &'())(*&)+
$he ambitious Urban Regeneration
Project ,URP- launched by the Ministry of .efense and Urban .evelo/ment
aims to transform Colombo into a 0orld-class destination for tourism and
investment1 Central to this eliminating 2shanties# slums and other
dila/idated housing from the city of Colombo by resettlement of the
families /resently living under unhygienic and /oor environmental
conditions in such housing in ne0 housing schemes of internationally
recogni"ed standards and in doing so to ma!e the City of Colombo the most
attractive city in 3outh Asia41 Underlying this a//arently laudable goal are
ho0ever many myths and follo0ing are some of the !ey ones1
Myth ): All houses in Colombos lo0-incomes communities are slums or
shanties
A *&&) survey carried out by the Colombo Munici/al Council ,CMC- and
3evanatha Urban Resource Center identi5ed a total of ''#6)* families living
in )#6)+ lo0-income settlements in the city but found it 2di7cult to
categorise all the identi5ed lo0-income settlements as being slums14
Furthermore# according to the Census of Po/ulation and ousing *&)) of
the .e/artment of Census and 3tatistics# out of the 888#9*6 housing units
in the Colombo .istrict# only '9'9 housing units fall under the category of
2hut(shanty41 :f this# ;69) housing units come under the Colombo .3
.ivision1
%n 3lave %sland for instance# many households that 0ere evicted had homes
that 0ere more than * <oors# tiled# /ainted and fully furnished and had
im/roved over time# 0ith 0ater and electricity1 =hen 0e visited the lo0-
income community on the northern side of Castle 3treet ,>orella- before its
recent demolition# there 0ere a number of homes that 0ere 0ell-built?
many 0ith more than one <oor?neatly /ainted and furnished 0ith 0ell
a//ointed !itchens# bathrooms and toilets1 :ver nearly four decades many
residents have /ainsta!ingly invested in im/roving their homes1
Myth *: @ach family that is being evicted are being given ne0 homes in
multi-storied residential com/leAes
%n reality# in many cases there is more than one family living in a house#
0hich may either have more than one <oor or may have been eA/anded
over time1 $he /olicy is not one a/artment for each family but one
a/artment for one house B therefore households 0ith multi/le families only
have the o/tion of living together in a +8& sC1 ft1 a/artment or see!
alternate housing1
Myth ;: All the communities that are being evicted are essentially illegal
d0ellers# encroachers and have no rights any0ay
Dothing could be further from the truth1 3lave %sland being the /erfect
eAam/le# many residents have deeds that go bac! generations1
Furthermore# those 0ho do not have full title also have a number of rights
that accrue to them under the la0 of the land1 $he reality is that the state
had used( is using military force and legal 5ction rather than follo0 due
/rocess laid do0n under the Eand AcCuisition Act1
Myth +: $he /rocess is entirely in !ee/ing 0ith the la0s and regulation in
force
%n *&&)# 3ri Ean!a ado/ted the Dational %nvoluntary Resettlement Policy
,D%RP-# 0hich is a//licable to 2all develo/ment-induced land acCuisition or
recovery of /ossession by the 3tate4 and sti/ulates that a 2com/rehensive
Resettlement Action Plan 0ill be reCuired 0here *& or more families are
aFected14 o0ever this has been totally ignored1 %t 0as follo0ed in the case
of the 3outhern @A/ress0ay# 0hich meant# for eAam/le# that even those
living in houses 0ithout title or running non-formal businesses 0ere
com/ensated for loss of assets1 %n addition to other /rovision of the D%RP#
even in cases of /rivate land 0ith full title# the ste/s laid do0n in the Eand
AcCuisition Act# such as due notice# right of a//eal to a >oard of Revie0 and
further to the Court of A//eal 0ith res/ect to the Cuantum of
com/ensation# etc1# have not been res/ected1
Myth 8: $he ne0 a/artments in relocation sites are being given free of cost
%n reality# nearly '8 /er cent of those being evicted have to /ay over a
million ru/ees to the state over the neAt *& years# including more than )
la!h 0ithin the 5rst ; months1 %n order to obtain the !eys to the a/artment#
Rs 8&#&&&(- must be /aid in a single installment# after 0hich the second
installment must be made by the third month1 Residents also have to /ay
Rs ;96&(- a month ,in addition to 0ater and electricity bills- over *& years1
$his is an eAtraordinarily high burden on many lo0-income families
es/ecially because they also lose the investment made in their /revious
houses since they are not being com/ensated for it1
Myth 6: Relocation in high-rise buildings is the best solution
Done of the communities have been consulted on the design or their o0n
needs1 Relocation in such high-rises has adversely aFected many !inds of
informal home-based businesses1 Contrary to the U.As television adverts#
a community leader from =anathamulla resisting his communitys eviction
notes that the a/artments 2built 0ere more li!e /risons than houses14 3ome
residents relocated from Castle 3treet told us that families 0ho 0ere related
and lived neAt door 0ere denied <ats adjacent to each other 0hile others
com/lained that the Cuality of construction 0as /oor and the houses 0ere
too small1 %n fact# studies in Colombo and else0here have sho0n that such
non-consultative# non-/artici/atory resettlement fail# becoming vertical
slums1
Myth ': Peo/le 0ho are being evicted are being treated fairly
%n reality# the military is in charge of the /rocess and there is little
o//ortunity for /eo/le to actually /artici/ate in the /rocess or even raise
their grievances1 $here is an atmos/here of fear and uncertainty and there
is no trans/arency or accountability in the /rocess1 For eAam/le# even +
years after their homes on Me0s 3treet 0ere demolished# )' out of the *&
households ,;; families- 0ho have not been given ne0 homes ,to date they
live on rent-# have also been denied su7cient /rotection by the 3u/reme
Court1 $hese )' households 0ere not sCuatters and had deeds to their land1
$hey 0ere forcibly evicted from their homes 0ith only just a fe0 days
notice# did not even have adeCuate time to ta!e their childrens school
boo!s or documents li!e identity cards# birth and marriage certi5cates 0hen
/olice# army and 3$F 0ere de/loyed to demolish their homes in order for
the adjacent military academy building to eA/and1
3lave %sland residents# 0hose lands have been given over to the %ndian
develo/er $ata# 0ere not only forced to sign documents 0ritten only in
3inhala even if they 0ere unable to read and understand them but 0ere
also denied co/ies1 $hey have been given nothing in 0riting concerning
0hen their ne0 a/artments 0ill be given to them and on 0hat conditions1
3imilarly# those 3lave %sland residents 0ho o/ted for cash com/ensation
rather than a ne0 a/artment have not yet been given com/ensation
though their houses have been demolished1 %n Darahen/ita# residents 0ho
refused to leave their homes until the U.A had oFered them a fair solution#
0erevisited by military o7cials 0ho told them about the futility of going to
the uman Rights Commission ,as some of the other community members
had- by stating that even residents of other /arts of Colombo ,0ith stronger
cases- did not succeed in 5ghting eviction# and that the Eand AcCuisition
Act did not a//ly to them as they did not o0n their land1 Residents stated
that 0hile they 0ere agreeable to giving u/ their homes to beautify
Colombo# they 0anted a fair solution by the U.A 0hich com/ensated them
adeCuately in !ind or cash for their homes as 0ell as their business
/remises# instead of the small a/artments that they 0ere being as!ed to
/ay for1
$he G%da denna /romotional video of the U.A sho0s a young child rudely
a0a!ing in her <ooded shanty from a dream in 0hich she is /laying ha//ily
among <o0ers and butter<ies in Colombos ne0ly beauti5ed landmar!s
such as the Racecourse and =aters @dge and <itting into in her beautiful
ne0 home in an a/artment com/leA1 $he video ends 0ith the children
coming out of tiny huts made of 0ooden boards# jum/ing over /uddles and
bro!en bric!s# ma!ing their 0ay to school accom/anied by a 3inhalese song
that li!ens the journey from shanty to shiny ne0 a/artment to a butter<y
emerging from its chrysalis1 $he reality is that the Racecourse or =aters
@dge are not s/aces made for Colombos /oor1 And the shiny ne0
a/artments are a faHade that mas! the burden of debt# economic
dis/ossession and other hardshi/s suFered by those forcibly moved1
Contrary to the U.As /ro/aganda# for thousands of the /oor residents of
Colombo the Urban Regeneration Project is actually a nightmare they cant
0a!e u/ from1
$he author is the ead of 3ocial %ndicator at the Centre for Policy
Alternatives1 For more detailed information and analysis regarding forced
evictions in Colombo# /lease read GForced @victions in Colombo B $he Ugly
Price of >eauti5cation by the Centre for Policy Alternatives1