Suggestions for Sri Lanka's Cyclone Ditwah Recovery

"Sri Lanka relief location map" by Uwe Dedering is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Sri Lanka suffered one of its worst natural disasters with Cyclone Ditwah which brought severe floods. Numerous lives have been lost, people are missing, houses are damaged or destroyed, some roads & railway tracks can no longer be travelled on among other problems. This is troubling as Sri Lanka is still recovering from its recent economic collapse. Relating to Sri Lanka’s economy, the IMF Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Evan Papageorgiou revealed that Sri Lanka has requested approximately 200 million USD of assistance due to Cyclone Ditwah. The IMF Executive Board is considering this request and will decide whether to approve it. In this article, I am writing suggestions for Sri Lanka’s Cyclone Ditwah recovery.

FDI

It would be very beneficial for Sri Lanka to seek foreign direct investments (FDIs) in sectors most affected by this crisis. Railways is a sector that has been seriously damaged. It has been reported that only 30% of Sri Lanka’s railways can be used following the cyclone damage. This comprises 478 km out of a 1,593 km total. It’s important to seek FDI on railways which includes improving the railway network to what it previously was. This could focus on upgrading railways including issues like electrification.

Agriculture has been seriously affected with floods overwhelming agricultural fields with water. Tea planter Roshan Rajadurai stated on dailymirror.lk that the tea industry is predicting a 30 to 35% reduced output. Farmers are facing serious crop damages. Lieke Schröder, a foreign investor based in Sri Lanka wrote an extensive social media post a few months ago dealing with foreign investment in agriculture. She stated that agriculture is presently estimated to only cover 0.24% of FDI. Lieke points out that she’s seeing a shift which includes the government taking efforts to solve issues foreign investors encounter, the Board of Investment (BOI) recognising investment projects in the North and her meeting startup founders combining agriculture and technology. Having FDI investment in agriculture can fasten its recovery and work to make this sector in a stronger state than ever before.

Other sectors which we should seek FDI include roads. This would be very useful for efforts to rebuild roads. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are businesses who have been seriously affected by this cyclone. Having FDI investment into MSMEs can save them from getting out of business and can restore them to make a positive contribution to Sri Lankan society.

PPP

The private sector has an important role to play in the recovery. The government should in my view have public-private partnerships (PPPs). As the government is working on restoring Sri Lanka, they should collaborate with the private sector when they have the skills and incentive to get involved. These would be a set of initiatives covering a range of sectors. An example could be a PPP with the construction sector focused on rebuilding efforts.

Aid

We have a necessity to seek foreign aid. Types of aid the government should make an effort to obtain include aid programs focused on disaster recovery and climate change. Aid could also cover sectors I’ve mentioned above for FDI which are railways, agriculture, roads and MSMEs.

Look at Other Countries

We need to look at other countries who recovered from similar disasters. A focus should be made on developing countries and other countries in Asia as they will have similarities with Sri Lanka. The government should talk to the foreign heads of missions who can advise us based on their experiences.

Final Thoughts & Conclusion

I propose the government have an independent investigation carried out to find out why the Sri Lankan system failed in its response to Cyclone Ditwah. It should be conducted by independent professionals who aren’t involved in politics of the government or any opposition parties. This investigation should give the steps to be taken to prevent future natural disasters from causing devastation.

In rebuilding efforts for homes, roads, buildings, railways and more, we need to design and build them to withstand future disasters. The best engineers should be involved in these efforts. It was good to hear the Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake stating that construction will not be allowed in flood zones and in areas with high-risk of landslides as part of the government’s relief for rebuilding homes.

We need to ensure that our recovery from Cyclone Ditwah does not hinder the economic progress we have made. It needs to be coordinated with our economic recovery. We need to engage with the international community to ease and accommodate our debt burden based on our current situation. Sri Lanka can’t afford to undo the economic gains made with another economic collapse.

This article does not cover all sectors damaged by Cyclone Ditwah and the full scale of what took place. That is outside the scope of this article. These are a set of suggestions for Sri Lanka’s recovery. I would appreciate hearing from others providing more suggestions on how to come out of this crisis. I am thinking of everyone affected by this unspeakable tragedy which includes those who died, got injured, lost loved ones, got their homes destroyed or damaged, farmers who suffered damaged crops among everyone else. I’m hopeful Sri Lanka will find a way to recover from this crisis.

Elton John & Boz Scaggs' Similar 70s Songs

I like Boz Scaggs’ hit song “Lido Shuffle”. I’ve noticed it sounds like an Elton John song and mentioned that when it was featured in my article “Ten Great Songs Featuring David Paich”. David is the keyboardist and co-writer of the song and would co-found the rock band Toto soon afterwards. Elton is a hero and an influence of David’s. I decided to write an article comparing it to an Elton John song, which is “Elderberry Wine”. That is the Elton song that comes to mind when I think of “Lido Shuffle” being like Elton’s music. Elton’s song comes from his album “Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player” (1973) and Boz’s song comes from his album “Silk Degrees” (1976). I’m embedding both songs with a paragraph about each one followed by a comparison of them.

Elderberry Wine (1973)

Elderberry Wine opens with Elton’s piano accompanied by drums and is soon joined by all instruments. The horns come in during the chorus and enhance this song. Elton sings with passion. The song closes with Elton singing the song title over and over again with Davey Johnstone’s guitar riffs in between them. This is a fun, melodic rocker.

Lido Shuffle (1976)

Lido Shuffle opens with bass and drums. Boz sings over it and all instruments soon come in. Just before the chorus, the horns start to appear and are most prominent in the choruses. David Paich plays all the keyboards on this song including both piano and synth. David’s piano provides a solid musical base and he provides creative synth work in parts of the song. Boz sings passionately. This is an iconic 70s rock hit.

Comparison

These are two 1970s pop rock songs featuring horns and piano. In my view, the melodies on both tracks sound alike. Elton and Boz sound similar including the way they sing. Elton’s song is more piano driven, although it does have a similarity in its opening. Elton’s song is opened with piano and drums and Boz’s song is opened by bass and drums. In both of them, this is followed with all the instruments coming in. Lido Shuffle’s horns are featured in more of the song than “Elderberry Wine”.

Both songs have similar runtimes with “Elderberry Wine” being 3:34 and “Lido Shuffle” being 3:43. It’s interesting that the number of seconds in Boz's song is the inverse of Elton’s song. One song (“Lido Shuffle”) is a hit song, while the other song (“Elderberry Wine”) is an album track. Elderberry Wine is connected with one of Elton’s hits as it was the B-Side to “Crocodile Rock”. In both cases, the singer wrote the song with a collaborator. Elton wrote it with his lyricist Bernie Taupin and Boz wrote it with David Paich who was the keyboardist of his “Silk Degrees” album. I consider them both to be great songs.

Celebrating Colombo

I decided to create a post collecting photos online from my hometown of Colombo, Sri Lanka. I give credit to the photographers below and provide some commentary on these photos.

Galle Face Green

Here’s a photo of Galle Face Green from 20 years ago in 2005. It’s good to see people enjoying themselves, kites and the Sri Lankan flag flying.

"Galle Face Green" by the very honest man is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

This is another look at Galle Face Green from a different angle.

"Galle Face Green" by Dennis S. Hurd is marked with CC0 1.0.

Viharamahadevi Park

We’re now moving onto Viharamahadevi Park. The photo below has the board of the park.

 

"Viharamahadevi Park" by Honeplus is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Here’s a walking path in this park with trees and plants. 

"SL210 Viharamahadevi Park" by S.K. LO is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

I really like the photo below which has grass, trees, walking paths and a bird pool in the centre.

"Viharamahadevi Park, Colombo - panoramio" by Alexey Komarov is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Wellawatte

This is Wellwatte, the Colombo suburb I’m from. The photo below is from Rajasinghe Road. It has the Wellawatte look you get of houses, green trees and apartment buildings.

"Rajasinghe Road - Wellawatte, Sri Lanka" by Muunaa-Selva is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The following two photos are at nighttime. I really like the way Sri Lanka looks at that time of day. Shehal Joseph took them from a friend's apartment 30 metres above the ground. The first photo’s blue light is positively striking. The second photo has a good contrast of minimal lighting at the front and strong lighting at the back. I notice it features a mix of apartment buildings and palm trees.

"Views from 30m above Ground in Wellawatte - 5" by shehal is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

"Views from 30m above Ground in Wellawatte - 6" by shehal is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

This is a nice view of Wellawatte beach by the railway.

"Wellawatte beach 2" by Yomal Indula Perera is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Beira Lake

Beira Lake is a beautiful lake in Colombo. Here’s a lovely photo of Beira Lake surrounded by large green trees and skyscrapers.

"South Beira Lake" by D-Stanley is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

I love how this photo has so many different elements. We see a train going by Beira Lake, a building, palm trees, vehicles and a boat.

"UG-LK Photowalk - Beira Lake - 2017-03-12 (2)" by Rehman Abubakr is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Here’s a footbridge on Beira Lake. I like the modern architecture of this bridge.

"South Beira Lake Colombo (Childrens Park)" by Kondephy is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This is a cool photo of Beira Lake at night. I love how the bridge lights up.

"File:Beira lake at Nite.jpg" by Arvindkumarn is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Buildings

Here’s a recent picture of the Colombo skyline with all these buildings. This looks very impressive! It reminds me of Dubai.

"Colombo skyline 2024" by T Chamika is marked with CC0 1.0.

This photo of Independence Memorial Hall in Independence Square is by ImageBang!.

"Independence Square" by Mydaas! is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

Here’s a colourful look at Arcade Independence Square which is nearby.

"Arcade Independence Square" by Nazly is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

These are the Royal Park apartment buildings in Rajagiriya. I like how it goes with the sky and the trees.

"_MG_2176" by Dhammika Heenpella / CWSSIP Images of Sri Lanka is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

A good look at Colombo city from 10 years ago.

"Colombo City Line 01" by Priyantha Bandara is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

I’ll conclude with this lovely photo of Colombo at night.

"Colombo (Sri Lanka) at Night" by Dyl86 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

I hope you enjoyed these photos of Colombo. As a Sri Lankan abroad, seeing good photos of my hometown has a special feeling. I like how Colombo has both many buildings and trees. This proves to be a good combination which makes Colombo a special city.