Background
The tsunami that hit Sri Lanka on December 26, 2004 was the worst natural calamity in the history of this island-nation. It ravaged the southern coast — the most densely populated and urbanized part of the country -- and its impact was even more severe in the conflict-scarred North East where people had already suffered displacement for over 20 years. More than 70,000 houses have been reported as completely destroyed, with a further 30,000 damaged. Most of the community infrastructure was destroyed. Fisher folk and their families have suffered tremendous loss of life and devastation to their livelihoods, homes as well as their fishing gear, boats and markets. Within the framework of the UN-HABITAT Strategy for Transition Recovery for Sri Lanka, this project proposal will support the re-construction of a fish market in the city of Galle, enhancing livelihoods options for small scale fishing communities.
Objectives
The main objective is to re-construct the destroyed fish market in Galle with a new building including a market and restaurant:
* Supporting the local fishing fleet, and recreating livelihoods for local fishermen and seafood traders;
* Creating livelihoods in restaurant management and the hospitality industry;
* Building local capacities in new building technologies.
Activities
The proposed development will comprise a two-storey building of approximately 5000 square .feet with a roof top as a safety escape in case of a major disaster as a tsunami The new building will be equipped with modern amenities .The fish stalls and other facilities for wholesale marketing will be confined to the ground floor. Space for fish vendors to keep their plastic boxes with iced fish will be provided under the stall slab. Arrangements will be made for the disposal of fish waste in closed containers. The restaurant complex with modern facilities will be installed in the first floor. A medium size cold storage facility will be provided within a distance of 120 square metres and off-site parking will be made available in the vicinity. The proposed moderate size cold storage facility will comprise two rooms each with a ten ton capacity. The estimated cost of the development including the cold storage facility will be well within the funds allocated to the project
Results
The outcome of the project will be an entirely new fish market and a restaurant to replace the destroyed fish market. The proposed fish market would contain modern equipment and facilities to ensure proper hygienic standards and food security. The restaurant will be an entirely new feature, which will provide opportunities to obtain apprenticeship, training and employment in fish processing and restaurant management. It will be an added impetus to the tourist industry.
Appropriate technology will be used taking into account the local conditions with due regard for the need of the building to be constructed to withstand a possible disaster of the magnitude of a tsunami. Local expertise will need to be supplemented by foreign inputs including training and capacity building.
The fish market and restaurant have been completed, albeit with traditional building technology.
Development Partners / Partners
Development Partners: BASF
Partners: Ministry of Urban Development, Municipality of Galle, UN-HABITAT
- Catalytic Support to Peacebuilding in Sri Lanka
- Preparation of the Resettlement Plan (RP) for Households Affected by the Rehabilitation of the Kelani Valley (KV) Railway Line in Sri Lanka (Phase I)
- Emergency Shelter Relief for Flood and Landslide Affected Households in Kalutara and Galle Districts of Sri Lanka
- The State of Sri Lankan Cities Report
- Human Development Initiative through Empowerment and Settlement Improvement in the Plantation Settlements in Sri Lanka
- Indian Housing Project in Central and Uva Provinces
- Emergency Shelter Relief for Flood Affected Families in Colombo and Gampaha Districts in Western Province, Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Sustainable Resettlement through Community-Driven Improvement of the Learning Environment in Mannar District, Sri Lanka
- Support My School: Supporting Schools in Northern Sri Lanka with Access to Water and Sanitation Facilities (Completed)
- Project for Rehabilitation of Community Infrastructure, Improvement of Livelihoods and Empowerment of Women in the Northern and Eastern Provinces (RCI) (Completed)
- Rainwater Harvesting in a Water Scarce Small Village in Northern Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Climate Resilient Action Plans for Coastal Urban Areas (Completed)
- Disaster Resilient City Development Strategies for Sri Lankan Cities (Completed)
- Disaster Resilient City Development Strategies for Four Cities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka (Phase II) (Completed)
- Rehabilitation of Community Infrastructure and Facilities in the Conflict Affected Areas in Northern Province of Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Improving Living Conditions in Returnee Areas of Sri Lanka through Housing (Completed)
- Indian Housing Project (Completed)
- Support to Conflict Affected People through Housing (Completed)
- Shelter Support to Conflict-affected IDPs in the North of Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Jaffna Tsunami Recovery and Reconstruction Project (Completed)
- Community Recovery and Reconstruction Partnership to Support the People's Process of Rebuilding (Completed)
- Reconstruction of Fish Market in Galle (Completed)
- Rebuilding Community Infrastructure and Shelter in Tsunami-Affected Areas (Completed)
- Lunawa Lake Environment Improvement and Community Development Project (Completed)
- Pro-Poor Partnerships for Participatory Settlement Upgrading (Completed)
- Early Recovery Shelter for IDPs in Batticaloa (Completed)
- Support to the Urbanization Framework
- Post Disaster Housing Coordination Project (Completed)
- Sustainable Cities Programme (Completed)
- Urban Governance Support Project (UGSP) (Completed)
- Rebuilding Communities in North East Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Urban Poverty Reduction Strategy - Colombo (Completed)