Provision of Basic Services for Livelihood Improvements of the Poor in PeriUrban Areas

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Provision of Basic Services for Livelihood
Improvements of the Poor in Peri-Urban Areas

• Experiences of Colombo, Sri Lanka

International Workshop on Service Provision in
the Peri-urban Interface of Metropolitan Areas at
Hotel Residency Towers, Chennai, India on 10th
11th February 2005
H.M.U. Chularathna SEVANATHA Urban Resource
Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka
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The Situation of Urban Poor in Colombo

• Around 20 - 30 of urban poor live in peri-urban
  settlements
• The common issues are
• No land tenure rights
• Substandard housing
• Inadequate basic services
• Poor health sanitary conditions
• Congested living
• Poor linkages with service provision institutions
• Drug addiction violence

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The Situation . . .

• Positive issues
• Income earning mixture of city services and
  peri-urban farming
• Micro enterprises and local level services
• Diverse social cultural innovations
• A large market for goods services
• Poor prepared to pay rates

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Past Initiatives (Government Municipal
Initiatives)

• Recognized the gravity of health sanitation
  issues
• Recognized the social issues
• Recognized the resource capacities of the poor
• Intervene to support and integrate the urban poor
  with formal city structure
• Municipality justifies spending rate-payers
  money on non-rate payers

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Specific Time Periods of Intervention
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Key Features of the Government Intervention

• Intervention
• Recognizing the need for integrating the poor
  into formal city structure
• Ensuring fundamental right to stay in the
  city/peri-urban area as citizens
• Creating enabling environment
• Promoting participatory methodologies
• Promoting partnership approaches (NGOs other
  stakeholder involvement)

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Key Components of the Participatory Methodology

• Community mobilization
• Stakeholder consultation
• Participatory survey / assessment of community
• Operation maintenance of services by CBOs
  (sharing of OM responsibilities)
• Sevanatha involvement
• Formation / strengthening of CBOs
• Community Action Planning (CAP) workshops
• Community Construction Contract System (CCCS)
• Awareness raising on Public, Private and
  Community Partnership approaches (PPCP)

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Improvements Achieved though the Participatory
Process

• Community empowerment (information, organization
  building / CBO functions, skill development,
  training, linking with institutions, engage in
  service provision)
• Recognition of the poor by the ULAs government
• Improved housing
• Improved basic services / amenities in urban poor
  settlements
• Improved livelihoods of the poor

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Common Issues Raised by Urban Poor in CAP
Workshops

• Infrastructure
• Operation and maintenance common toilets,
  bathing wells, drain systems
• Construction of storm water drains sewerage
• Prevent pollution of water bodies
• Inner access roads (paving, side drains etc.)
• Housing and land tenure rights
• Construction of a community hall / community
  centre building
• Solid waste management

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Common Issues

• Social economic issues
• Employment opportunities for young people women
• Credit facilities for household income
  generating activities
• Solve the problem of drug addiction by youth and
  elderly
• Prevent domestic violence against women

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Lessons Learned

• Enabling policy environment provides
  opportunities for improving urban poor
  settlements
• Participation by the poor to plan and improve
  their communities
• Facilitating role played by NGO partners can
  bridge the gap between poor and the government
  institutions
• A true community empowerment can be assured by
  providing information, skills, training, access
  to credit and linking up with institutions
• Public, private community consensus on need to
  reduce unaccounted (non-revenue) water

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Lessons Learned . . .

• Improvement of basic services in urban poor
  communities can be effective when the community
  is engaged in the entire process of planning to
  implementation of OM
• Local authorities can effectively share service
  provision responsibilities with urban poor
  build sustainable linkages
• Regular community consultation at settlement
  level and city level ensure close relationship
  with the poor e.g. (HCDC in Colombo)
• Sevanatha gained public and community recognition
  and credibility through its complementary/facilita
  tor role

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Thank You.