ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 1 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 2 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS Overview An unparalleled revolution in the arena of development took place in Sri Lanka during the last decade (2005-2015). The mega development projects initiated during the last few years are set at supremacy, even when comparing with the renowned Accelerated Mahaweli Development Program carried out during 1980s. Each and every stratum of thesocietyreceiveddirectandindirectbenefitsthroughthisunprecedented development master plan. Butsomepoliticianswhopresentedthemselvesastopnotchengineerstriedto condemn this heroic march forward, with false facts, childish arguments and negative notions,usingtheirpoliticalimage.Withtwistedlogic,unscientificfacts,foxily-fabricated lies, these so called intelligent men drove the common man to criticize the very development that nourished them. As a forum of professional engineers we call this false propaganda as Mega-Myths and we think, it is high time to address these MegaMythsandportraytherealimageofTheMegaDevelopment.ItwasaSuper Deal after all, actually a Mega Deal delivering benefits to all in this country. Myth - 1 Theillogicalnatureofthisstatementisthat,itisbasedontheassumptionthata comparison can be made among different expressways in different parts of the world by a solitary factor identified as cost-per-kilometer. We cannot just assume that the cost per kilometer is to be equal everywhere in the world. In fact the cost differs not only between two countries, but also between two expressways of the same country, and even between two different reaches of the same expressway. ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 3 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS The cost depends on a few well known facts, such as 1.Specifications of the particular Expressway Number of lanes Width of a lane Width of the shoulders 2.Whether the expressway is built on soil embankments on firm ground or built onpierselevatedabovethegroundlevel(viaduct)duetotopographic, hydrologic or environmental reasons. 3.The condition and the type of the ground on which the expressway is built. (Ex: If an expressway is to be built on marshy lands on embankments, it essentially requiresimprovingthegroundbyremovingexcessiveclayfollowedbya procedure of consolidation.) 4.NumberofobstructionsontheproposedExpresswaypath.(Ex:Mountain ridges, River valleys, Steep or unstable slopes, Rocky terrain etc.) 5.Numberofstructurestobebuilt(Ex:Bridges,Culverts,Footbridgesfor pedestrians etc.) 6.Land acquisition & environmental safeguards cost UnlikeexpresswaysinKenyawheremostoftheacquiredlandsaredessertsor Savana grass lands, in Sri Lanka the lands which were needed to be acquired were either highly urbanized or cultivated farm landswhere the land acquisition cost was set high or undeveloped virgin lands with high vegetation density.. Therefore it is not sensible to present an image on expressway construction cost, just likecomputingthevalueofonemangowhenthesummativevalueisgivenfor5 mangos. This gives rise to the question; How reliable is the so called knowledge of politicians, who market themselves as engineers? ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 4 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS RecentlytherewasajubilantstatementthattheconstructioncostoftheOuter Circular Highway (OCH) had been reduced drastically just by good conduct. But do you know it was done by Reducing the number of lanes from 6 (previously proposed) to 4Reducing the lengths of viaducts and bridges Reducing the height of bridges Do these kind of changes really improve the condition of the expressway? And we know for a fact that previously, the bridges were designed for floods of high return periods. But reducing the design specifications, it will only increase the risk of the bridge being fluttered away even by a flood of very low return period (i.e. frequently occurring floods). Myth - 2 Just assume the toll of Rs.550 we pay to travel to Matara from Colombo really goes to China.. If there were no expressways like years before now, does not the extra fuel cost alone exceed that Rs.550? Then that money would be just wasted on extra fuel on the Galle Road, andit will ultimatelygo down to theMiddle East. Not having an expressway,doesnotinanymeanssavemoneyinthecountrynorcontributesto countryseconomyevenwhencomparingwiththefabricatedsituationofentiretoll money going to China.But the travel time saved by the expressway, reduction in wear and tear of vehicles, convenience,easeandsafetyof thedriveandincreaseinthescope of operational mobility, undoubtedly bring vast economic benefits, not only to individual citizens, but ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 5 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS also to the country as a whole. Simply expressways trigger everyone to contribute to the economic development of the country.For example, an environment has been created such that even someone living in the farthest corner of the country could come to Colombo, fulfill their needs/duties and go back to their homes and families sparing a substantial amount of time. This opportunity directly enhances the efficiency of individuals, since the time saved can be invested in alternative economic activities. Myth - 3

Roads are basic infrastructure just like water and electricity. As the definition of the word itself reveals, infrastructure is the prime facility that should be established before allotherfacilities.Havingasoundinfrastructurelayoutinacountry,isalwaysan advantageous asset in fascinating more investors into the country and creating new employment opportunities.Ex. - Will an investor select a rustic place without infrastructure to start a new factory or any business venture? Or a territory developed with all fine facilities? The investor will definitely select the latter over the former. Eventhoughwecannoteatroadsliterally,thereisnoquestionabouthow infrastructureplaysavitalroleineconomicdevelopment.Itisjustasimplesetof statements.Moreinfrastructure,moreinvestments,moreemployment,more production, better quality of life.If anyone is to continue with these kindergarten philosophies, he might ask, Whats the use of Hospitals? Whats the use of Schools? Whats the use of ELECTRICITY? etc.. But the great irony is that, few years ago the same people ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 6 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS squawked about not having proper roads, saying that roads have become irrigation canals in rainy seasons, elephants could swim in water ponds in roads. Myth - 4 After the construction of expressways a number of public bus services, staff services started to operate in these routes. Everyone knows who makes use of these services themost.Anyonewithcommonsensecanunderstandthatyoudonthavetobea millionaire to pay Rs.150 - 550 and use expressways. All over the world expressways are constructed to specific standards. These standards must be maintained to achieve their goals, which is mainly to let road users travel from oneplacetoanotherasfastaspossiblewithminimumdisturbanceandmaximum safety. Certain politicians argued against not letting Motor-bikes and Three-wheelers on the expressways and tried to propagate a false idea that expressways are built for the upper class millionaires, not for the low end portion of the society. Irrational nature of this idea lies in the very purpose of an expressway. Those types of vehiclesarenotallowedonexpressways,notbecauseofmulti-millionairereasons, but only because 3-wheelers & Motor-bikes do not let expressways to accomplish their purpose.WhatthosepoliticiansdonotsayisthathavingMotor-bikesandThree-wheelersonexpresswaysisathreattosafetyofroadusers.Ononehandthose vehicles cannot travel safely at high speeds and on the other hand travelling at lower speeds on expressways disturbs the moving traffic. We would be humble to remind these politicians that development jeopardizing the lives of general public, shall never be a Sustainable development. ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 7 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS Myth - 5 Somepeopletendtodecidewhethertheexpresswaysareusefulornot,onlyby considering how much money it generates or if the tolls collected from the expressway is enough to pay the loan interests. But the government does not charge a single cent from people for using other roads except the two expressways (Southern & Colombo-Katunayake). But many institutions (ADB, JICA, World Bank etc.) had provided funding for construction of roads in the past. So according to the above logic, is it sensible to declarethatthoseroadsarealsouselessbecausetheygeneratezeroincomewith which the GOSL cannot pay even a dollar of the loans?As mentioned earlier, roads are infrastructure. They are not directly profitable business ventures. Ex. Assume you have got 1 billion rupees and you want to invest in a business and earn a decent profit. Then would you decide to build a road and collect money from theroadusersanddreamuponcoveringyourcapitalexpenditureandearningthat remarkable profit?As an investment you will not fully recover your investment even afteryour seventh future generation. It would be just a dream. That is why no clever businessman would build roads with their private investments. Therefore infrastructure development strictly falls upon the shoulder of the Government in any country. We have repeatedly stated that roads are infrastructure like water and electricity. Even though the money spent on these projects cannot be directlyearned as pure profit, indirectly they play a vital role in economic development. In other words infrastructure development may not be financially profitable, but economically they are enormously profitable. ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 8 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS Ex. - Think about the baseline road expansion project. Is it a useless project because it does not earn any profit by charging the thousands of users who drive on that road every minute? Myth - 6 TheneedtoincreasethecapacityofColomboportandKatunayakaInternational Airportarosealongtimeagowhentheysurpassedtheirdesigncapacities.While amplifying their capacities, necessity of a second international airport was severely felt whenwewereforced tocloseour onlyinternationalairportandhaltedairtraffic for days due to unexpected horrific attacks by the LTTE terrorist in 2001 and 2007. It was as if our country was sealed off by an insignificant third party. The plans for a second international airport had been on tables for several decades undernumerousheadsofstate.Puttlam,Minneriya,Koggala,Mathugama, Hingurakgoda and Weerawilawere among the places where a second international airport was proposed. A significant number of feasibility studies were completed during thisperiodonthesuitabilityofthesesites.Butduetopoliticaldecisionsthisnever became a reality and stayed only as a proposal. Finally it was decided by engineers tobuildtheairportinMattalaconsideringthemasterplanforasecondcapitalin Hambantota. HambantotaRuhunuMagampuraportispositionedatalocationnearesttoamain international shipping route. By constructing an international port at a place like this it was envisioned to provide food, water, maintenance etc. services to ships. Together withtheMattalaairportitwassupposedtoactasalogisticshubinthelongrun. Extending the southern expressway to Hambantota to link the two capitals (Colombo-Hambantota) was a part of the same master plan. True value of this Airport and Harbor along with other infrastructure can only be seen when they are taken as one unit. Most ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 9 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS ofthekeytouristattractionplaceshavelessdistancefromHambantotathanfrom Colombo. So development of this master plan has a greater significance in developing Sri Lanka as a major tourist destination. Sinceitisridiculoustogointoconstruction andexpandspacesinanannual basis, when an airport or a harbor is built, they are built targeting a future capacity (15-20 years)whichisobviouslysignificantlylargerthanthecurrentcapacity.Therefore buildingafacilitythatexceedstodaysrequirementisnottechnicallywrongin engineering, but to the common public this can be transmitted in a wrong manner as a waste of resources by opportunistic politicians.ThecapacityofBandaranaikeInternationalAirport(BIA)wasdesignedand constructed to handle 1.5 million (1,500,000) passengers per year. But during the firstyearonly150,000passengerscamein.Ittook15yearstoreachits design capacity. But just think if BIA construction was ceased just because of criticism or labeling BIAprojectasawastebythebigshottalkersofthatera,thenuntilMattala airportwasbuilt,theonlywaywecouldhavetraveledabroad,wouldbein boats! 1.Whenthereisanotherinternationalairportavailableinthecountry,large flights have the option to direct their flight to the second airport if the first airport is shut down due to some reason. This cuts down the need to carry extrafuel,foodandothersuppliesjustincaseofasituationdemanding flying to a nearest airport in another country. This will result in lowering the priceofairtickets,allowanceofextraluggagewhichindirectlyhelpsto attract and increases the number of tourists to Sri Lanka. ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 10 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS 2.WhendifferentAirlinesoftheworldusetheairtrafficcontrolserviceat Maththala, it generates revenue to GOSL. 3.Having an International airport in close proximity to an international harbor is mutually beneficial (Ex: being able to offer transport facilities to crews of ships) 4.SinceHambantotaisinthedryzone,disturbancesbytheweatherare minimal, and land acquisition cost is also very low due to the availability of vast acreages. 5.Key places of tourist attraction; Yala, Bundala, Udawalawa national parks, Eastern shoreline beaches are closer to Mattala than Colombo. Therefore this can be developed as a centre for tourism. 6.Shippinglinescansavetimeandfuelbyreducingthenavaldistanceby travelling through Hambantota harbor. Myth - 7 Anyone can see if only the millionaires stroll in the newly built walkingpaths, parks, shopping complexes, if they go to Diyatha uyana or Arcade Independence Square in aneveningandobserveclosely.Startingfromsmallchildtoelderlyperson,people from all walks come there to exhale the days stress and have a good time enjoying a cheerful chit-chat with a delicious bite. ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 11 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS Itisessentialtoimprovethesatisfactionlevelsofcitizensinthe moderndayurban development process in harmony with all other physical world development projects. Realizingawell-balancedcommunity;physicallyandmentally,isagoodsignof sustainable development. Moreover a dirty town will not attract investors or tourists. For the last 5 years Colombo and suburbs experienced an exponential growth in urban development. Having being abletobethenumber1inMasterCardIndexforthemostrapidlygrowingcity, Colombo depicts nothing other than its potential to be a city beyond belief. NewlyrefurbishedDutchHospital,ArcadeIndependenceSquareorRaceCourse Shopping complex truly attracts the rich more than the commoner. People who whine about those places might not know that the money, the rich people spend comes back as a handy income to the government as taxes. They tend to forget that all the free services;freeeducation,freehealthservices,freeirrigationwatersuppliesetc.are funded by this money earned through taxes. It should be mentioned that all the above projectsareself-financedandfullyrecoveredtheirinvestmentcostevenbefore completion of construction from key money earned from businesses renting shopping spaces.

Expressways & Road development Southern Expressway Colombo-Katunayake Expressway Northern & Eastern Province Road Network Development Expansion,ModificationandReconstructionofexistingroads&drainage facilities. Irrigation & Water Resources Deduru Oya reservoir & irrigation scheme Rambukkan Oya reservoir & irrigation scheme ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 12 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS Alikota Ara, Kuda Oya irrigation schemes To meet the water requirements of southern dry zone MoragahakandareservoirprojectTomeetthewaterdemandsin Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Vavuniya & Jaffna Ports & Aviation Hambantota Ruhunu Magampura International Harbour Mattala International Airport Colombo Port Expansion Project (Hoisted the efficiency of the Colombo port by expandingitscapacitybyseveralmagnitudes.Heavychargespayeddueto delays are now saved in the country and even the largest of ships can enter the Colombo port) Expansion of Bandaranayake International Airport (The largest air buses can now be controlled at BIA)Modification of Oluwil harbour, Kankasanthure harbour and other harbours. Expansion of Dikowita fisheries harbour along with other fisheries harbours. Parks & Jogging Paths Nawala wetland park Battaramulla Parliament park Battaramulla Diyatha Uyana Viharamaha Devi Park Bellanwila wetland park Urban Infrastructure Development Arcade Independence Square Dutch hospital Lotus Tower Nelum Pokuna International Theatre Power & EnergyKerawalapitiya power station Norochchole coal power plant Upper Kotmale hydro-power plant ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 13 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS Education EstablishmentofScience&Technologycentres&conductingE-Nanasala project to promote the usage of Internet in village schools. Providing facilities to conduct English medium education in village schools. Extension of Southern Expressway to Mattala & Hambantota ConstructionofRatnapuraexpresswayfromSouthernExpresswayto Pelmadulla Northern Expreesway to Jaffna, via North Western Province and North Central Province. Kandy Expressway starting from Northern Expressway. MonoRailelectrictrainservicefromKotahena,Mattakkulya,Malabeto Kelaniya, in order to address the heavy traffic congestion issue in Colombo City. Elevated expressway along baseline road. Outer Circular Highway Colombo Port City 20052014 Gross Domestic Product - GDP$ 24.4 billion$ 74.9 Billion Debts of the country / GDP96%75% Inflation 10%5% Per capita income$ 1210$ 3400 Economic growth rate6%7% ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 14 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS All these Mega Development projects have been halted and are in a stagnant state. Thepledgesofbigshottalkersaboutacceleratingthedevelopmentprocessand generating new job opportunities in a few number of days, have become foul.FromEngineertolaborer,tensandthousandsofjobshavebeenlost.Itshouldbe understoodbyeverycitizenofthiscountrythatthesewereonlyfoxyliesthey fabricated to gain power. From January 2015 up to now, thousands of jobs in the public, semi-government, and privatesectorshavebeenterminated..Morethan5000Engineers,Engineering Assistants, and Technical officers have been requested to vacate from their service. We make this announcement, with sincere sympathy.While surging ahead towards a heroic development, with pride and bliss after marking a victorious end to the 30 year long bloody war against LTTE terrorist, according to whos agenda did the so called gentlemen present twisted logic, unscientific facts and foxily-fabricated lies? Or in other words the Mega Myths? It is time for you, the wise men of this country to think and act rationally.

ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONALS FORUM 15 MEGA DEVELOPMENT, OUR FUTURE AND MEGA MYTHS