Development modes

That there are different development modes is undeniable. From country to country, culture to culture, the interpretation of the concept varies. A road, a harbour, an airport may be built, but its meaning, efficacy, the larger impact, will vary; sometimes even becoming the very opposite of what it was meant to be. Only recently a newly-built airport in our country ended up becoming a granary. Apparently no planes landed at this multi-million dollar airport. By itself, without the other numerous but essential and related factors, any of these, a road, a harbour, an airport will not deliver its promise, nor achieve its full potential.

Changing face of Kirula Road

There is an on-going “development project” to upgrade Kirula Road, an important and busy street in East Colombo. The scope of the work, started about a year back, is wide-ranging; the road surface, drainage, pavements and even the water lines are being upgraded. Although we the residents of the area have no information on the proposed end result, going by what is being done, the area will certainly end up with a face-lift, in a manner.

Regrettably, our city planners rarely show any originality or ‘artistry’ in their work. You will not find any protected trees or greenery, shady or attractive street corners. Nor will we see resting areas for the tired pedestrian, recreational reserves, emphasis on zoning policy, reference to heritage or historical sites, convenient car parking, turning points for vehicles and so on in their planning. Kirula Road had a quaint little roundabout (an island in the middle of the road) near the Asiri Hospital. This gave the road a distinction and a character. There were some shady trees and even seats on it. Under the dictates of the development project, the “island” has disappeared, instead a meaninglessly broad area, only on this stretch of the road.

Historically, Kirula Road has had a residential cum semi-commercial character. Apart from hundreds of residential properties, there are several government departments, hospitals, schools, places of worship, and commercial institutions in the area. As if to complete the picture, about three years back a drinking joint – a common pub – appeared half way down the road. It is believed that a powerful political family runs the hooch business. Most of their customers arrive there in three wheelers. In their haste to tipple, how they park the vehicle is irrelevant. The result is that three wheelers block the entrances to most of the residences/offices. In order to access their own houses, the residents have to confront drunkard hooligans.

With the road development project, the pavements have been raised and even the little space where a small vehicle could have parked has disappeared. So now the problem is aggravated, with the road chock-a-block with three-wheelers and other vehicles parked in any old way.

Development around the city

This project is perhaps no different to several other similar developments happening in different parts of the city. There is a smallish board announcing, in a matter-of-fact way, that the development is funded by the Asian Development Bank. The money may come from far, but the work is all indigenous. Happening at my doorsteps as it were, I am able to observe the process of road development at close quarters.

Given the many aspects of the project, the work naturally is handled by different contractors and teams. In the morning, at about 9 a.m., large trucks discharge teams of workers. Whatever criticism one may level against our work ethic, it cannot be said that they are not cheerful at work. There is a lot of shouting, joking, and walking about done by the teams. Often we see one or two digging away while the rest of the team just gape vacantly. Even in the early hours of the morning several of the workers seem to be on a rest mode. Concepts such as accomplishment, competence or even working to a time table have no place here. Whatever they achieve is only because they are so numerous. I suspect that the bar close by provides sustenance during the day.

Inefficiency of the workforce

There doesn’t seem to be any kind of supervision of the work gangs although there are supervisors, distinguished by their inappropriately neat office clothes. From their dress, it is clear they do not anticipate any physical exertion, even if it means setting an example. The supervisors have defined their work to be sitting in a shady spot while chatting on their mobile phones. In personality, there is no authority in them and I could not imagine any leadership from these supervisors. It may be that they are already compromised morally and command no respect. Whatever power they could claim comes only from rank; not from competence in the job or any higher personal qualities. It is most likely that they owe their position to political patronage or claimed relationships with their own superiors or politicians.

By noon, the work ends and the workers depart. As a result of the short work day the progress of the road is limited to only a few feet a day. I asked one of the workers why they do not work a normal day.  “You don’t know the difficulties under which we work. We get summoned by the bosses to work in different places as politicians demand quick action at other places.” But we observed that this pattern is repeated every day. A security guard on duty nearby commented on the sickening levity of this approach to what is after all a serious exercise of nation building. “This is how the tax payers’ money is wasted. They only work an hour or two a day!”

I was reminded of an experience several years before. I was in Frankfurt, Germany. About two miles away from my hotel, a section of the famed Autobahn was undergoing repairs. Curious to observe the laying of the much spoken of roads by a world class workforce, I walked in the cold to the site. In the section they were working on, there were no more than 10 workers. They were working individually and on different tasks. There was no chatting about as they went on with their work, uninterruptedly and diligently. The impression was of men who knew their job and went about it professionally. Conscious of their capabilities, proud of their reputation, they would not let anything come in the way of achieving the given targets but that is another world.

Occasionally, I engage some of the workers (back at Kirula Road) in a conversation. It is prudent to keep good relations in unpredictable and irrational situations. Sometimes road workers heedlessly leave debris or other material in front of the gateway and thus imprison you in your home for a day or two. This had happened to some neighbours and they were at a loss as to who they could turn to. Every work gang they approached claimed that the material left in front of their gate was the work of another gang whose responsibility it was to remove it.

They are not without friendly gestures. One of the workers suggested that they could tar my driveway (inside the premises) for a small gratuity. Although tempted, I did not fancy a trip to the FCID to answer endless questions on misusing government property so declined their kind offer. The application of project material for private use did not seem to pose any ethical or even an operational problem to these workers.

Developed world

One day, our conversation turned to foreign countries, mainly the developed world. They were interested; wondrous, but a world of which they had no firsthand experience. Even if they had a nodding acquaintance with the West, the cultural gap was too wide to bridge meaningfully. Out of reach due to practical difficulties of travel, the local media was their medium of interpretation of the occident. The patent limitations of that medium were reflected in the attitudes and opinions of these workers, dependent solely on the local press for their world view. But they were eager to express opinions, even criticism, based on value judgments.

I gathered from the ideas expressed, in a kind of confused and contradictory way, that they had misgivings about the West which was seen as covetous and politically hostile. These workers, so wanting in their own sphere, had no hesitation in venturing into so complex a subject as international affairs. The western countries had their eyes on our harbours and wished to dominate the nearby sea-lanes, they assured me. When I suggested that several of our leaders had sought refuge while many have become citizens of these countries they saw no moral difficulty there. By way of lessening the inconsistency, one of the workers confided that his nephew, a graduate of the Katubedda University too had migrated to Australia recently. “They want our brains,” he explained.

In the course of the discussion, I referred to the phenomenon of declining religious sentiment in the prosperous societies of the west. In Europe, the percentage of those who attend church is very low.

This was something difficult to comprehend. A society with no religion? What holds things together? Where is the “intellectual/spiritual” dimension? Then it dawned on them. 

“That is not surprising, considering the religions they have …”