Development Aspects Impressum Editors

Logistical: Unfortunately, those cities and areas that most need sanitation services also often suffer from poor infrastructure in general. After receiving the tanks, Ne- gombo was unable to transport the tanks to the project site since the road leading to the area (Monacogama) had a bridge that was incapable of withstanding the weight of the tanks and the trucks carrying them. The alternative was to transport the tanks across the lagoon. However, the city was not able to find a boat big enough to transport the tanks safely. After changing the project site twice, they finally agreed to install it at a planned new bus terminal, which was yet to be fully completed but easier for delivery of the tanks.
Bureaucratic: This factor has been the major drawback for Negombo’s progress in installing the tanks. The city’s unresponsiveness in updating all project partners such as CITYNET and UNITAR caused delays from the very beginning. There were a variety of long communication lapses with the city, despite repeated contact at- tempts, throughout the project. In addition, the city faced political disturbances after presidential elections and further delays in processing construction permits from relevant municipal departments. In early 2011, partners from the City of

Galle, Sri Lanka, visited Negombo and re-confirmed the mayor’s willingness to complete the project.

Supply and quality of local technical personnel: The city did not have a substitute engineer who was capable of handling the project. The main engineer responsi- ble for the Eco-Tank Project had a cardiac problem soon after being assigned to the task. The city was not able to find a replacement and waited for his recovery to resume work. This was revealed only after various requests from CITYNET for progress updates. Negombo decided to continue working with the same engineer. Availability of additional skilled workers could have prevented the loss of time.
Weather: Sri Lanka suffers from many seasonal typhoons and Negombo is one of the most vulnerable cities as it is surrounded by a lagoon and is situated at sea level. Floods are common even with regular rain, which disrupts transportation badly in the city. Therefore, the window for conducting the groundwork is very limited. There is no solution for this. However, better contingency plans could be implemented by the city.

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