Chapter 5 The Effectiveness of the EIA process in Addressing Development-Induced Disaster
5.2 Policy integration
5.5.5 Coordination
The National Environmental Regulation 1993 and its later amendments identify 23 different state agencies as PAAs in the Sri Lankan EIA process. The Fauna and Flora Act and the Coastal Conservation Act also provide provisions to conduct EIAs in Sri Lanka. According to the EIA legal framework, scoping committees and TECs comprise multi-level and multi-agency participation. Therefore, coordination and cooperation among these agencies is highly important for the above committees to be effective. The current EIA processes require different government departments, both at national and local level, to work together for smooth functioning of the Sri Lankan EIA process. This section covers criteria (20), inter-agency coordination, and (21) involvement of the DMC in the EIA process (see Table 3.1).
Inter-agency coordination
After the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) was established through the DM Act 2005, the DMC began to play a role in the development planning process. It has identified that development- induced disaster risk should be addressed to reduce the disaster risk of communities. As reported earlier, the National Strategy on Disaster Management proposes a disaster impact assessment
128 system in Sri Lanka, in which the DMC will have to play a key role. According to the DMC planner, initially, the DMC attempted to incorporate disaster risk into the current EIA process of the country, but did not succeed because of resistance from the CEA. Later, the DMC re-started the DIA process but with a different approach. The DMC planner stated that
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Here, we attempt to do it through a developer”. In this, the DMC is working with the Road Development Authority (RDA) in a pilot project to incorporate disaster risk assessment into RDA projects. The pilot project is financed by the JICA under its Disaster Management and Capacity Enhancement Project (DiMCEP). According to the second RDA planner, JICA is one of the key funders in road sector development; therefore the RDA is obliged to support this pilot project.Lack of coordination and cooperation among state agencies in working on development processes was very evident during the interviews with government planners in different agencies. According to the DMC planner, lack of support from the CEA and EIA planners has compelled them to look for other strategies to work around project-induced disaster risks and to develop a separate system. The proposed DIA does not have any links to the current EIA system in Sri Lanka or look at EIA as a credible mechanism to collect the required crucial information on disaster risk for detailed design approval. However, it has already created much confusion among state agencies and experts. The second RDA planner stated: “This is a nuisance. For the same project we have to develop different documents for different state agencies and even for donors”.
Though strongly criticising the DMC’s attempt to introduce a separate system, the CEA planner was not willing to improve the current EIA process to incorporate disaster risk. According to the CEA planner: “It [disaster risk] is already being addressed”. Therefore, the CEA considers the growing concern over project-induced disaster risk as an issue of coordination rather than a technical gap in the current EIA process. The planner further stated: “Coordination with other agencies is very good, but not with the DMC. It is not sufficient.” The second EIA expert saw this as a common problem in the Sri Lankan administrative system. The expert stated:
It is an inherent issue of Sri Lankan institutes. Nothing to do with CEA. It had been really difficult to bring Forest Department and Wildlife Department to one table to discuss the matters related to the environment. No one wants to talk to other organizations and learn from their expertise.
The second RDA planner supported the above statement, as he expressed his dissatisfaction over the poor coordination among agencies in the EIA process and the disaster impact process.
Involvement of the DMC in the EIA process
The on-going mistrust and poor relationship between the DMC and the CEA surfaced in the interviews I had with the two agencies. It was clear that even when opportunities exist for greater
129 coordination, they appear not to be taken up. The interviewed CEA planner strongly opposed the involvement of the DMC in a proposal for strengthening or improving the existing EIA process. The CEA planner agreed that the DMC can play a significant role within the current EIA process by
assisting to set up the ToR and reviewing and commenting on the EIA reports. However, according to the CEA planner, the DMC does not play such a role in the current EIA process. The CEA planner added:
When we invite them [the DMC] for TEC meeting, they do not at least come to TEC meetings. We invite them for scoping committee. They do not come. We ask them to come for scoping committee to decide the ToR, but they do not. They are even not giving comments for EIA reports.
The DMC planner had a different view. Even though the DMC planner was still hopeful about some dialogue between the two agencies, the planner believes that a lack of flexibility and preparedness to change is the problem in CEA. Therefore, the DMC planner seemed more comfortable working directly with developers, such as the RDA, without getting involved with CEA. The DMC planner also accepted that the lack of in-house capacity has restricted DMC from participating in scoping
committees.
Summary
The findings show that criterion 20 is met to a ‘limited’ extent but criterion 21 is not met in the Sri Lankan EIA process. Coordination among agencies is a challenging task in the EIA process and the DMC is not a part of the current EIA process. The DMC has initiated a separate DIA system, which could aggravate coordination issues among agencies. Table 5.10 summarises the criteria findings for coordination of the EIA process in Sri Lanka.
Table 5.10 A summary of the criteria findings for coordination
Criterion Evaluation Justifications
(20) Inter-agency coordination and cooperation is available across sectors and different levels (national/local) of government departments at all stages of the EIA process
Limited
There are 23 different PAAs under the NEA. Therefore, inter-agency coordination is required in the EIA process, especially at scoping and TECs. Coordination with provincial governments was not studied in this research. Lack of coordination among agencies, especially the DMC was visible in the interviews.
(21) Disaster management agency is involved (receive information and get coordination) in all stages of the EIA process
No
The DMC does not play an active role in the EIA process.
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