Project Implementation

The Board of Trustees for the Kalametiya Rehabilitation & Development Trust will provide technical expertise, and overall management guidelines for the activities to be implemented under this project. A Field Site Manager will be appointed for the project to coordinate and implement activities at the site-level in Kalametiya. This individual should ideally be from the Kalametiya area and have some experience of working with the local community in relation to social or development work. Knowledge of socio-economic research methodologies including participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques would be a distinct advantage, especially when undertaking needs assessments for selecting suitable recipients for the different project activities. Other field staff may be appointed as and when required depending on how the scope of the project evolves. The Trust will also seek to identify a range of appropriate partners including state agencies, NGOs, private companies and individuals to mobilize the planning, skills and equipment necessary to carry out the proposed activities.

Monitoring is critical to ensure the long-term sustainability of activities implemented under the project and a monitoring and evaluation framework will be developed for this purpose. Stakeholder participation will be ensured at all levels of monitoring and reporting including at the community level. Regular progress reports will be prepared and submitted to donors. In addition a website will be set up for the Kalametiya Rehabilitation & Development Trust. An e-news update giving regular updates of project activities with links to the website will also be circulated via email.

Coordination of implementation activities

As mentioned previously, the KRDT will seek to work in close collaboration with government efforts and other major projects that are working in the Kalametiya area. Links have already been established with the two major projects in the Kalametiya area – the CRM project and the GEF RUK project and we will also inform the Divisional Secretariats of Tangalle and Ambalantota and local Pradeshiya Saba of what we propose to do, to ensure that we are not in conflict with local planning and are not duplicating other rehabilitation and development efforts in the area. Under the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources an Operational Committee has been set up to help coordinate relief and rehabilitation efforts around the country. The Senior Assistant Secretary of the Ministry who is chairing this committee has also been informed in writing of what we propose to do through our Trust Fund. This national-level committee will in turn inform the District-level Operational Committee of our work plan, who will provide this information to the relevant DS level working committees. In addition it must be noted that in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster there have been several other private rehabilitation efforts that have been proposed for the Kalametiya area by interested parties and we will ensure that we liaise with these other efforts as well.

Principles for selecting interventions and recipients for project interventions

It must be noted that coastal communities in Kalametiya, as elsewhere, are not homogenous groups in terms of wealth and there are various levels of poverty within a village. Whist the tsunami did not distinguish between the poor and better-off families that it affected, it is clear that some families are more vulnerable when facing this kind of natural catastrophe than others. The KRDT will remain aware at all times of these underlying factors that influence the community dynamics, and to avoid misunderstandings when implementing activities will adhere to the following principles:

• Remain transparent at the grass-roots level to ensure that the community is well aware of our overall objectives and proposed activities.
• Remain fair in terms of selecting interventions for implementation to ensure that the most vulnerable groups are not overlooked.
• Remain fair in terms of selecting recipients for particular interventions, ensuring that the selection does not create conflict among community members.
• Remain sensitive to the particular needs of women and children, particularly in cases where the family breadwinner or a child has been lost.
• Ensure that all interventions support activities that are environmentally sustainable, both for the long-term benefit of the communities and to support government natural resource management policies that promote sustainable use practices.
  

In addition a comprehensive set of criteria will be developed for each intervention to determine how recipients will be selected, to avoid any confusion of conflict at a later stage among the community. To do this, each of the proposed interventions will be discussed with the communities prior to developing detailed programmes so that their perspectives and priorities are understood. The specific roles (e.g. skilled and unskilled labour, knowledge of traditional methods and resources) of various community groups in implementing the intervention programmes will also be identified through this dialogue. This participation of the beneficiaries is critical in creating ownership of the activities amongst the community, and this in turn is essential if the interventions under this Trust are to achieve the long-term impacts necessary.