Sri Lanka's Southern Province undergoes sweeping industrialisation

Sri Lanka’s Southern province is now undergoing sweeping industrialisation with the implementation of an unprecedented development plan in the region on the directions of, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Accordingly, Galle and Matara been earmarked to as investment zones focusing on exports. Furthermore, several large tourism zones of about 500 acres will also to be set up by the government.

A project preparation study has been carried out with the aim of improving the resilience and livability of the city of Matara and the greater Matara area.

The Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development is planning to develop Matara as a strategic city located in the Southern Economic Corridor and the vision is “to develop Matara as a commercial service centre” to achieve the desired level of economic growth while reducing regional disparities.

Ministry of Megapolis was the Technical Partner for the project preparation study and it has been proposed to make climate-compatible, low-carbon and resilient urban infrastructure investments.

It will focus on the improvement of solid waste management, upgrading of the city’s flood protection measures by adopting nature-based solutions where possible, improvement of the storm water drainage infrastructure, and urban regeneration and the improvement of city livability.

These sectors will then be prioritized for future investments by the French Development Agency(AFD) and the Government of Sri Lanka.

A EUR 520,000 grant has been provided for the study by the AFD-European Union funded window of CDIA. Matara was the first among 12 cities to be assisted by Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) to develop infrastructure projects with climate co-benefits under the AFD-CDIA partnership, a senior official of the ministry said.

In close collaboration with partners, CDIA has provided the overall management of the study, including supervision of international and local consultants who performed it.

At present, Matara faces serious environmental challenges and is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. Periodic floods linked to storm surge and inadequate storm water drainage cripple the city; while the lack of solid waste management measures continue to pose a risk to the environment and health of the residents.