EDITIONS: | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |   [ MANRECAP ] Bulletin No.9 July 2005 – August 2005 No. 9 Article #1: Three villages in Manthai West AGA Division - Sewa Village, Ganeshapuram & Pali Aru   Article #1.1: Construction of Teacher’s Quarters Although the construction of two teacher’s quarters in Vellankulam and Thevanpiddy has been delayed due to price increase of materials in Manthai West AGA Division, it is nearing completion.     Construction is in progress at Thevanpiddy   Article #1.2: Construction of Semi-permanent Houses The inhabitants in Sewa Village, Ganeshapuram and Pali Aru are in occupation of state lands unofficially due to the intermittent displacement and resettlement with the continuous unsettled conditions that prevailed due to the conflict. People are very keen to obtain deeds of the lands to resettle in those villages. This issue of land ownership was taken up by the local government and it was decided to alienate an acre (0.4 ha) to each family both for dwelling and cultivation in Sewa Village and Ganeshapuram and half an acre (0.2 ha) in Pali Aru. After the deeds were alienated firstly to the people in Sewa Village, ZOA, a Dutch NGO, agreed to provide assistance to construct 43 semi-permanent houses there. With technical support of the Project, the work has been commenced with Community Managed Rehabilitation (CMR) method. Note: Acting upon Government Tender Guidelines, construction of small-scale infrastructure can be undertaken by approved CBOs such as Rural Development Society, Women Rural Development Society, Farmers’ Organization (Amendment 2004). Rehabilitation or renovation of basic infrastructure by using this community contract method is called Community Managed Rehabilitation (CMR) under MANRECAP.   Article #1.3: Renovation of Damaged Pali Aru Diversion Weir After the preliminary surveys in the first year of the Project, an abandoned minor tank called Karayankannadi in Pali Aru was selected to be rehabilitated by constructing a channel from Pali Aru Diversion Weir to irrigate 60 hectors of paddy land. However, this diversion weir collapsed and washed off due to heavy floods experienced in October 2004. Without renovating the diversion weir, the Karayankannadi irrigation program cannot be implemented as planned. Also, the scale of the work is beyond the capacity of Community Based Organizations (CBOs). Taking these facts into consideration, it was outsourced to a contractor. Soon after full mobilization of equipment and labour in July 2005, the contractor commenced demolishing the damaged diversion weir and constructing a cofferdam and temporary diversion channel. In the middle of August the contractor commenced collecting and transporting raw materials, while carrying out excavation at the weir site. Damaged Diversion Weir in Pali Aru     Article #2: Two villages in Manthai West AGA Division – Kurai & Seethuvinayagarkulam Every year during the rainy season, the access road between Attimodai and Kurai/ Seethuviyanagarkulam is damaged by floods and the people there are isolated from the adjoining villages. Thus the rehabilitation work of Attimodai-Kurai-Seethuvinayagarkulam access road has been an aspiration of long standing among the people in Kurai and Seethuvinayagarkulam. The work was commenced in August 2005 and is in progress.     Jungle was cleared for renovation of the road   Article #3: Four villages in Puthukkamam GN Division in Mannar DS Division – Puhtukkamam, Vadupiththanmadhu, Theththavadi Maruthankulam & Samayapuram On 6th August 2005, opening ceremonies of MPH in Samayapuram and Preschool in Puthukkamam were held by respective CBOs which have been responsible for the construction of those buildings, and community people. These ceremonies provided CBOs good opportunities to organize such events by themselves and contributed to enhance the sense of ownership towards the buildings among community people.   Address by Chief Guest at Opening of Multi Purpose Hall – Samayapuram   Article #4: Santhipuram in Mannar DS Division Article #4.1: Opening Ceremony of Pre-school building Ceremonial opening of Preschool was held on 20th August 2005 at newly constructed Preschool, by CBOs and community people. A CBO, Rural Development Society, in collaboration with community members started the construction in May and ended it in August 2005. Before MANRECAP commenced the activities in this village, there had been no facilities for providing pre-school education to children, so that teachers had taught them under the tree! Now teachers, parents and community members are very proud of their capacity to complete such a great task and having a better educational environment for their children.     Newly constructed Preschool in Santhipuram   Article #4.2: Introduction of Potted Agriculture Santhipuram was established as a housing scheme by the Government. People have no agricultural land and have to purchase agricultural products from the market. In this condition, Potted cultivation of vegetables was introduced to reduce their daily expenses and increase the intake of vegetables. It is considered very effective and water-saving way of cultivation. Each of 125 families is cultivating 10 pots, utilizing the wastewater from the kitchen. Chilies, brinjals, capsicums, tomatoes, snake gourd and bitter gourd have been planted. Used fertilizer bags are utilized as pots for this cultivation.   Training in Potted Agriculture for the members of Women Rural Development Society   Article #4.3: Commencement of Cement Block Making by youths In the Community Action Plan (CAP) Review Workshops, Cement block making was identified as an effective measure of earning in most of the focal villages. A youth group in Santhipuram has commenced this activity, utilizing a cement block making machine lent by the Project and skills obtained through CMR. Building materials produced by the group have been sold to people outside as well as to villagers as low cost building materials.     Article #5: Micro Finance Activities – Opening of “Regional Banks” Since the Project introduced the Micro finance activities to focal villages in September 2004 and promoted the formation of Women’s Saving Groups (WSGs) afterwards, in collaboration with the Women’s Bank, the activity has steadily expanded.  In August 2005, WSGs in the focal villages established three “Regional Banks”, namely the Vaddupiththanmadhu branch and the Santhipuram branch in the Government controlled area (Mannar DS Division) and the Pali Aru branch in the LTTE controlled area (Manthai West AGA Division), with the support of the Women’s Bank, to get more sustained benefits. 360 members of 35 WSGs were qualified to participate in the Regional Banks.   NOTE:  1. Women’s Bank: People in shanty areas in Colombo established the Women’s Bank in 1989, whose main objective was the provision of a mechanism for savings and credit for poor women. 2. Regional Bank: As new WSGs mature in the operation of savings and loans in groups, and micro finance services expand in the area, a branch called “Regional Bank” is established with 10-30 WSGs. The branch does most of operational decision-making, such as member enrollment, deposits and loans. Opening ceremony at Pali Aru branch   MANRECAP BULLETIN Editor and publisher: MANRECAP All correspondence should be addresses to: T. Saisho, MANRECAP / JICA, District Secretariat, Mannar, Sri Lanka Phone: 023 – 2250029, Fax: 023-2250067, Internet address: http://www.manrecap.com  Comments and Suggestions: info@manrecap.com  PREVIOUS MONTHLY BULLETINS | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |