Cutting down trees for sidewalks (or pavements)--or a post-war approach to urban development

I’ve been working for the past week or so with this research center that examines poverty in many different contexts. The theme I am charged with assisting develop is post-war development. Now, Sri Lanka was involved in a civil war for over 26 years. And although the government forces virtually destroyed the last of the rebel group (LTTE) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam in May of 2009, the country is finding its new post-war identity. It is for this reason I have made the trip to Sri Lanka. Society in a post-war context has many interesting qualities. Colombo is fairly mild, and I am sure more remarkable manifestations of post-war society will become apparent in the coming weeks. But here is an interesting story from this week:

The other day the Executive Director of our research center became wildly incensed by the seemingly irrational chopping of trees in front of our office building. Now you may wonder why she would even care, creating safe walkways near the wild roads of Colombo seems a perfectly sane proposition, and as a walking/bus commuting resident I appreciate an improved sidewalk. Our executive director had a valid point, however. This cutting and chopping of trees came without warning, without notification of the property owners along the road, there was no sign posting informing residents to expect this, there was no method for people to respond or intervene should they disagree with the cutting of trees. She placed several calls to the appropriate ministries and no one seemed to know where this order came from. But the beautification/road work improvements/ transportation authority did fall within the Ministry of Defense.

This all seems quite strange to the naïve mind, such as me. But…let us think further on this. The executive director makes an additional point. You realize you are living in a post-war society when the military (largest share of government funding) is charged with such things as street beautification, vegetable sales, and the like. Yes, they execute with military precision. The trees were cut and all debris was removed within a day and a half. I suppose the point could be made that such things as neighborhood improvements, the removal of shade producing trees in an overcrowded, dusty and hot city might be controlled by some democratic process. At least this is the opinion of some, who may point to small ways in which a post-war society manifests even outside the former conflict zone. Then again, maybe it doesn’t and maybe it was just a decision that will help increase pedestrian safety.