Saturday, August 4, 2012

A NUPO Leaders Speech


Reverend Fathers, distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen!

A result of a people’s long march.

Paththayamwatta housing scheme is another admirable achievement of a long march by the poor in Negombo. We say so because during this march we the poor people set aside all our differences based on caste, party politics and creed, and organized ourselves as the Negombo United People’s Organization, (NUPO) holding on to our own identity, autonomy and self respect, in order to secure our shelter rights. 
Our journey is unique because we have suffered many instances of rejection and defeat but at every such occasion we have risen again and became stronger to fight our battle. During this journey of 30 long years, we the marginalized and the poor of Negombo have made many sacrifices, shed our sweat and moved on step by step never turning back.

Our Origin

The fire that burned down about 35 temporary houses as a result of lightning fire crackers during the X’mas in 1979, at a place called Paradise Place in the parish of Grand St Negombo and the activities connected with construction of houses for the victims and the search for suitable  sites for those who did not receive houses due to  non availability of land, were the circumstances which led to the establishment of NUPO. 
At that time Fr. Ivan Perera was the parish priest. When this calamity happened, he called for the services of Fr. Sarath Iddamalgoda who was then the priest in charge of Human Development Apostolate in Negombo. The fisheries department intervened immediately to build new houses for some of the victims. But others were left out due to lack of land.
 
Fr. Iddamlagoda then initiated a programme to motivate and mobilize those people who did not receive houses to search for alternative land. He advised them also to make room for anyone in Negombo who is without land for shelter to join the movement to secure their shelter rights.  
Gradually hundreds of people from various parts of Negombo who did not possess land for building their houses, began to join this new movement for securing shelter rights. This was what we meant by the “long march” which led to the the establishment of the aforementioned   “Negombo United People’s Organization” (NUPO) in 1981.  The aim of this organization was to secure shelter rights and solve issues related to the poverty of the low income people in the area.

They appointed the religious leaders of all denominations as their patrons in order to unite the people of all creeds. The vision of the organization was to seek justice to all people irrespective of their caste, religious and political affiliations.

The purpose of the organization was to raise all their brothers and sisters from the subhuman condition that they have fallen in due to the loss of basic rights, to a higher level of humanity by developing their knowledge, values and skills.  

The NUPO is presently celebrating its 31st year of existence and is active in 9 districts. In those districts, NUPO is concerned with issues of shelter, health, organic farming and education as well as the problems  of traditional fishermen. The agenda includes cultural activities organized by the youth.  

Our Successes.

The members of NUPO who come from low income categories have acquired knowledge, skills and values and have been able to acquire several material benefits as well. Due to their effective lobbying with the political authorities, they have been able to influence the then government to commission several housing schemes for Munnakkara , such as, a 5 acre land for 100 houses, St Anthony’s Housing Programme, St. Peters Housing Programme, and  the 74 acre land for housing at Kadolkele.  
Problem of Shelter in Negombo.

In spite of the above mentioned housing programmes, people of Negombo are still facing an acute problem of shelter. The number of people who seek membership in the NUPO has increased. For this problem has been there for generations whle the authorities failed to evolve a shelter policy for Negombo.
NUPO as an organization has realized from its own experience, the need for a shelter policy, and is also willing to lobby with the authorities and raise its voice on this issue, while at the same time engaging in housing programmes at the local level.

The poor in Negombo have suffered immensely for generations due to lack of proper shelter programmes. Seeing their fate, NUPO in year 2000, identified a number of state lands for housing schemes, namely the land set aside for the 3rd stage of the Kadolkelle housing programme and the land at Hettiyagewatta (Sea street), Udappuwatta in Palangaturai, Mahawatta (at Pitipana); NUPO then  made a proposal to the authorities to start housing projects in these places. If that proposal had been implemented, about 15,000 poor families in Negombo would have benefited. Sadly those in authority did not heed to our request. Even today we wish to call on the government to consider our proposal.  

Then in 2004, those in the coastal area were affected by the Tsunami. The government then selected Udappuwatta in Palangaturai and Hettiyagewatta in Sea Street  the lands which NUPO has earmarked for common housing programmes for their own members to build houses for the victims of Tsunami. However, NUPO did not raise any objection to that programme on humanitarian grounds.
Yet we checked the list of the beneficiaries and found many who are not eligible for housing benefits. Although, NUPO raised this matter with the Negombo Municipality and the Pradeshiya Saba, it did not receive any response.

Alternative Soloutions.

NUPO members continued to suffer day in and day out due to high cost of living economic hardships and also unaffordable house rents. Having discussed this matter they finally decided in year 2005 to approach the Archbishop of Colombo. Having listened to our plight, he agreed to buy a land for us for a housing programme.

While we were discussing how we could build the houses in case the archbishop bought the land for us, Mr. Osman Bopearachchy a friend of Fr. Sarath Iddamalgoda and a professor in Archeology now living in France, happened to be holidaying  in Sri Lanka and promised Fr Sarath to raise funds for the housing programme.

Accordingly, we bought with the Archbihop’s Fund a land first in Athgala and then at Batakanda,  Godigamuwa, hoping to build 50 houses with the housing fund promised by Mr. Bopearachchy. However we could not organize the housing schemes in both areas as planned due to various socio-cultural constraints and selfish agendas of some.      

Subsequently, we resumed our discussions with the political authorities through the intervention of our priests of the area.  As a result of these discussions, the authorities made a promise to give us a 2 acre land from Kadolkelle. It is sad to say that this still remain a mere promise.  
The question of non availability of land for the proposed housing programme became a problem for Mr. Bopearchchy who promised a house construction fund to Fr. Iddamalgoda. The issue was discussed at length at Janawaboda Kendraya and then decided to inform Mr. Bopearachchy about the crisis situation here.

The ultimate result of this negotiation was the agreement reached between the donors in France and the Janawaboda Kendraya to utilize the funds to buy the land for 25 families. Due to the new arrangement, NUPO membership had to face the enormous challenge of selecting the most deserving families. Undoubtedly it was a difficult moment for  the leadership and those who, consequently  decided to  opt out of the scheme. Nevertheless, without much dispute 25 members sacrificed their opportunities for more deserving members in true solidarity.  It was a sacrifice made by the poor on behalf of the poor. Those who made that sacrifice are participating at this joyful event with the hope that they will one day be able to settle down in a land at Kadolkelle.
We of NUPO assure them that we will not forget their cause and we are very much alive to their burning need. We will continue to support their struggle to secure the shelter rights. 

Our Thanks

We are very thankful to all those animators of Janawaboda Kendraya who supported us in many ways during our long journey to secure our shelter rights. At the same time, we appreciate the contributions made by our patrons the venerable chief monk of Maha Pansala Negombo, Moulavi and the Hindu Priests 
 A special mention must be made of Fr. Gamini Fernando the former Episcopal Vicar and Fr. Patrick Fernando the present Episcopal Vicar of the Negombo region, who always extended their helping hand whenever we sought their intervention. We are sad to note their absence on this platform.
Our thanks also go to both the members of “Habitat” and their foreign collaborators, who came to our assistance, for without their collaboration we would not have been able to construct the houses.
Last but not least we extend our thanks to Mr. Bopearachchy whom we have never met  but whose patience with us and timely intervention in organizing the fund made this project a reality.

Our Future

The long term objective of NUPO will not end with the today’s event. We have a long way to go. The problems of the poor will continue to affect us. There are other NUPO members who still suffer without shelter. I would like to conclude my talk by inviting all of you to continue to exercise our social responsibilities on behalf of all of them.    

Negombo United People’sOrganization.
04th August 2012 

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