Globalisation of Norocholai

Norocholai is the tip of Kalpity peninsula in Puttalam District.  I was at the beach strip, possibly 3-4 km long, and was amazed at the extent of globalisation of this rather pristine and quiet strip.

I could see a coal power plant belching smoke through its three chimneys.  This plant was built with Chinese aid, coal to the plant is supplied by a bulk freighter (bulker) possibly sailed its way from Australia.  It is so big, it can’t sail closer to the power plant.  So, a handy, a smaller vessel, shuttles between the bulker and the plant continuously.  900 MW of electricity is expected from the plant, feeding the national grid.  This increased supply is expected to bring down the electricity prices, especially for small consumers across the country.  A few kilo meters from the plant is a labour camp (actually this is a modern residential complex with dozens of 100 duplexes), built for Chinese technocrats for their stay during construction.  Now it houses employees of the coal power plant.

Evenly spaced wind mills had been installed along the beach strip.  They are probably 200 m apart, just enough space to prevent the long wind blades colliding from each other.  There were several of them, constructed by a Sri Lankan company with support from Indian companies.  I was told a temporary jetty was built so that the spares for the wind mills can be brought directly from India to this remote part of Sri Lanka.  The mills rotate all day and night long producing electricity for the National grid.  I am not sure how cost effective they are but, at least for now, almost all of them are in working order.

Now to the traditional economic sector – fishing.  The fishermen come all the way from Batticaloa.  They are hired by the local businessmen for a four month period, with an advance of two month wages.  They fish the old-fashioned way, the lay the nets about 2 km long in a loop, a man on a dingy at the tip of the loop signals the ‘pullers’ at both end of the loop.  They move in tandem, as they pull the net towards the land.  Laying the net, and pulling it back to the shore takes more than four hours, but it brings a few tons of fish – their skins just shine like silver sheets.  By the way, nets from Japan and Korea are sown together to trap the fish.  That’s the local innovation.  As the fish is pulled to the shore, a small ice truck awaits the harvest; fishermen sort the fish and pack them in boxes of ice.  The truck then rolls its way to the markets in Colombo, which is about 125 km away.  A portion of the harvest is also brought to huts along the beach, where it is processed, mixed with salt, and dried for dried-fish.

As you move your eyes from the shore towards in-land, tall coconut trees wave their long leaves in merriment. As we the Sri Lankans know, every part of the palm has an economic value, and the locals take full advantage of them.  Once you get through the coconut groves, there are sand dunes intensively cultivated.  Almost any vegetable is grown, throughout the year.  Soils have no structure, so, the fields are irrigated twice a day.  Irrigation water is from the groundwater, which is about 10 m deep.  Watering them with a drag hose is labour intensive and expensive, so, the farmers have designed their own sprinklers for irrigation.  The vegetables are sprayed and fertilised very much in excess, frequent irrigation leach them down, so the groundwater is not suitable for drinking.  The locals are well aware of it, they buy drinking water from a distance.  Labour for agriculture is provided by migrants from Mannar.  A woman makes about 7 dollars, and a man makes about 8 dollars in a six hour shift.  Usually they start very early, work till 11 AM, go home and then they go to a different farmer in the afternoon.  Two shifts are very common, so, 12 to 15 dollars a day is easily made by these labourers.  Again the harvest is trucked immediately to markets – there’s no local storage for the produce.

I met a farmer/fisherman who ‘owns’ fishing and farming operations on this strip.  He was very impressive. He is sixty five, spoke all three languages, recited a few ‘Kurals’ as we conversed.  He has done Year 12 at St Patricks College in Jaffna, and was appointed as an English teacher for a salary of 300 Rs.  He decided to do farming and fishing, and was proud that he now supports 50 to 60 families.  His son is a graduate, who looks after the day to day operations, daughter a MSc graduate, teaches at a local high school.  He hosts University students occasionally and speaks to them about agriculture in the field.  He was proud that he does not get any assistance from the Government.  The Government Agent of Puttalam confirmed this.   Based on the numbers cited, a person who owns one acre land will make 1000 USD profit per month from agriculture.  That is not a small sum anywhere.

Another traditional industry is salt mining from sea water - presence of salterns are not easy to miss.

The peninsula is also home for several hotels for tourists.  I saw the hotels, not the tourists – possibly basking in the mild but bright sun somewhere.

This the strip of land supports a coal power plant, wind mills, hotels, fisheries and agriculture.  I could feel the ‘presence’ of technology or investment made by Australians, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and Indians.  Even among Sri Lankans, there were laborers from Batticaloa and Mannar supporting investment of Puttalam business men.

I can’t think of any other places I have been to, where globalisation of local economy was so evident!