Does Secured Tenure matter on Land Investment? A Review on Literature

Secured nature of land tenure is of current importance among many factors that determines the land quality improving investment in land productivity. A vast number of scholarly work has been developed, yet the results are contradictory. This article attempts to provide a critical review of the available literature on secured tenure and the impact on farmers’ decision to invest on the land. Reviewed results argues though a very few has identified with no influence, majority confirms that secured tenure provide incentives for investment and positively impact on productivity. Strong policy actions can help to improve the security of land rights and promote socially desirable decision of the farmer to maintain the soil quality and thereby improve the land productivity. Key words: Tenure Security, Land Investment, Soil quality, Land Productivity, Property Right

EVALUATION OF FLOOD DETERMINANTS: EVIDENCE FROM KELANI RIVER IN SRI LANKA

Floods are one of the meteorological occurrences that commonly record as serious catastrophic natural hazard in the world. Flooding ranks among the most devastating types of natural catastrophe in Sri Lanka. A well-known spot in the country for repeated floods may be found along the banks of one major river, the ‘Kelani,' with incredible damages recorded for the human lives and property in the Kaduwela Municipal Council boundaries. Therefore, it is timely requirement for identification of determinants on the recurrent flooding in the area. This research aims to analyze the determinants of flooding based on Kelani River, in Kaduwela Municipal Council limits, focusing on both natural and man-made factors. The research was conducted within the mixed method approach. Sixty households were chosen by systematic random selection to reflect the most vulnerable Grama Niladari divisions, and the data was collected using a structured questionnaire by considering ten determinants and indepth interviews with five experts. Collected data were analyzed using mean value analysis and content analysis to achieve the research objective. The findings revealed that man-made factors are the most affected factors for flooding in the area. Among them, the findings of both analyses indicated that the most significant reasons were non-availability of proper drainage system and violating the existing rules and regulation in the area. The study recommended, the necessity to implement adaptation measures and policies to minimize the flood risk of the area to achieve urban sustainability. Keywords: Flood Determinants, Flood Risk, Man- made Factors, Natural Factor

SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY AND COMPENSATION IN COMPULSORY LAND ACQUISITION: DOSE IT MATTERS ON SATISFACTION

Compensating for different types of losses are continuously experiencing in Sri Lanka due to types of disasters or compulsory land acquisition. The land Acquisition Act No. 09 of 1950 makes the provision to acquire the lands from private landowners for the public interest and to pay the monetary compensation to recover the losses. The National Involuntary Resettlement Policy (NIRP) was intended to address involuntary resettlement, integrating land acquisition and payment of compensation. However, there is a real distrust about satisfaction of the victims on the end results mainly based on many aspects. In fact, the findings vary from place to place. Therefore, this paper aims to critically analyze the factors representing of the social sustainabilityconcept in compensation procedure of compulsory land acquisition of Sri Lanka, expressly reviewing the reservoir development project of Yan Oya and its resettlement community. Fivepoint Likert scale questionnaire was used to collect data from thirty re-settlers selected from three locations on nine criteria. Further, six prominent community leaders were interviewed forfurther confirmation. The findings reveal those five factors representing social sustainability aspect were successful to some extent, while there were significant inconsistencies amongst assessed components within individual cases. Hence, the study reveals that pure monetary compensation process was unsuccessful since it represents the inadequacy to cover all losses ofvictims. Thus, for a coverage of total loss a resettling strategy is essential while with more concerns to the social sustainability aspects. Keywords: Compensation, Compulsory land acquisition, Resettlement strategy, Satisfaction,Social sustainability

Application of Green Features in Property Valuation in Sri Lanka: Perspectives of Professional Valuers

In the concept of sustainability, the green building plays a salient role in the path of achieving sustainability goals in the country. In line with that, RICS has also introduced RICS professional guidance to estimate the sustainability factors in the property. Moreover, there is an emerging trend in Sri Lanka to going green and now the financial sector is in the process of introducing new financial facilities for the buildings with green features. Hence, valuers as professionals who directly involved in the property market and provide a professional opinion on property value, can have a distinct impact in the context of green buildings. Accordingly, this study analyzes the perspectives of professional valuers on the application of green features introduced by the GBCSL in property valuation in Sri Lanka. The study was conducted as quantitative research and the data was collected through a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was distributed among 100 professional valuers and 60 responses were collected. The collected data were analyzed by using descriptive analysis and mean comparison using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. Findings revealed that most of the valuers have a moderate level of awareness and knowledge on green features and do not currently consider them in property valuation. A key challenge/barrier to consider green features in property valuation is the lack of proper guidelines and knowledge. Also, the importance of considering green features in property valuation is varied from different phases of the life cycle of the building and property types. As per the perspectives of valuers, 12 sub green features out of 18 were considered to estimate the value of a condominium and 7 sub-features were considered for commercial and office building valuation.   © 2022 The Authors. Published by Department of Estate Management and Valuation, University of Sri Jayewardenepura   Keywords: Green Building, Green Features, Green SL Rating System, Property Valuation  &nbsp

ENCOURAGING ATTRIBUTES IN URBAN RECREATIONAL WALKAWAYS: USER PERSPECTIVES

Numerous health concerns such as obesity is increasingly prevalent among many urban dwellers followed by lack of physical exercise even walking. Limited space in urban settings to provide adequate open spaces, providing recreational facilities is a key issue experienced in urban areas in Sri Lanka. Thus, an ideal solution arises as 'walking paths,' where only a strip of land is required. Among the limited studies directly rely on the attributes in walking paths, there are studies on ‘adults walking in open spaces’ discussing some attributes should consider in developing the facility. However, no evidence to date on the attractive attributes or the adequacy of the attributes in the walking paths. Accordingly. the main aim of this study is to examine the public perception on attributes of walking avenues in urban areas of Sri Lanka. Data collected through a self-administered questionnaire on ten attributes from a convenience sample of 150 users selected from three separate settings. The descriptive statistics, univariate analysis, hoc multiple comparisons, and homogeneous subsets technique were used in the analysis. Results reveals, safety as the preferred attribute while shading and natural settings also significant. An income variation presents that the respondents with above the income level of LKR 65,000 preferred cafeterias providing herbal drinks while the users with below that income level are less interest with the attributes of changing rooms and street vendors. It is recommended to consider the preferred attributes in developing future walking paths to encourage the public to get the full benefits. Keywords: Attractive Attributes, Public Perception, Urban Setting, Walkaways, Sri Lanka

STUDY THE EFFECT OF SALINITY AND NUTRIENTS FOR THE GROWTH OF Najas marina AND ITS IMPACT TO AQUATIC BIODIVERSITY IN MADU GANGA RAMSAR WETLAND IN SRI LANKA

Madu Ganga is the latest addition to the Ramsar International Convention of Wetlands. Najas marinais an alien aquatic plant and 0.5 m long that are often branched toward the upward portion of the plant. The objective of the study was to study the impact of salinity and nutrients for the growth of Najas marina. Samples were collected for analysed water quality parameters from March, 2006 to January 2007 in the lagoon. Mapping was done using Garmin GPS map 76CS and Arc GIS used to developed maps.Mean nutrient such as, nitrate nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen and orthophosphate concentrations were observed 0.26 ± 0.3 mg/l, 0.057 ± 0.04 mg/l, and 0.354 ± 0.77 mg/l subsequently. Mean salinity variation in bottom and surface are 6.38 ± 6.65 ppt and 4.31 ±  4.68 ppt. Higher bottom salinity was observed in location number 02 (near to sea mouth) and  Najas marinawas not present in the area. Najas marina was also not recorded in upper part of the lagoon and fresh water streams studied. High density of Najas marina plants were observed in sampling location 07, 08 and 09, because of the high nutrient concentration flowing through feeding tributaries. More than 25 % of lagoon area was covered by Najas marina.

Projection of climate change effects on flood inundation in the Gin River basin, Sri Lanka

Human-induced climate change has altered the frequency and severity of heavy precipitation, droughts, and floods worldwide. Sri Lanka, a developing country in the Indian Ocean, has suffered frequent floods, affecting over 64 % of the population in the past decade. The Gin River, the primary drinking water source of the densely populated Galle district with over 1 million residents, faces recurrent flood disasters. Therefore, this study employed a multi-model ensemble to simultaneously simulate the impact of climate change on both river flow and inundation extent in the frequently flooded Gin River basin located in humid tropical monsoon region. Bias-corrected climate projections of an ensemble of five General Circulation Models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 emission scenario were used to project future river flow and flood inundation in the Gin River basin, Sri Lanka. The validated Rainfall–Runoff–Inundation (RRI) model projected a 5 % increase in high flows (flows exceeding a 5 % probability of exceedance (&lt;Q5)) at the downstream (Baddegama) gauging station and a 16 % increase at the upstream (Thawalma) gauging station in the future (2040–2060) in comparison to the past (1980–2000), which can be attributed to the elevated rainfall projected during the two monsoon seasons (southwest monsoon (May–September) and northeast monsoon (December–February)) by the GCM ensemble. In addition to the projected changes in high flows revealed by the RRI simulations, the model also yielded critical information about the expansion of annual maximum inundated extent in the basin by 3.5 % that will aid flood risk projection and sustainable management in the basin.</p

Beam Asymmetry Σ for the Photoproduction of η and ή Mesons at Eγ = 8.8GeV

We report on the measurement of the beam asymmetry Σ for the reactions →γp→pη and →γp→pη′ from the GlueX experiment using an 8.2–8.8-GeV linearly polarized tagged photon beam incident on a liquid hydrogen target in Hall D at Jefferson Laboratory. These measurements are made as a function of momentum transfer −t with significantly higher statistical precision than our earlier η measurements and are the first measurements of η′ in this energy range. We compare the results to theoretical predictions based on t-channel quasiparticle exchange. We also compare the ratio of Ση to Ση′ to these models as this ratio is predicted to be sensitive to the amount of s¯s exchange in the production. We find that photoproduction of both η and η′ is dominated by natural parity exchange with little dependence on −t

On the status and mechanisms of coastal erosion in Marawila Beach, Sri Lanka

Coastal erosion remains a problem in many developing countries because of a limited understating of erosion mechanisms and management. Sri Lanka is one of the countries that recognized coastal erosion management as a governmental responsibility, in 1984. Nevertheless, erosion mechanisms have not yet been fully understood. We investigate the status and mechanisms of coastal erosion using empirically collected data and various techniques, such as Geographic Information System analysis of satellite images, drone mapping, bathymetric surveys, hindcasting of wind-induced wave climate, questionnaires, and semi-structured interview surveys. We identified wave climate change, reduction in river sand supply, interruptions from previous erosion management measures, and offshore sand mining as potential causes of erosion considering sediment flux and rates of erosion. Erosion of Marawila Beach began during 2005–2010 and has been continuing ever since, due to a lack of integration in the beach and the entire sediment system. It is necessary to identify the long-term, large-scale changes in the sediment system through data collection. This study highlights the importance of an integrated coastal erosion management plan and could facilitate better coastal erosion management in Sri Lanka, as well as in other developing countries

Measurement of the J/ψ\psi photoproduction cross section over the full near-threshold kinematic region

We report the total and differential cross sections for $J/\psi$ photoproduction with the large acceptance GlueX spectrometer for photon beam energies from the threshold at 8.2~GeV up to 11.44~GeV and over the full kinematic range of momentum transfer squared, $t$. Such coverage facilitates the extrapolation of the differential cross sections to the forward ($t = 0$) point beyond the physical region. The forward cross section is used by many theoretical models and plays an important role in understanding $J/\psi$ photoproduction and its relation to the $J/\psi-$proton interaction. These measurements of $J/\psi$ photoproduction near threshold are also crucial inputs to theoretical models that are used to study important aspects of the gluon structure of the proton, such as the gluon Generalized Parton Distribution (GPD) of the proton, the mass radius of the proton, and the trace anomaly contribution to the proton mass. We observe possible structures in the total cross section energy dependence and find evidence for contributions beyond gluon exchange in the differential cross section close to threshold, both of which are consistent with contributions from open-charm intermediate states.Comment: 15 pages 18 figure