The natural and human disasters affected physical, social and economic
development of our country during ethnic conflict which started in 1980s leads to a 30
years of war, destructed the infrastructure of North & Eastern region. A natural disaster
(tsunami) in 1994 brought this human disaster (war) in a turning situation. Accelerated
developments through foreign funds, invasion of INGOs, post-tsunami reconstructions,
etc. are leading to a positive development in the North and Eastern part of the country.
Due to the influence and interaction of the NGOs activities towards the ethnic conflict
bring the government to put an end to the conflict in 2009.
This case study has been done to examine the issues and opportunities for
development after tsunami and war in Eastern Coastal Region through primary data
collection such as questionnaire survey, field visits by environmental officers, and
interviews of affected people and stakeholders and from secondary data sources.
Unplanned and uncoordinated "Coastal Ribbon Development** under
emergency situation, degraded coastal forest eco-system, destructed biodiversity,
pressure on marine resources, pollution, tourism, poverty and government legislations
are the prime issues identified from this case study for future development.
Development of eco-tourism, rich cultural, historic and archaeological
resources, productive agricultural land, tourism development, rich biodiversity and
promoting community-based activities are die opportunities identified from this case
study.
The study revealed that the issues and opportunities are location specific and
the development activities should be carried out with the concern of the development
committees assigned at each Divisional Secretariat Divisions in the eastern coastal
region
