UNWTO says Lanka on “right track” for sustainable tourism but Passikudah fisherman disagree

By Shiran Illanperuma

Responding to an off-the-cuff question by Tourism Minister John Amaratunga at a recent conference in Passikudah, United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Secretary Taleb Rifai said that Sri Lanka was absolutely on the right path to achieve peace, reconciliation and sustainable development through its tourism industry.

However members of the 500-strong Vinayaka Fisheries Co-operative Society – most of whom have been displaced from their traditional fishing waters for the development of resorts on the stretch of Passikudah Bay – say that the industry has done little to uplift their lives.

President of the Society Suntheraraja told the Daily FT that the Passikudah fishing community was not consulted by organisers of the UNWTO conference titled ‘Tourism: A Catalyst for Development Peace and Reconciliation’. With promotional material and the event itself featuring only English, the predominantly Tamil-speaking fishermen in the area were unable to participate.

Rumours swirled on the eve of the conference of a rally to be staged by members of the fishing community. While no such rally manifested, fishermen who spoke to the Daily FT expressed dissatisfaction at their exclusion from tourism development in general.

Said Suntheraraja, “Tourism should help to uphold our traditional livelihoods but they do no such thing. We used to fish where the hotels are now, the water was calm and we had enough space to dock our boats 300 metres inland. Now we’ve been pushed to a narrower parking stretch with rougher seas.”

The conference itself featured a session on ‘Local community involvement and peace sensitive tourism’. The session emphasised the fundamentals of inclusive tourism development including involvement of local communities in decision-making and the provision of goods and services.

One of the panellists, International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) Founder and President Louis D’Amore said: “Consultation of all stakeholders is paramount in developing tourism. Communities need to feel empowered to manage their own businesses.”

Fishermen like Christy, who have seen the tourism sector grow from its humble beginnings before the civil war, say that in reality local communities have very little input on development projects. Christy explains that few fishermen end up being employed by hotels due to low wages and that resorts generally source their fish from larger retailers outside the region.

“Hotel developers always talk about creating jobs in this area but I hardly know any fishermen who work in these hotels. The men in the community will not work for wages as low as Rs. 15,000 a month. Some women might accept low pay but this can disrupt family lives due to the long working hours. Most of the workers in these hotels are from other regions like Ampara, Nuwara Eliya and Colombo,” said Christy.

“The hotels used to try and source their fish from us but the system of payment didn’t work for us. Hotels are accustomed to paying their employees once a month but fisherman are used to living day-by-day according to their catch. We had to stop this arrangement because there were days that we would go hungry waiting for the month’s pay,” he added.

In his opening speech at the conference Tourism Minister Amaratunga described Passikudah as “a shining example of how the people who were affected by the conflict have picked up the pieces, started afresh and are now reaping the rewards of their efforts”.

Similarly, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chairman Paddy Withana said during the closing of the conference that his, “intention is that the benefits of tourism should filter down to the community” so as to avoid future conflicts.

Yet according to fisherman on the ground, these promises are yet to manifest into material benefits for the community. Said Christy, “In the early days the hotels minded their own business and we minded ours. We could use the same beaches the tourists did and there was no issue. Nowadays, things have changed. Fishermen are being pushed out by tourism.”