Drawing on Nobel Laureates Gunnar Myrdal and Amartya Sen, he has first
presented a wide definition of development that encompasses social,
political, cultural and humane aspects of living in addition to economic
factors. Then, he solidifies development by incorporating the concept of
sustainable development drawn basically from the Brundtland Commission
headed by the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland.
If you want to sustain, enjoy today without harming tomorrow
According to Brundtland Commission, sustainable development is the
meeting of the needs of the present generation without compromising the
ability of the future generations to meet theirs. It involves two generational
equities: Intergenerational equity where resources are passed onto the
future generations in reasonable conditions and intragenerational equity
where the same transfer takes place among different segments of the
present generation.
Any public project should take into account this wider concept of
development and the need for making such development a sustainable one.
The ad hoc projects implemented in Sri Lanka in the recent past beg the
question whether these aspects have been considered at all at the design
or implementation stage.
The impact of a project is the key criterion of success
Public sector projects are normally appraised by public authorities in terms
of the money spent or the output produced. A classic example is the Central
Bank Annual Report or the Annual Report of the Ministry of Finance which
have tended to assess the success of projects in terms of money spent on
them. But Amerasinghe says that the important assessment criterion
should be the outcome of a project that leads to creating an impact on the
economy. The impact should not only be sustainable but also bring in
ultimate human development by expanding the opportunities available to
them as human beings.
Simple project management has now become a complex process
Amerasinghe has provided a very interesting account of how projects
evolved from 1950s to date. In its evolution, the scope, design,
management and ultimate aims of projects too have expanded
considerably from six simple goals to 47 complex goals.
Amerasinghe has presented the six basic goals in a six-sided polygon:
economic, technical, political, administrative and managerial,
environmental and social and financial are these concerns. Then, he builds
around these six concerns different parameters or key sub concerns which
have been added to the goals of projects in each of the subsequent phases
of their evolution.
novelty that one finds in a manual. Each chapter starts with an introduction
that would guide the user what to expect from it. After presenting the body
of knowledge, it ends with a summary of key points helping the user to
revisit his learning outcome.
The manual on Design, Appraisal and Management of Sustainable
Development Projects by Nihal Amerasinghe is a timely addition to enrich
the toolkit of project practitioners throughout the globe.
Roundtable discussion of
Amerasinghes book
Nihal Amerasinghe
Posted by Thavam