Experiences: Working on the Gal Oya Project in Ceylon, 1950-61

Andreas Szechowycz, presenting a Memoir-cum-Report entitled “Gal Oya Project (1950-1960): Dr. Roman W. Szechowycz & the Gal Oya Development Board”

Dr. Roman W. Szechowycz was employed by the Gal Oya Development Board from 18 July 1950 to 1961. He arrived in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) with his wife Sabina (nee Czekan) Szechowycz and their 3-year-old daughter Maria. I was born in October 1951 in Colombo. During the time in Sri Lanka, we lived in Inginiyagala next to the post office.

My parents were displaced people who after World War II ended were in Hanover Germany in the British Sector. My father’s home was in northwest Ukraine and my mother’s home was in southwest Poland. These areas were occupied by Russians after the conclusion of World War II.

Post World War II was a traumatic time in Europe. To understand the situation, I recommend reading David Nasaw’s book, The Last Million: Europe’s Displaced Persons from World War to Cold War. He explains the transient terrible situation during World War II as well as the post war Allied powers management of the displaced persons who refused to go back to their prewar homes. My parents were among those that refused to go to Russian occupied territories.

After the war ended, Dr. Roman Szechowycz was employed by the International Refugee Organization as a member of the Technical Examiners Board for verification of academic degrees. They vetted people claiming to have lost their records due to war. Sabina Szechowycz was an inspector of Polish primary and secondary schools for displaced people in Lower Saxony (West Germany) and a member of the advisory council to the British military government in Hanover, Germany.

The Thuppahis postings for “The Galoya Valley Scheme & the People who made it a Reality” by Mr. KK De Silva and “Looking Back at DS Senanayake and the Gal Oya Project” by Mr. Ajit Kanagasundram were quite illuminating. It is of personal interest to me as my father (Dr, Roman Szechowycz) was involved in the project from July 1950 until we left Ceylon in 1961. The above articles describe the Gal Oya project in great detail. I noted the references in the articles to “Chekovitz” which is a good phonetic spelling of the Szechowycz name (a Polish spelling of Shehovych) with mention that Chekovitz was from Czechoslovakia and a Jew.

To update the information in the above articles, there were two Szechowyczs (pronounced Shehovych) who were displaced persons and arrived with their families as employees of Gal Oya Development Board: Dr. Roman Szechowycz and his younger brother Mr. Wladimir Szechowycz. As employees of the Gal Oya Development Board, they were not part of the Morrison Knudson team that was contracted to build the Inginiyagala dam, spillway, and hydro-electric power plant.

The Szechowycz’s were Ukrainian/Polish and they were Catholics (my father was Greek Orthodox and my mother was Catholic). We attended Sunday services at the Fatima Catholic Church which was very close to our home on 30 Spillway Road, Inginiyagala. During the execution of the earthen dam, the spillway, power plant and perhaps other works, there were a number of staff from Morrison Knudsen. Their work was substantially completed by the end of 1952 and the remaining Europeans were few and employees of the Gal Oya Development Board. The Szechowycz’s lived in Inginiyagala with the others living in Ampara.

Due to my age, I do not recall any of the Morrison Knudsen personnel. I do recall a Mr. Stan Francis. He had a tool shop in his house and fabricated metal parts. My sister and I were initially home schooled (Sabina Szechowycz was a schoolteacher prior to the war) and we were later sent to boarding school in Colombo (St. Bridget and St. Joeseph). I also attended the local school in Inginiyagala and recall the slate boards and learning the Singhalese alphabet. This was to transition me from home school to boarding school which I attended for only a year. I spoke Polish, English, and Singhalese/Sinhala. I recall being the interpreter for my father when a local would show up at our home on weekends who did not speak English (my father knew key words in Singhalese but was not conversant). My father was fluent in English, Ukrainian, Polish, and German.

Dr. Roman Szechowycz was a civil engineer, a forester, and he was the Head of the Department for Watershed Management, Wildlife Department, Fishery Department, and Department of Landscaping. His position with the Gal Oya Development Board was Chief Forest Officer. In perusing some of the documents that were saved by him, there is information of his involvement in the following:

• leading the preparation of the reservoir tank bed for submersion
• organizing the recovery of timber supplies when the timber stores burned in June 1951 (he and his brother led the effort to extinguish the fires keeping the fire from spreading further saving many houses)
• identification and stocking of marketable fish to develop a fish industry (he talked about Tilapia years before it appeared in the USA markets)
• controlling the water weeds in the reservoir which was challenging in Sri Lanka
• introduction of biological controls of mosquitos to improve health conditions reducing malaria
• and the work on his many publications. He had about about xx

He also was highly interested in elephants and would stop and observe elephants wherever they were spotted. We often drove to Ampara to go to the movie theater. The backseat of our car was usually full with people who also wanted to go to Ampara. Frequently on the night return trip there were elephants on the road. Usually, they would get off the road. On one night a large elephant stood his ground and decided to approach the car. Immediately the car was put into reverse and backed up until the elephant making its point decided to move on. The adrenalin was high in the car.

During the 1956 riots Dr. Szechowycz took over control in Inginiyagala as many relocated away to safer locations (see Attachment A). He opened his house to anyone needing assistance and managed the situation resulting in no casualties in Inginiyagala. Perhaps after experiencing World War II, he was more adept. The hospital was kept open and there was no interruption in power generation. While many relocated to Batticaloa for safety, I recall the riots as we stayed in Inginiyagala. So not “everyone” left as noted in the Gal Oya articles. A distinct memory is my mother driving the car at night (purpose unknown to me). I sat next to her in the front seat and my job was to hold the rifle so it would not fall over (no rules back then for children to be in the back seat with seatbelts on). She was prepared just in case. A letter to Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranayake, Araliyagaha Walawwa, Colombo, is attached  describing the actions of Dr. Roman and Sabina Szechowycz during this troublesome period.

In January 1957 Dr. Roman Szechowycz and family were awarded Ceylonese citizenship for distinguished service. Citizenship is only given to a very limited number each year who have significantly contributed to the welfare and progress of the country. As displaced persons from Europe they were granted residency in Ceylon and did not have passports.

On Christmas Eve 1957 there were torrential rains (See Attachment B) that nearly topped the main earthen dam. Dynamite charges were placed on the ancillary earth dams that would be blown to save the main dam and Inginiyagala. The spillway had about 12 feet of overflow and survived. We were isolated for days from washed out roads. In one of the notes that was saved, it is interesting to note that the original length of the spillway was increased from 120 feet to over 650 feet. This was probably due to recalculation of maximum rains and proved prudent. The main dam was close to topping over during these heavy rains and there were hourly patrol checks along the road on top of the dam to identify if the dam was at risk of topping over. I recall my father and the Forest team being up all night monitoring the dam. Subsequently there was significant recovery work due to flooding damage. Many road sections were washed away.

Roman’s brother Wladimir Szechowycz, Nadia (wife), and Irene (daughter) along with an aunt arrived in Ceylon in 1950, lived in Inginiyagala and departed Sri Lanka in 1960. Mr. Wladimir Szechowycz was involved with civil infrastructure projects and reported to Dr. Roman Szechowycz. He managed the fleet of equipment and road/earth moving projects. I recall his comments regarding waiting for special parts to restore heavy earthmoving and asphalt laying equipment to service with other parts fabricated locally. While many note the major work for the Gal Oya project was the work by Morrison Knudsen, there were many collateral activities for the Gal Oya Project. As reported in the Gal Oya News Letter dated August 29, 1957: “A new record in earth moving was established by the Equipment Branch during the last financial year 1955/1956, when they moved 3,233,050 cubic yards of earth. This exceeds by far the comparable work by the American Contractors, Messrs. Morrison Knudson Inc. who built the main Gal Oya dam, the Spillway dam and the Power House. They placed an earthfill of 5,100,000 cubic yards on the main Gal Oya Dam over a period of 3 years which then was considered to be a record achievement for the country”.

Dr. Szechowycz had many publications focusing on the Gal Oya project as well as the conservation of the natural resources and the impact of projects on the ecology and habitants. His articles also included technical issues as well as civil engineering and conservation. He was forward-thinking and concerned about people, the wildlife and the habitat. Dr. Roman Szechowycz articles were in various publications including the Ceylon Forrester, Loris, and others. A list of his about 30 publications is provided in Attachment C.  He was an engineer ahead of his time espousing conservation.

There are many wonderful memories of Sri Lanka. I recall flying in the DC3 from Ampara to Colombo. The air pockets would bounce the DC3 significantly and there was a need for the throw up bags provided. The childhood trip to Sigiriya was very special and memorable. I also remember taking the train from Batticaloa to Colombo with my father and having a huge lobster dinner in Batticaloa. The island is beautiful.

I had the opportunity to visit Sri Lanka on business several times in early 2000’s working on the Kelanitissa combined cycle power generation project near Colombo. As the technical advisor to the International Finance Corporation, I was impressed with the Ceylon Electricity Board. In reviewing the total power generation of the island, it was heartwarming to see the contribution of electricity from the hydropower generation from Inginiyagala. In the 1950s this was probably significant generation then. Today the generation is considered quite small at around 11 megawatts.

In 1996, my wife and I with our children vacationed in Sri Lanka. I was working in India and we lived in Mumbai. In 2016 my wife and I were on vacation and were able to travel to Inginiyagala (it was deemed unsafe to travel in this region during my previous visits) to see my childhood home. Maria, my sister (4 years older) and her companion accompanied us. I look forward to a future visit to Sri Lanka and the tasty food.

While visiting Inginiyagala I met with Mr. J. D. Lionel Premasiri. He is a childhood friend and it was fantastic to see him by our old home. Our stay in Inginiyagala was short as we were touring the country. I wish I had more time with Lionel as our conversation surfaced many memories. I recall playing with him and had fond memories. This was the first time we met since 1961 – 55 years had passed.

When we visited Inginiyagala in 2016, the house at 30 Spillway Road was near its end of life. Many old memories surfaced. It is a modest house by today’s standards. We visited the nearby clubhouse which was the only gathering place in the evenings. Arrack was a popular drink. I recall walking home in the dark on the footpath that led to our home. My father would remind me to walk heavily and to make noise. I never had any problems with snakes or other critters. The clubhouse was vacant when we were there and the tennis courts are gone. Sadly, the sounds of elephants especially at night were also missing during the time of our visit. We used to sit on the veranda in the evenings listening to the night jungle noises and especially those of the elephants.

Lionel & Andreas infront of childhood home in recent times

I recognize several of the names directly involved with the Gal Oya project mentioned in the above articles by KK de Silva and Ajit Kanagasundaram.

By the late 1950’s the Gal Oya project had wound down and there were not many opportunities to continue working in Sri Lanka for the Szechowyczs. As a family we moved to Karachi West Pakistan and subsequently to Lahore. In Lahore he was employed by Harza Engineering working on Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) projects including the Porali Basin Development, Mangla, and Tarbela projects. Mr. Wladimir Szechowycz and family moved to New York city, USA.

In 1965 Dr. Roman Szechowycz and family relocated from West Pakistan to Chicago Illinois USA continuing to work for Harza Engineering. At that time, he worked on World Bank civil projects in Indonesia. In 1970 he and the family became naturalized USA citizens. He passed away in 1973 while visiting Indonesia. On his way to Jakarta, Indonesia, he stopped in France to visit his daughter, Maria, and then in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he met with longtime friends. He was 63.

In contemplating his life, Dr. Roman Szechowycz and his wife had a convoluted life that was disturbed and significantly changed by World War II. They had to leave their native homes, survived the Third Reich and World War II, they struggled through post war Germany until 1950 as displaced people, and emigrated to a new country (Ceylon) starting a new life. Subsequently they left Sri Lanka in 1961 and started over again. In 1965 they emigrated again to Chicago USA and started over again. A convoluted and quite difficult path.

Through all of the above my parents were positive, and embraced the local cultures in each country. They made friends and forged forward. I can only appreciate what they went through based on my experience relocating my family from Chicago to Mumbai and then to Jakarta. This was in the late 1990s. The conditions in early 1950s and 1960s were vastly different in a world where telegrams were the means of fast communication. Travel was difficult and self-sufficiency was necessary.

I am very proud of my parents for being wonderful parents, for their strong character, and their accomplishments. They both embraced Ceylon and spoke fondly of their life in Inginiyagala.

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A  NOTE by Michael Roberts, 21 March 2024

Havind read and reflected on Andreas’ report on the life and work of the brothers Szechowycz (namely, Roman and  ……….and their wives, I can warmly clap my hands and say “Well done …. And thank you for your services to Ceylon aka Sri Lanka.” Aware of the threads of History in Europe in the last three-quarters of the 20th century, I am not surprised by the linguistic skills displayed by the two brothers and their wives. But, these capacities sat alongside dedication towards their duties and an openness to the people and places they encountered . In brief, their ADAPTABILITY, warmth and amiability shines through this historical recounting.