How hygienic is the Pettah market food?

Hundreds of people who come daily to buy vegetables from the mini market cum private bus park at the Bastion Mawatha in Pettah may not be actually buying fresh or hygienic goods as the site is used both as a toilet and a litter bin.

Vendors engaged in the sale of vegetables at the 28-perch land situated close to the main private bus park in Pettah, which is owned by Omnibus Transport Authority (OTA), complain that they are unable sell hygienic products as the place is despoiled by people who openly urinate in public.

While the vendors accuse the OTA of not maintaining the place, the latter claim that vendors are only concerned about their business but not concerned about keeping the area clean. However finger pointing by the two parties has not done any good to customers who are forced to buy poor quality, unhygienic vegetables scattered all around the premises owned by the OTA. It has become a common sight to observe people urinate and even dump litter and waste both day and night. At the same time the vendors themselves leave stacks of waste vegetables at the site where they carry out their business.M.G. Nandani who has been selling vegetables at this place over a long time, said that though hundreds of people come to purchase vegetables daily, the place is very unclean. Resultantly she said customers are unable to buy fresh stuff.

“It is very pathetic that this place where eatables are being sold is not maintained with a degree of cleanliness. While we use this place to sell vegetables, others use this very place as a toilet”, she said.

The woman said that vendors were left with no option but to continue their business in the same dirty and unhygienic place which gets even worse on rainy days. She blamed the authorities for their failure to maintain it properly. She said permission has been granted to vendors to sell vegetables on the 28-perch land from between 2 .00 a.m. until around 8.00 p.m. Vendors who carry on their business in this place are issued a Rs. 20/- ticket by the (OTA) she said.

Many of the vendors who carry on their business in this land which is within an enclosed area (enclosed by nets) are from the outstations and given their inability to sell vegetables at the Pettah Manning Market; the place has come as a blessing to them.
Ranaweera Perera from Narahenpita who purchases vegetables wholesale at this place and later retails the goods at his shop, says the goods are very unclean and that he washes them prior to retailing it.

He too said that some people use the area as a public toilet at night while some others use it as a toilet in the day time as well. The place smells to high heaven and is nauseating he said. Nilmini Munasinghe, another wholesale purchaser from Narahenpita said it was sad that they were forced to sell products which were neither fresh nor clean.

Vendors charged it was the responsibility of the OTA to ensure that the place is kept clean, as it was for this purpose they paid Rs. 20/- per day for using it. According to them, 300 to 500 vendors did business at the site, while around 1,500 to 2,000 customers patronized it daily. However OTA officials claimed that they clean the land everyday. They admitted however that it wass being used by people as a toilet especially at night.

Rukman Gamage, manager of the OTA’s centre in Pettah claimed they permitted the vendors to use the land on humanitarian grounds as they (vendors) did not have another place to conduct their business. Mr. Gamage pointed out that vendors were permitted to use the premises as the police did not permit them to conduct their business on the pavement. He said the OTA did not receive any benefit by giving vendors permission to use the land. He said it was purely a humanitarian measure.

Denying the allegation that they (OTA) don’t maintain and keep the premises clean, he said the OTA have employed two persons for clearing the premises daily. He said around 25 to 30 carts loads of waste were removed from there everyday.

He conceded that it was true that the place was not very clean. People throw waste and even urinate, despite 80 public toilets being available. Mr. Gamage said that it was also the duty of the vendors to ensure that the premises were kept clean. He charged that they (vendors) were only concerned about selling their goods while at the same time scattering litter everywhere. Questions have also arisen over the quality of water that is used to wash the vegetables. OTA officers in Pettah claim that vendors use water from the two toilet complexes close by. Despite making available a land for carrying out a vegetable business, it is noted that no action has been taken to provide vendors with a waterline for cleaning the place.

Complaints have been received that an organized gang of extortionist’s charge as much as Rs. 300 /-to Rs. 400/- per day from vendors who come from outstations though they actually need to pay a mere Rs. 20/- a day.