So everyone is up to their necks these days with all the talk about SAARC. If you live in Colombo and the suburbs, there is no way you could escape the fact that a major conference is taking place in the country. Huge billboards of the eight leaders of SAARC smile down on you at very major intersection in the city and surrounding areas, the roads are smoother and the walls brighter and potted plants are in full bloom along the roads. It is guaranteed that the visiting leaders will go away with a positive image of this country.
I am no fan of wasteful public expenditure but for once I feel happy seeing the sudden transformation taking place before our very eyes with the city getting a major facelift. It's been years since we have seen this kind of feverish activity that many have chosen to dismiss as superficial development, but I can't help feeling happier when I go about and see the new outlook.
Fortunately the area I live in too will benefit from the hurried development taking place.
I am sick and tried of driving along the pot holed road every day to work and with the road getting well tarred overnight; it's such a welcome change.
Despite all the positive feelings, my question is why do we have to wait for a bunch of foreign leaders to visit us to make our country a more pleasant place to live in? Don't all the 20 million people who call this country their home have the right to live in clean, well kept cities everyday of the year, every year?
My sister lives in one of the most scenic European capitals. She likes to refer to it as the most "manicured' and "pedicured' city in the world particularly during the spring and summer. Frankly I get a little bored seeing all the perfectness around me after visiting there for a few weeks and long to come back into the less perfect surroundings in Sri Lanka, but it also makes me think that if other countries can keep their cities and towns so well groomed, why can't we also do the same.
Most of the mess particularly in the big cities is thanks to the people who live in each neighborhood. It's their lack of civic consciousness that makes them dump garbage at any place as long as it's not the front of their own homes, or eat fast food and throw the remnants out of their car windows. Not many Sri Lankans realise that they are very fortunate to be born in a country which is more than abundantly blessed by nature itself. We have near perfect weather conditions most of the year, the soil is fertile that almost anything will grow in almost the entirety of the country and lots of talented, intelligent and capable people. But sadly the country seems to be stuck in the rut.
What with all this rapid development taking place in the country in the heat of the SAARC frenzy has shown is that Sri Lankans are capable of changing things for the better if they want to do so.
What we need is to change our attitudes and believe in ourselves. Because if all Sri Lankans put their mind to it and work to make this a more livable country, without waiting for elaborate conferences to come around, then this country can truly be a paradise isle. And in the meantime I will enjoy the well tarred roads while they last.
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