News
Unpaid millions pile up on Colombo mayor’s doorstep
The Colombo Municipal Council is looking for alternative land to dump the city’s garbage following the refusal by the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (SLLRDC) to allow disposal at the Kerawalapitiya sanitary waste site from next year.
Colombo Mayor Rosy Senanayake said with no solutions at hand and the controversial Arruwakaru sanitary land fill, specially designed for Colombo’s waste, to be completed only in November 2019, the CMC is doing its best to find alternative land to dump its garbage.
Last week the SLLRDC had sent a letter to the CMC intimating that it would cease accepting Colombo’s garbage at the Kerawelapitiya dumping site by the end of this year.
Several attempts by the Mayor to talk to the Megapolis Minister Champika Ranawaka had failed. Finally she had turned to President Maithripala Sirisena and had discussed the situation.
However, it transpires that the President was unable to do much as the Megapolis Ministry had been adamant that the Council settle its arrears. The council paid Rs 100 million on October 8.
The Megapolis Ministry has also sent in a bill for an outstanding amount of Rs 207 million. The council, however, maintains it has no outstanding amounts. “We asked for time to clarify the bill,’’ Mrs Senanayake said.
The letter of demand sent by the SLLRDC did not provide any breakdown of the payments due, she said. “We needed time to sort out the figures. We had no outstanding payments. Further, we needed the council approval to pay such a large sum,’’ Mrs Senanayake said.
She claimed that by managing the garbage the Council in the past six months had reduced dengue cases by 65% in the Colombo District. She said that the council could end up paying over Rs 1 billion to dump garbage each year. “With that we can build around 500 houses for the poor Colombo residents who are homeless,’’ said.
“They say that the CMC is rich, but 50% of the population live in beach areas and 60% of the taxpayers come from the low income group,’’ Mrs Senanayake stressed.
She questions the step-motherly treatment for the CMC, while other local bodies dump their garbage free of charge. “Councils of Ja-ela, Wattala and Kaduwela have their garbage dumped at Muthurajawela for free,” she said.
Meanwhile SLLRDC Chairman Roshan Gunewardena said the CMC had paid Rs 100 million and that Rs 57 million was outstanding. He said the council had paid Rs 50 million, which the SLLRDC accounts dept. had overlooked.