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Colombo’s homeless left in the cold
The nip in the air this time of the year is welcomed by most in Colombo city. But for the scores of homeless people camped along the city’s pavements it’s a cold nightmare.
Cardboard cover to keep the cold at bay
Next week, Colombo’s temperature is expected to fall to a minimum of 21 degrees at night and thundershowers, too, are predicted.
On a city tour at night, The Sunday Times saw scores of homeless men and women curled up along the pavements trying to get a few hours of sleep before the city came to life at dawn. Many of them had nothing to cover themselves with, while some used parts of cardboard boxes.
The wide pavement near the Fort Railway Station is a popular spot with dozens setting up camp. Others were seen tucked in near the entrance of closed shops with the overhanging roof providing them a little cover.
Meanwhile the city authorities don’t seem to have a plan to address their plight. “At the moment there is nothing planned,” said M.T.M. Iqbal Colombo’s Deputy Mayor. “There are no temporary shelters. But I will visit the places and discuss with the police, too, before deciding what can be done.”
Mayor, Rosy Senanayake said she would comment on the issue next week.
Meanwhile, Minister of Labour, Trade Union Relations and Social Empowerment Daya Gamage said, “I have decided to start some projects for people seeking medical treatment and a few financial empowerment programmes. But we haven’t thought about the homeless issue yet. It is a good point you raised. We should look into it.”
The Minister said he was sure his Ministry didn’t have statistics for the number of homeless people in the country and therefore before beginning to tackle the issue he would have to obtain the numbers from other branches of the government.
Huddled up near the Fort Railway station. Pix by Priyanka Samaraweera and Priyantha Wickramaarachchi
“Most of the time when you try to get statistics, officials say they don’t have them, so it will take some time,” he said.
Sanath Munasinghe who runs a shelter home for the elderly called Shelter4homeless said there was a lot of paperwork and many legal requirements to look into before someone can be given shelter. He also said that, as far as he knew, Sri Lanka did not have any temporary shelter homes like other countries during the cold season.
“There is very little focus on the homeless here. It is also difficult for private shelters to be set up because you have to get prior permission from the local authorities and the Department of Social Services. You can’t just call people from the street to come in,” he said.
The Department of Meteorology said the weather wasn’t abnormally cold and that it was the usual weather one experienced this time of the year.
“The cool winds that are generated in Siberia and the northern hemisphere’s winter is the main reason for the temperature to drop,” said Anusha Warnasooriya the Met Department’s Director of Forecasting.
“The other reason is the lack of cloud formation due to the low rainfall, which makes it easier for the earth’s heat radiation to redirect upwards.
A wayside fire to keep themselves warm at night
This cools the land especially at night. During the day the sun rays falling onto the land offset some of the heat radiation escaping upwards, thus giving a warmer temperature.”