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Filth and fish at the Peliyagoda fish market
View(s):Just a few years ago, the St. John’s Fish Market was closed down and a new fish market was declared open at Peliyagoda. It was promised the new market would be hygienic and provided with modern amenities.
Story and pix by Ishanka Sunimal
Today, dogs, cats, crows and swarms of flies have taken over the complex which is run in an absolutely unhygienic manner
The vendors and salesmen who display their wares seem not to care tuppence of the dirt, grime and water-logged floor which surrounds them.
The stalls are particularly unhygienic with blood stains everywhere.
Regular patrons of the market complain of the all encompassing bad ordour which pervades the market and swarms of flies which cover the fish which were laid on the concrete floor.
Authorities responsible for the maintenance of the facility, seem least concerned at the unhygienic conditions or the fact that bigger fish are stored on the floor of the stores in the vicinity of open drains used to flush away blood and offal.
Like all promises made by politicians, the promise of a hygienic new fish market with modern amenities remains merely a promise. The new market complex is in fact much worse than the old fish market.
Looking for a bargain? A denizen and Homo sapiens look out for a deal
Your meal and mine amid the grime
At last fish in a container
A helper draped in a grimy plastic sheet carries two fish to be cut up
Crows flock to the new market with its 'modern amenities'
Hygiene is not on this vendor's mind as he displays his wares on the filthy floor beside a drain
Larger fish are stored by open drains carrying offal and stale blood from cut up fish
Where have the PHIs gone? God knows what manner of diseases this stray carries
A fish vendor slices a big fish on the dirty floor beside an open drain