Wedding of the year busted

By Chris Kamalendran

Twenty six year old 'Uditha' secretly married 'Sanoja' with whom he had been having an affair for the past three months. Both were employed in a garment factory in Kelaniya.

The marriage took place on November 29 before a registrar in the Kelaniya area and the 'bridegroom' declared 'his' name as 'Bopagoda Hettige Uditha'. The bride was from the same area but the parents were unaware of the wedding and thus it was kept a secret. Two female friends at the factory had signed as witnesses.

Though married the couple had decided to live separately and 'Uditha' had promised to make arrangements for both of them to travel to the west Asia for employment.

It was a month later that the parents of the bride came to know that their daughter had married a person working as a supervisor at the garment factory. Family members angered over the marriage demanded that 'Uditha' be introduced to the family.

Accordingly 'Uditha' decided to visit his 'wife's' home after being compelled to do so. The parents had decided that since they were already married they would help them to carry on with their life.

Last Thursday 'Uditha' visited his wife's home at Kelaniya. The 'husband' was confronted by the family members and they started probing into his background.

After tea was served some of the family members began to suspect the voice of the 'husband'. They questioned him, but still 'Uditha' maintained that he was healthy.

But one of the family members who was suspicious pulled off 'Uditha's' T-shirt and to the astonishment of his newly married wife and other family members they found that 'Uditha' was in fact a female.

'Uditha' was handed over to the Kelaniya Police who started probing 'his' background.

Police investigations revealed that 'Uditha' was from Ginigathhena and had been posing off as a male for several years.

'Our investigations have revealed that she had even been carrying on with another girl in her village posing off as a male. The affair had broken up after it was revealed that 'Uditha' was actually a female', Kelaniya Police said.

'Uditha' had obtained a National Identity Card as a male, Police said.

On arrival in Colombo 'Uditha' had undergone training as a male supervisor at an institute in Borella which trains those wishing to enter the garment industry.

'Uditha' had secured employment at the factory in Kelaniya after undergoing training.

Police said that surprisingly nobody had detected that 'Uditha' was a female and she had even shared a room with a male employee at the factory.

'Uditha always had a bath at night and always dressed in denim trousers and nobody had suspected her', Police said.

One of the employees had spotted 'Uditha' holding the hand of a female employee last week. The management had warned 'Uditha' and in return 'he' had said he was married.

The management wanted 'Uditha' to produce the marriage certificate, but since 'he' failed to produce the certificate 'he' was sacked from 'his' job.

It was thereafter that the story was leaked to the girl's house resulting in the discovery that 'Uditha' was actually a female.

Police investigations revealed that 'Uditha' had always dressed like a male and had even made use of an artificial penis. 'He' is reported to have told 'his' newly wedded wife that they could stay together after they find employment in the West Asia.

Police said that they were in the process of questioning 'Uditha' to find out 'his' motive for posing as a male.

Police may charge her for making use of fraudulent documents and making false declarations to her employers and to the registrar of marriages.

One by one they tumble down

By Hiranthi Fernando

The City of Colombo is inundated with unauthorised structures of all descriptions, from tiny lean-to shacks to multi storey permanent buildings. They sprawl over roads causing obstruction and traffic congestion and across drains causing severe flooding. They not only mar the appearance of the city but cause inconvenience to the public.

On a survey around some parts of the city, The Sunday Times found several glaring examples of structures that obviously did not seem to have any approval from the authorities concerned.

At Torrington Avenue for instance, an unauthorised dwelling has been further expanded and converted into a workshop.

A name board has been put up and welding is done on the main road, causing inconvenience to pedestrians. Further up the same road, a dwelling which had been constructed on the road had been demolished and the occupant relocated in a flat in the vicinity.

However, the occupant has returned to the road, reconstructed a structure, where he now openly conducts a bookie operation. Nearby, the entrance to a narrow lane down Thimbirigasyaya Road is further obstructed by a plank building which serves as a shop.

Driving down Danister De Silva Mawatha, we found several permanent buildings which appear to be encroaching on UDA land.

The owner of one of the properties denied that the building was encroaching on government land. He said six months ago, the wall and gate which were on the road, had been rebuilt according to regulations. According to UDA plans however, it apparently seems that each property on this stretch had encroached on to UDA land by about six perches.

At Armour Street, a cluster of multi-storey buildings has come up on sites which were originally small single storey boutiques. The constructions had been carried out without any approval from the CMC.

These are just a few examples of the hundreds, perhaps thousands of unauthorised structures that are seen in the city.

Investigations revealed that thugs in certain areas rent out government owned space to hawkers at Rs. 500 a day. They collect enormous revenue renting what they do not own.

Responding to our questions on why these unauthorised structures have been allowed to flourish unhindered in the city, Raja Samarawickrema, Director, Planning, Colombo Municipal Council said lack of manpower and facilities was part of the problem.

"I have asked for a separate unit to control unauthorised constructions", he said. "At present we have one inspector to cover the entire city and one officer to attend court cases in four courthouses. We have no vehicle to attend to these activities. The inspector has to travel by bus".

Although nine cars were approved for the CMC by the Treasury in December, the double cab for official purposes had been turned down despite requests for one by the Mayor in 1998,99 and 2000. The cars approved are for personal use of officials. "I interviewed the Additional Secretary of the Treasury, handling the subject three times and explained the need but it was still turned down", Mr. Samarawickrema said.

Powers to demolish unauthorised structures were delegated to local authorities by the UDA, Mr. Samarawickrema explained. With the sudden increase of unauthorised structures on public and private lands, it was not possible to control them. The lack of police support was also a major factor.

The illegal buildings on NHDA land at Maligawatte had been allowed to come up despite protests of the CMC. As regards structures erected on public property, CMC can serve notice on the offenders and demolish after 14 days. Where private property is concerned however, after serving notice, court action has to be filed. Demolition can be done only after obtaining a demolition order from court.

A demolition order had been obtained with respect to the unauthorised multi-storey buildings at Armour Street, Mr. Samarawickrema said. However, where there is a cluster of buildings it is difficult to demolish because there could be damage caused to approved buildings among them. Provision has been made to acquire the land or impose continuous fines of Rs.1000 to Rs. 3000 a day until demolition or six months imprisonment for the offenders.

A unit to monitor unauthorised structures known as UMU, represented by CMC, UDA and the Police had been set up when Karu Jayasuriya was Mayor.

The intention was to prevent political interference and obtain support of the police. However, this failed in the latter stages until the present Minister intervened to carry out demolitions.

Demolitions were thus carried out first at Maligawatte where shops had been constructed on land belonging to the NHDA, with the blessings of some politicians. Next, unauthorised constructions at Slave Island and Borella were demolished causing many protests from the traders. "Adequate notice was served well before demolition but not heeded", Mr. Samarwickrema said. "Whereever, there are unauthorised structures, the Minister intends to demolish them. Considering the human aspect of the hawkers, alternate places have been given to them for trading". He said the Borella pavement hawkers were allocated stalls at the Borella CMC supermarket. The intention is to provide them alternative accommodation to continue their livelihood of trading. Yet they have erected stalls on the pavement.

"We spent a lot of money to improve this road so that it would be free of obstruction", said MsW.D.S. Ind-rasiri, Director, Development Regulation of the UDA. Before road widening, alternate places were given to the traders. They have sold those and returned as soon as the road was completed. Now they are protesting. After these shops were demolished, the congestion on the road is much less and many unsavoury activities which were being carried out between these illegal structures have been curtailed. People can now walk without fear".

Ms Indrasiri said they plan to demolish all unauthorised structures in the city area by area, whether permanent structures or temporary. The UDA and CMC together are identifying the unauthorised structures and serving notice on the occupants. She emphasised that all illegal structures in the city would be demolished.

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