'What of our rights as residents?'

Action Forum

By Hiranthi Fernando

This is the lament of almost all the residents down Pietersz Place in Kohuwela, some of whom have been living there all their lives on ancestral land. 

The problems the residents, numbering about 70 to 100, are facing are many and according to them caused by three institutions down Pietersz Place — Sakya, a "tuition school" attracting more than 4,000 students even before construction work has been completed, Lyceum international school and Healthline, a medical laboratory cum private clinic.

The questions too are numerous. The most important being how the Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia Municipality and the Urban Development Authority approve the setting up of such institutions on a narrow road, which is about 20 feet at the widest point? 

"We were stuck on Pietersz Place with the tiny coffin of my four-day niece because we just couldn't get to the cemetery due to the traffic, both human and vehicular caused by Sakya. We had to be at the cemetery at a particular time, but we just couldn't make it," says resident Ananda whose family has suffered thrice in a short time due to this problem.

"Then one day, my wife was ill and I brought a three-wheeler to take her to Asiri Hospital. But we just could not get through either towards Kohuwela or Nugegoda because vehicles were parked on both sides of the road, completely blocking our passage. The students on the road were like a perahera. After 20 minutes, in desperation, I made her walk to Healthline," he said.

In the third incident, two Saturdays ago, my brother's wife whose baby had died, got very ill seven days after childbirth. We put her into our van and attempted to rush her to a hospital. However, the road was blocked and finally we had to physically carry her across a private property quite a distance to Kohuwela junction and get a taxi from there. If it was a person who had got a heart attack he would have died on the road that day," he said.

"We are long- time residents of this road. Since Sakya started tuition classes about three years ago, we cannot bring an ambulance to the house, not even a bicycle can get through," Ananda's mother said.

When classes are over, residents say they cannot take a vehicle out or even walk on the road for about 45 minutes.

Resident Saparamadu, whose forefathers had also lived in the area pointed out the other problems that have cropped up. "This was a very peaceful area though it is very close to both Kohuwela and Nugegoda. Now student gangs fight on the road, with knives. Some of the boys even drift along the two private lanes which branch off Pietersz Place and smoke, who knows what. Then the noise made by the cooling towers of Sakya is so loud that we don't have a tranquil moment," he said. "There are also perverts loitering about and a massive garbage problem."

Detailing the traffic problem, he said Healthline has arranged some parking but vehicles from there still park on the road. Lyceum International further down the road has a nursery school across from the main building. When the children come to school in the morning, each vehicle stops right on the middle of Pietersz Place until the child is taken inside, thus creating a terrible traffic jam right up to Dutugemunu Street. Some cars stop on the narrow side lanes till the children finish at 10.30 a.m.

Residents were also furious about the 'No entry' sign put up by the Kohuwela Police at the bottom of Pietersz Place near Lyceum. "There are about 100 residents on Pietersz Place. They have to go two kilometres on Raymond Road to Nugegoda during rush hour then turn towards Kohuwela, come round on Dutugemunu Street and get to Pietersz Place. Why should we face such inconveniences?" another resident, Salome asked.

When more than 3,000 students get on the road three to four times a day, we just have to knock off our engines and wait, said this mother of four small children. "Vehicles that come to pick up the tuition students park on the road and also down private lanes despite the 'No parking' boards put up recently by the Police. They used to have night classes until 9 p.m., which they have now discontinued because of the power cuts. That was another problem with 500 parents standing in the lane waiting for their daughters."

A new Residents' Committee has been formed in desperation as people in the area fear that the problem is becoming humongous, with the gradual completion of construction work at Sakya. They believe that the seven-storey Sakya building will accommodate more than 8,000 students once it is completed.

The Residents' Committee is looking at several issues which they want to bring up with the authorities. "We want to ensure our rights. Otherwise these institutions will swallow us up. We'll have to sell our homes which we have built with loans and after much hardship," a committee spokesperson said.

The committee is asking that they be given special passes so that the 'No entry' rule does not apply to them, when they are getting home after work. 

They are also to request that the institutions should deploy proper security guards to help disperse the traffic quickly and make the students conform to basic road rules.

"We want to talk to the Police and the school authorities on how we can overcome this problem," the spokesperson said.

The Officer-in-Charge of the Kohuwela Police, Udaya de Silva said though they have put up 'No parking' signs on Pietersz Place they do not have the personnel to enforce them throughout the day.

When contacted Dehiwela Mount Lavinia Mayor Jayaratne Perera said that approval for the seven-storey tutory building was granted by the Urban Development Authority and as such it was beyond his control. The Mayor promised to summon the Police to a meeting and take action to resolve the traffic problem by Saturday.

But a UDA official said the UDA had delegated its authority to the Municipal Council. Approval was granted by the Planning Committee headed by the Mayor. "Lyceum International School has not kept the required 30 feet for the roadway. They have built a wall, which would have to be broken to make way for the road. Sakya has left the required land for the road," the official said. 

Meanwhile, Sakya proprietor and tuition master Bandara Dissanayake said that before he commenced construction of the building he obtained approval as an educational institute from the UDA and the Municipal Council. They however imposed several conditions on him, which he has complied with. 

To prevent disturbing the residents with noise, they have installed a central air-conditioning system and provided parking in the basement but as the building is still under construction, it is not being utilised. The children who come there for tuition are mostly from the lower income group and do not come by car.

"I accept a hundred percent that the residents have a problem. I have built according to regulations imposed keeping 20 feet for road expansion. I have over 1,000 children in some classes so when they get on the road there is congestion. I am trying to minimise pollution by collecting the papers discarded by the students. I would like to come to an amicable settlement to this problem," he said. 

The long suffering residents wonder what that settlement would be and if they can ever enjoy the peace and quiet they once knew down Pietersz Place.