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No home but the street
By Apsara Kapukotuwa
On a rainy weekday evening, I see them once again: a man and a woman huddled together sharing a packet of rice and curry that some kind-hearted passer-by has given them, near the doorstep of a once famous building in the heart of Colombo 3.

Next to them, three rough looking men sit, smoking and chatting on the doorstep of this now dilapidated premises while, a woman tries to clean up their little living space and an old sick man tries to eat his share of food.
Street people have taken over the environs of the former Shaw Wallace building on Galle Road. Last occupied by the Cashew Corporation- the building now abandoned, has become home to a group of street people.

Clothes hang from a line nailed across the doorway with boxes, tins, and pieces of debris piled up on either side. Chandra Fernando, 53, a former resident of Weliveriya, Gampaha, has been living here for nearly four years.
“My late husband was in the army. My daughter lives with my elder sister- this is no place to bring up a child- she is still schooling. To earn some money, I collect cardboard from the roadside and sell them. I also sweep the area near Pilawoos - they provide me with an evening meal and also allow me to sleep in the premises,” Chandra adds, recounting her daily routine.

The very old and sick man had come into their midst recently, when someone arrived in a car and dropped him off late one night. Rani, another of their friends had gone out “for work” at the time of our visit, late in the evening. Of the men, Gamini, a beach resident of Bambalapitiya, is the only one who would say anything. The rest avoided the questions directed at them, quickly walking away.

“I choose to be here since it’s easy for me to find work. I do go to visit my family occasionally, but I prefer staying here,” says Gamini reclining on a bright blue mattress.

With the heavy rain lashing at their refuge, we walk away and five minutes later, come across another group, this time with two small children, a pregnant woman and an old lady near the former Burger King outlet, now a newly renovated project management office, near the Liberty Plaza roundabout. Religion or race does not seem to matter this little group-comprising Sinhala Buddhists, Hindus and Tamil Christians.

Sunil Bandara (50), Jayalakshmi(48) and Thamara are members of one family. Jayalakshmi says her two sons are being brought up by her sister, as she does not want to bring them up on the street. Ten-year-old Thamara, a Grade 4 student suffers from epilepsy and her mother prefers to look after her, herself. Jayalakshmi works for Abans as a road sweeper and earns a reasonable wage. She says it is hardly enough for her to provide for her daughter’s schooling, travelling and meals, let alone her husband and herself. Sunil’s duty is to take the daughter to school and bring her back ‘home’ safely.

“How can we afford to get a house, nona? My daughter’s needs take up at least Rs. 2,600-3,000 a month,” she says. Ravishankar and Veluambujarani are the proud parents of 1 ½ year old Dinesh Kumar and are expecting a new member to their little family soon.

“The streets have been my home from the time I can remember. Since I married my wife, who is from Badulla, I have been on this street, for about six years now. My family is from the Ratmalana beach but the tsunami took away what we called ‘home’. They too joined us for a few days on the streets here but they went back.”

Asked whether the police does not chase them away, Ravishankar says they are very understanding. “If there are too many of us, they might ask us to go. But usually, they don’t because they know us. We work for the police sometimes, do odd jobs when they need our help,” he says with a smile.

Their presence on the street, however poses a problem to residents in the neighbourhood, and especially to the business establishments nearby.
The Sponge Pastry Shop, Colombo 3, is the closest establishment to the Shaw Wallace squatters. “Clients complain about them all the time-they hang on their cars, and won’t allow them to take their cars out. I have called the municipality many times but so far no action has been taken.

This crowd has been here for about 2 ½ years and I am yet to see the authorities taking any positive action,” said O.B.J. Fleming, Manager of Sponge Pastry Shop, adding that as far as he knows the police have not taken any action either. The Kollupitiya Police say their hands are tied. As far as the local law is concerned, the only action the police can take is to produce these ‘beggars’ in courts under the Vagrants Ordinance.

“We can only round them up and produce them in courts – then they will be sent to refugee camps. But they keep coming back to their usual places,” said the Officer-in-Charge of the Kollupitiya Police, Palitha Siriwardene. Are they involved in crime? Kollupitiya's OIC Crimes IP N. Gunasekera says since taking up his post six months ago none of his investigations had revealed any link but that did not mean that it did not exist.

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