News

By Sachini Perera and Vanessa Sridharan

The livelihoods of more than 150 vendors are at stake when the Galle Face Green due to be given a face-lift, will be closed to the public for around five months starting from the middle of this month.

The vendors have been asked to vacate the area by August 15, with no alternate places given to them.

The renovations to the Green are being undertaken by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) for the first time. Previous renovations were done by the Urban Development Authority (UDA). Deputy General Manager (Communications) of the SLPA Public Relations Unit, Nalin Aponso said it is hoped to reopen the Green in December 2006.

Though the Galle Face Green may have a new look after the renovations, there is a group of people whose only source of income will be lost when the entire premises is closed to the public. The vendors on the Green who sell gram, fried prawns in vadai, snacks and soft drinks, pineapple pieces, other food items, balloons and toys have been asked to vacate the Green by August 15.

“There are 160 vendors at Galle Face. At the rate of five per family at least five times that number will be affected,” said E.C. Dias, convener of the society of Galle Face Green vendors.

Last Monday the vendors had received a leaflet. It was not addressed to anyone in particular and though it said it was from the SLPA, there was neither a seal nor a signature to validate the document.

“This business cannot be done anywhere else other than at Galle Face,” said Mohamed Suhail, a gram and prawn vendor.

“We have been doing this for the last twenty years and we can’t go to the city and find another job,” he said.

He also said that barely four days after the leaflet was distributed, the number of customers rapidly dwindled. Hettiarachchige Rupasinghe who has been giving the very popular pony rides to children for the last 41 years, asked what he was supposed to do when the whole place closes.“I’ll have to steal in desperation,” he said.

A woman vendor, Nonavasila said, “My income depends on how much gram and vadai I sell. I have three children to feed and educate”. The vendors held a protest at Lipton’s Circus last Tuesday.

“Another protest is to be held in front of Sethsiripaya,” Mr. Dias said.

The vendors have appealed to Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, the SLPA and the UDA but there has been no response so far, he said. The minister was unavailable for comment.

“It is the UDA and not the SLPA that deals with the vendors,” Mr. Aponso said.

But according to the UDA it only handles the technical aspects of the project.
“The vendors have complained regarding their eviction, but the UDA cannot do anything about it since the SLPA had been handed over the management aspect of it. All complaints have been redirected to the SLPA”, UDA Director General K.V. Dharmasiri said.

The vendors are not against the renovations.

“It is the impending evacuation that we have a problem with. If we are also allowed to take part in the renovation work, we will be employed during that time without being unceremoniously thrown out,” Mr. Dias said. So far there has been no response to this proposal.

The other alternative suggested is for the renovation to be done in stages, without the whole Green being closed at once.

“That was how it was done during previous renovations,” Mr. Dias said.

According to the vendors, even after the project is completed, their future is uncertain. Though they are all registered with the UDA and carry identification cards issued by the UDA which allow them to work at the Green, the food stalls to be built on the Green will be allocated by tender.

“It is highly unlikely that the former vendors could afford to obtain those stalls,” said Mr. Dias. The vendors pay Rs. 50 every day to enter the premises, he said.

“We have not been given a valid document about our impending evacuation. So we can’t even seek legal assistance based on orders we have received unofficially,” said Mr. Dias, despair evident in his words.

“I hope the vendors will be able to return once the project is complete. As they have entered into an agreement with the UDA, the SLPA will have to make provision for them to come back,” Mr. Dharmasiri said.

If there is no solution to accommodate the vendors during the renovation period, they will also miss the popular kite season from August to September, Ramadan in October when Muslims gather to break fast and spend the evenings on Galle Face and school holidays in August and December when the ground is highly popular.

“The improvements planned will include new food stalls, a fountain, nurturing and replanting of the palmyrah trees bordering the Green, planting of new grass, building of public toilets and a parking area, repairs to the lighting system and the drainage,” said Mr. Aponso.