Mayors may come and Mayors may go but the garbage mess goes on forever. A walk down the streets of Colombo will prove what I say. Broken drains, heaps of garbage piled on either side of almost every nook and corner of the metropolis, is a common sight and is a veritable health hazard too. The foul stench that emanates is certainly nauseating. Not much has been done to overcome this problem. During the recent showers almost every street in Colombo and suburbs went under water, including the prestigious surroundings of Colombo 7.
This is mainly due to the clogged drains. No attempt whatsoever by the CMC is carried out to get rid of this grave problem. The CMC should seriously consider the possibility of handing over the City Cleaning Project to Private Companies on a contract basis for a limited period of time. This procedure is presently being followed in most Middle Eastern countries. We can then, at least hope to see a much tidier and cleaner city of Colombo.
The patching-up work being done by the CMC is only a temporary measure. It is a waste of money, energy and time. For the slightest downpour the whole road gets washed away. This is evident from the stretch of road down Armour Street to the end of Messenger Street, where patching-up work is carried out almost every month. This certainly is a drain on the rate-payer's purse. Street lamps are also not switched-off. In certain areas the lights are kept switched-on all throughout the day and at times for weeks and months too.
Citizens should be more civic minded and switch off the lights when they are actually not needed. At a time when the State is calling on all consumers to conserve energy, wasting is a crime.
Another problem that remains unsolved is the parking of vehicles on side-walks. A walk down Bloemendhal Road is ample testimony of my allegation. Eating houses and hotels park carts and other vehicles on the pavements to unload their ware. This completely blocks the path and many have to walk on the main road at the risk of being knocked down by passing motorists.
The City Police have however turned a blind eye. This type of parking should be completely banned and those violating this rule should be dealt with severely. The CMC should adopt more meaningful measures to solve this problem as it has caused much inconvenience to the general public for whose safety the pavements are meant.
I refer to Ms. C. Fonseka's comments on my story of the Fr. Balasuriya excommunication in The Sunday Times of July 20. I am glad that the 'Ordinary Catholic' as she calls herself is disturbed. She condemns my "efforts to create public opinion against the hierarchy of the Catholic Church." This certainly hit the jackpot. It's exactly what I want to do in the interests of justice and truth - to expose a hierarchy in Sri Lanka and the Vatican who used what I see as falsehood and distortion to condemn a priest without proper judicial process.
'Ordinary Catholics' do some extraordinary things, when they sprout as small-time theologians with a simplistic approach. They are not aware of the real issues. This type of Catholic fundamentalism has throughout been the hallmark of the Balasuriya debate. Ms. Fonseka accuses Fr. Balasuriya of "raising doubts or questions on the divinity of Jesus Christ." Fr. Balasuriya does not deny the divinity of Christ. What he questions is its interpretation - a totally different thing.
Asking questions is a good thing and we have seen how the Church has changed her understanding throughout the centuries by questioning. Vatican II bears testimony to this.
As for 'Mary and Human Liberation: the other side' the less said the better. Manel Abhayaratne presents this 'authorless' book. There are authors and editors, but I have never heard of 'presenters'.
Then your correspondent speaks of heresies. What heresies? They may be those that the Bishops and Ms. Fonseka invented and fished out of the Balasuriya book. In conclusion, I quite agree with your correspondent from salubrious Peradeniya that the Church founded by Christ cannot be destroyed. We leave it to the hierarchy to achieve this, if we Christians do not expose their manipulation and hypocrisy in dealing with legitimate dissent.
The Balasuriya excommunication, widely condemned throughout the world, has really exposed the Church and Churchmen, and spawned issues that we all must face. That's the only way the Church can survive.
With reference to the letter in The Sunday Times of August 3, shocking experiences are nothing new in Sri Lanka. It's colour bar everywhere in the country. We are treated as second class citizens while tourists - especially the white skins are given preferential treatment.
At tourist hotels baggages of locals are not taken by the porters. At the restaurants, they are ignored.
At the tea centres, whether it is Labukelle, Glenloch, Ranga Tea Centre, Melford or Pedro, locals are not allowed to see the process of producing tea. Sri Lankans are facing apartheid in their own motherland.
It is so nice to hear that the Colombo Mayor is dreaming of a greener Colombo City. May your dream come true.
Before doing that Mr. Mayor, you have a great duty to fulfill. That is, to make the Colombo Municipality a bribery and corruption free local body and if you can achieve that, I am sure all rate payers will be appreciative much and will praise you for your forthrightness.
It is useless Mr. Mayor just to powder and polish the outer surface when the inner chamber is rotting.
I personally experienced the trauma of trying to get a housing plan passed and to get the water service. These two matters are the most impossible things in the Municipality. Ultimately the officials threatened me saying that they would destroy the relevant file if I didn't meet their demand. I thought to myself how inhuman and unsympathetic they were. These are the type of people who are assisting you to run the affairs of the Municipality.
So can you see Mr. Mayor, to what extent the bribery and corruption have gone in your establishment. When I say this, please don't put the blame on your predecessors, as that is the curse in today's politics. Instead, plan what you can do now for a clean administration.
More letters to the editor * Politicians and Professionals * The "Pass System" in Vavuniya * Palaces and poor suffering people
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