Aview from the hills
Hawking for the vote?
By Carl Muller
One morning Kandy awoke to utter chaos! Every pavement
in the city was commandeered. shops, banks, big establishments could only
look on helplessly. Pickpockets and perverts perked up. It takes a citizen
all of twenty minutes to shove his way, caught in an unbelievable crush,
from the "White House" to the Hatton National Bank, Indeed, citizens
seem to be praying for wings. In a twinkling plank platforms came up, crude
plastic sheets were strung up, the kerbside railings became display counters
and the whole concept of Municipal law was dumped into the dustbin... and
this, I tell you, was all because there must have been some vote-value.
What and why else?
Of course, the excuse neatly trotted out was that the Sinhalese New
Year is coming, but based on what Kandy faces today, it would seem that
from times immemorial all those wonderful traditions of the Sinhalese New
Year are based on what can be bought on the pavements, even though all
that is offered are factory rejects by the metre.
Business establishments in Kandy have had it up to here. The entrances
to banks and big shops are obstructed, shop owners pay Municipal taxes.
The pavements are no longer used by pedestrians. The municipality is doing
sweet nothing and the police seem to have had their hands tied.
What Kandy needs is a return to order. Welcome PA Provincial Council.
It's time to crack down.. at long last!
Elephants made her cry
Met Nicole-Lise Bernh-eim, French journalist and travel writer at the
Hotel Suisse recently. She was here to do a series of articles on Sri Lanka
for French magazines and newspapers, and was chiefly interested in our
cinnamon and was very upset over her visit to the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage.
It is sheer animal exploitation," she said, "and I shall write
most strongly about the callous treatment of the animals. I couldn't believe
it. On one hand, the people here are up in arms over the treatment of cattle,
dogs and poultry, but they don't care to see how badly elephants are treated
at these orphanages and parks. I really cried at what I saw and was very
depressed."
Apparently, Nicole-Lise was treated to a sort of "circus"
where elephants were made to run races, where tourists were asked to pay
for the privilege of holding a bottle of milk for a baby elephant, and
where she observed that all the beasts were in a most fretful unhappy mood.
"And why must we pay as much as Rs. 200 when locals who laugh at the
unhappiness of these creatures, only pay Rs. 20?" she asked.
"The worst of my visit was when the elephants were taken to the
river.
They were simply driven to the banks and there were only two men who
went among them to scrub them and see that they were properly bathed.
"Many of the elephants simply stood in the water, quite bewildered
and not enjoying their dip at all.
On the bank there is a kiosk selling food and drinks and where chairs
are kept for tourists.
"All sorts of hawkers swarmed the place. This is appalling. Nobody
cares about the animals - they all want to make money out of them."
Over to the Department of Wild Life Conservation and the Tourist Board.
Oliver Twist, Sri Lanka style
There goes Madhiputha, a friend told me as we stood, talking. He pointed
to a natty fellow on a motorcycle whose moustaches were as long as the
handlebars of his bike.
"Madhiputha?" I asked, "What sort of a name is that?"
He chuckled. "You don't know him? Sha! Everybody does. He's a Forestry
somebody. Making good money. Got his own house and all."
Apparently, being a "Forestry Somebody" is not a bad thing
to be. I listened, quite entranced. The man's name was not Madhiputha,
apparently, but that was the obvious name he earned because whenever somebody
crossed his palm for the privilege of cutting or removing protected timber
(which "Madhiputha is supposed to protect) he murmurs "Madhiputha....you
give a thousand more." He always asked, like Oliver Twist, for more.
As I watched, Madhiputha took the bend, disappeared. Which brings me
to this next bit of news.....
Timber route to the East
How and why does so much of the Central Province timber find its way
to the East coast? It seems that, with great organization, lorry loads
of timber are taken to the east...and business is booming. And why? The
timber, I am told, is usually softwood - sapu, milla, nedun, mora, palu,
toona, etc., but the point is, where are these trees felled and how big
is this illicit operation?
"Why to the east?" I asked.
"Because there are operators there who ship it out by boat to the
Maldives. Everyone knows that the Maldives have no timber and there is
a lot of development there which calls for a great deal of timber. Our
east coast mudalalis have found it a sweet business, supplying contractors
in the Maldives."
Illicit timber boats! Seems as though the corruption rises in waves
on all sides!
Randenigala threatened
Nature lovers in Kandy are again in a ferment. Seems that plans are
afoot to destroy the beautiful nature reserve on the far side of the Randenigala
reservoir and all in the name of tourism development.
If a little bird sings true, permission has been given to a foreign
combine to develop this area for tourism with camp sites, lodges, cabanas
or whatever, roads, the works. In Kandy, nature clubs, schools and other
institutions organise nature tours and special nature projects there. The
development plans will put paid to all this as well as to all the wild
life in that region. Oh well, another wild card!
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