Sunday Leader Views & Interviews 7 February 2010 32 views No Comment  Print This Post  Email This Post

2010-02-07 00:11:10

By Cassandra Mascarenhas

Common sights: filthy public toilets and dumpsters overflowing with rubbish

The re-election of President Mahinda Rajapaksa at least comes with the certainty that he will continue with the major infrastructure schemes that he commenced during the first term of his presidency. The major schemes started during his regime include the Hambantota Harbour (which on November 15, 2009 was 15% complete), the Hambantota International Airport, the expansion of the Colombo Port, the construction and expansion of railways across the country and the building of various flyovers and bridges.

As important as all this is in the grand scheme of things, how does it currently serve the people? The government seems to only concentrate on large projects with no thought given to the everyday lives of the common people whose lives would be greatly improved by some small-scale, short-term infrastructure rather than by harbours and airports, which to them currently serve little or no purpose.

A good example of such small-scale infrastructure would be the upgrading of the public toilets, most of which are currently in a disgraceful and almost unusable state. There is really no shortage of them in the city and they are surprisingly easy to find – you just follow your nose. The public toilet located in the Maharagama supermarket for instance, is in a particularly deplorable state. Small and dark with damp, crumbling walls and unwashed floors accompanied of course by the fragrant smell which wafts through every public toilet – only in this case ten times stronger. Venturing in there is not for the faint-hearted.

It was pleasing to note, however, that just a few metres from the supermarket was another public toilet located within the bus depot which, while not being in amazing condition, was at least clean and actually usable, the reason for this being a grizzled old man who dutifully washes and maintains these toilets. This shows what a difference one dedicated attendant can make. The refurbishment and proper maintenance of these public toilets would have a great impact on the lives of people, as hundreds use them every day even in their appalling state.

Another common problem in the country is the mounds of garbage which can be found every couple of kilometres along the roadside or on a strip of bare land somewhere. Overflowing dumpsters and rubbish accumulating in canals and clogging drains are environmentally unfriendly, a health hazard and are too common a sight in the country. Many people have to live miserably alongside garbage, especially those who live in shacks along the canals, which often results in them contracting diseases and suffering from other problems.

An initiative on the part of the government to urge municipal councils to dispose of garbage properly and install trash receptacles along the roads are simple changes that would make a great difference and improve the overall state of cleanliness and quality of life.

Road transport accounts for 93 percent of transport in Sri Lanka and much effort has been made over the past couple of years by the President to improve many of the major highways or the Class ‘A’ roads in the country, especially in the south. However, the smaller, less central roads have been ignored and remain narrow and in poor condition. The general public is more likely to use these roads for day-to-day use than the main road that leads to Hambantota which of course is in excellent condition. And it does seem unjust that the smaller and  more heavily used roads are not in the same good condition that the main highways are in.

All the above-mentioned issues are ones that are deemed minor and small-scale and are therefore not paid much attention as the extension of ports and building of airports is considered a bigger priority for the infrastructure of the country. These problems, however, are those that affect the peoples’ day-to-day lives and are equally important for the overall improvement of the country. So here’s hoping that the President will give these issues some priority at least the second time around.

Read more / the original here:
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2010/02/07/focus-on-rubbish-not-airports/

This article is auto sourced, and in no way newSRILANKA.com represents, or supports the content of the article/s, and will not be held responsible for same. (Please refer Terms & Conditions) newSRILANKA.com, simply aggregates the content that is made available on the internet via blogs and feeds, and makes it available to its readers on a single site. No blog / feed has been intentionally included or excluded. If any news feeds that are available with articles on the Presidential Elections 2010, and has not been included in this site, please forward feed url to info@newsrilanka.com, and we will have the feed included. This is a service offered by newSRILANKA.com to its readers during the Presidential Elections 2010.

Related posts:

1. Arjuna, Don’t Insult The Intelligence of People With A Rubbish Statement About Corruption
2. Hambantota Chamber leads capacity building initiative
3. Sri Lanka connectivity links seen bridging ethnic divide
4. Focus on the precious liquid
5. Election monitors focus on North and East