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| Saturday, 11 September 2004 |
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A walk with the Miraculous Madonna Photographs and Text by Prasad Abu Bakr
This evening the vast number of people belonging to the catholic faith living in Negombo will carry the statue of St. Mary in procession through the many boulevards of this largely catholic hub of the western coast, celebrating the event for the 130th year. Beside this magical moment there are others that do not shine so magically in relation to this town that came under the rule of 3 foreign invaders within a span of 300 years. St. Mary's Church which stands on Grand Street of the Negombo town is a remarkable building standing tall over the years lending support in way of a strong pillar to the vast catholic community of the area. The rich, the poor and the many needy have always not been hesitant to pay a visit and pray at the feet of the statue of Virgin Mary bearing Infant Jesus at turbulent times of their lives. Even though tourism has taken strong root in Negombo the fact remains that almost all the hotels and other tourist oriented businesses are owned and managed by individuals or companies that have not sprouted from within this town. But still their presence has helped in many areas, specially amongst the fisher folk; most of their children have found employment training themselves in the hospitality industry and branching out in to other areas furthering their careers. Most of them have managed to find employment abroad, in the Middle East and even Europe.
This would have been an impossible dream for most of them if they were not absorbed into the industry by these hotels looking at the fact that not many of them had even a basic educational background at the time they found employment. At present however parents are keen that their children at least follow the basic training course which is on offer at the Ceylon Hotel School or at other private institutions in Colombo. In the late seventies with the setting up of the Katunayake Free Trade Zone massive employment opportunities opened up for the youth of the Western Province which stood in good stead specially for many of them in Negombo. As for the fisher folk, which made up quite a substantial part of the areas population, besides finding the fact that some of their children found employment outside their normal circumstances; which was to follow in the family tradition of fishing. They also found that this newly acquired pattern also hindered their industry, having to depend on total outsiders to continue their business with. With the dawning of the 1983 communal violence in the north and later in the east most of the fishing families living on the western coast were badly effected as most of their best catch came from the deep sea fishing that they did in that part of the country, after the communal disturbances fishermen from the western coast found themselves in an unsafe situation which gradually held them back from travelling to those areas, specially Trincomalee, Mannar and Mullaitivu which provided them with a bigger catch that took them beyond their capacity of a small time fishmonger and gave them `Mudalali' status within their community.
Negombo has had foreign occupation over the decades at different intervals, first by the Portuguese then by the Dutch settlers and later under British rule. The years, though there were instigation against the catholic church from time to time its survival has served as an example of the undying faith its followers had in the religion which has the largest following in the world. If one has travelled to Negombo within the past 25 years it should be evident that its environments have improved only in marginal `stops and starts'. The many expectations that the area's public had pinned on political powers that ruled over it reaped less than satisfactory results, specially in the fishing sector. Most of their problems were not addressed and solved by politicians who promised and failed to deliver. With their earnings dwindling down to low levels these people who sail by night and sleep at day refuses to shrug off their happy go lucky lifestyles either. According to Parish Priest of St. Mary's Church on Grand Street Rev Nihal Ivan Perera which is celebrating its feast today. 'We advise them of the futility of being extravagant in these matters, specially if they are poor. Rev. Perera who will be conducting this year's feast for the first time since his return from Italy recently has served in Kadolkele, Negombo for over 7 years before he went to Milan where he lived for 3 years, studying and living amongst over ten thousand Sri Lankans. `It is in most cases heart breaking to witness the ordeal that the poor of this area has to undergo' says the priest who has seen most of the hardships that the people of his earlier parish underwent during his last tenure which was Kadolkele. `The living conditions are at its lowest and owing to many mothers taking wing to the middle east seeking work for themselves, family life gets into disarray'. Rev. Perera said that there are many social welfare projects that have been set up to address certain problems of these people but a larger part of the responsibility lie in administrations that have taken upon themselves the task of addressing many social issues. But this is something that has been dodged by many administrators, says the Negombo public. "We have no proper drinking water, living on the beach we are deprived of even basic toilet facilities" said some of the fisher folk living on the beach harbouring the New Rest House. Some of the larger hotels have come forward to help them out of this problem by building sharing toilet facilities so as to save themselves the embarrassment of foreigners witnessing locals relieving themselves along the beach in the mornings. `Every time a general election is nearing politicians surround us with many promises. As we are poor we too listen to them and vote them into power hoping for the best and nothing comes out of it than more misery' said one woman who was selling fish at the daily fair on the beach. `It is sad how some of these families live, all cooped up in one roomed shanties. It has made they ruthless as they face suffering day after day, hoping for a better tomorrow but the agonizing truth is that according to the past experiences they have had, they know that there is none in store for them' said Rev. Perera, explaining that this is where the church steps in, to help them not only spiritually but financially as well by forming welfare associations such as the Fishermen's Co-operative Union, which is of great service to the community. Broken down spirits need a lot of disciplining and the church undertakes this task and fulfils it to the best of its ability. Its close proximity to Colombo's International Airport has given Negombo its much needed boost in tourism, specially during the seventies and eighties. But before that it seems that coconut plantations have thrived in the area. As explained by a senior citizen that is how the names such as Telwatte Junction and Copra Junction came to be identified, both junctions are on the main Colombo - Chilaw road bordering the Negombo town. The Old Rest House still stands with a new name to it. Called the Lagoon View Rest House it stands not so far away from the New Rest House which comes under the purview of the Urban Development Authority. Not many tourists wish to stay specially at the latter which is shrouded by the sickening smell of Dry Fish that is being processed on the beach not so far away from the premises. Many requests by the rest house keeper from the authorities to find a place for the fishermen to dry their fish away from the present vicinity have fallen on deaf ears. Today Negombo stands as a town full of dust, dirt and garbage, clogged drains and overflowing pits with a vast polluted lagoon which harbours the famous dutch canal are a common sight. An incomplete bus stand adds immensely to its imperfect and hazardous landscape. The Beach Road as it is called today which is in fact Lewis Place that leads to Kochchikade Junction was re-constructed in 1999 with a widely laid road edged by smart pavements. This probably is the only noticeable improvement that has taken place in this town in recent times. Besides there are of course many business establishments that have sprouted all over the place and the many new small time hotels and guest houses that can add to the so-called improvement. The many by-roads and inner lanes where people dwell are sights of unpleasant views not only to the visiting foreigners but even to locals that visit this town for the first time. Such are the miseries of Negombo and its people but for a regular visitor Negombo holds an unmistakable charm of the old-world. Some of its old styled architecture adds to this old glory that even some of the older citizens of this city thrive upon even at present. Preserving our past with utmost vanity and failing to improve the living conditions of our present generation are two things that have to be addressed with discerning responsibility and a lot of affection for the vicinity that one was born in. Looking at this town one wonders whether any of the officials that are holding responsible office in improving the lot of its population were ever born and bred in these extremely romantic surroundings that have all the making and the characteristics of any wholesome beach resort clean and spruced-up that is! This evening however the catholic population of Negombo will celebrate
the event of coming face to face with their beloved Mother, the saint that
will heal all their wounds and nurse their pain where man had failed to do
so. As a customary event mass will be presided over by Emeritus Archbishop
Nicholas Marcus Fernando.
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