City Fathers

At the time of writing this column the fate of the Colombo Municipal Council is in the balance with speculation of a change of guard to end the present imbroglio that has reduced the country’s premier Local Government institution to a rudderless vessel.

A senior Government source according to our new item in the inside pages has discounted the possibility of dissolution of the CMC while not ruling out the possibility of its suspension.

A meeting was scheduled to be summoned by President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday to decide on the fate of the local body and it is hoped its outcome will be one that provides much anticipated relief by a largely harried Colombo population.

Be that as it may it was only inevitable the that authorities would say enough is enough at the shenanigans of the City adminstration whose primary function of serving Colombo’s ratepayers was always overshadowed by allegations of irregularities and corruption from the very outset.

It is six months since a one man Committee headed by a retired Court of Appeal Judge who probed the allegations put out its report but we are yet to see any action being taken by the Western Province Chief Minister into the findings.

This side show has taken a heavy toll on the welfare of ratepayers and the neglect in the maintenance and upkeep of public utilities and community services was all too evident by messy unattended garbage piles at every street corner and in highly residential areas with no one to answer for the deteriorating state of affairs.

With the current rains and the threat of dengue and other disease looming it is doubtful whether the CMC will be up to the task to handle the situation plagued as it is by its virus of lethargy and indifference resulting from the current imbroglio.

It is therefore hoped that judicious and well thought out decision would have been taken keeping the interest and the welfare of the residents of Sri Lanka’s capital city foremost in mind and a mechanism set up to address the emergency requirements of the City and undo the glaring lapses that is staring in the face as amply demonstrated in a page one picture we carried the other day of a row of Municipal lamp posts with fully illuminated bulbs late in the noon right opposite the CEB head office.

This newspaper was among the first to support the appointment of the new Mayor on the basis that a man with first hand know how of the city’s underbelly would be the ideal choice to identify the core problems facing the rate payers and pursue a hands on approach in attending to them expeditiously.

Alas, though, sleazy politics and various manoeuvrings by interested parties put paid to all expectations rendering the local body a rudderless and ineffective entity.

It would no doubt be the hope of Colombo’s ratepayers that their woes would be addressed speedily by the appointment of those with a proven record and the capacity to work for the public good to the helm of affairs of the Colombo Municipal Council.

Slum dwellers

The revelation made by Construction and Engineering Services Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne that 60,000 housing units are needed to relocate Colombo City’s slum dwellers and that land was at a premium once again brings to the focus the pitfalls of rapid urbanisation and a corresponding shrinking of space - a problem common to most Third World countries swept by the tide of industrialisation.

Although much of the city landscape has changed with the advent of the open economy, old colonial buildings and edifices replaced by high rises and giant skyscrapers, there are large pockets within the City which sticks out like a sore thumb marked by a preponderance of slum dwellings and the attendant waste, decay, sleaze and pollution serving as a stark reminder of the two faces of development and modernisation.

Most countries are grappling with the problem which had been exacerbated by the population explosion and the mass exodus from villages to the cities which while impacting economically has also led to social problems and contributed to the rising wave of crime.

It is also a fact that most city dwellers are conditioned to ghetto lifestyles and it is difficult to get them away from their natural surroundings even if the alternatives are attractive and offer better living facilities.

This is also the case with our Colombo’s slum dwellers who have been resisting attempts at relocation going by the experience of previous efforts by the authorities to settle them in more congenial surroundings.

Hence the need for the Government to make a proper assessment of any programmes planned in this regard before venturing out to build dwellings for these segments which warrants a heavy financial outlay.

Besides it should also address the problem relating to the dwindling landscape of the city. With the juggernaut of construction bulldozing over all available real estate in the city and the huge demand for office space by the ever-expanding commercial sector very soon all land space in the city would be swallowed up in the concrete maze.

It is always prudent to proceed by the motto of sustainable development. The City local bodies should be advised against passing plans in an ad hoc fashion without taking cognisance of the larger picture. More and more space should be looked for and availed of to beautify Colombo which was once known as the Garden City of Asia.