Kolonnawa Urban Council former Chairman Ravindra Udayakaantha is contemplating to leave active politics in the face of allegations circulating against him, to safeguard his good name, the good name of his family and his children.
Addressing a media conference at his residence, he said that some envy the stand he has taken, to follow the policy of the Good Governance Government the Yahapalana government, led by President Maithripala Sirisena and supported by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
“Allegations from political parties and environmentalists claim that I have accepted bribes from lorry drivers and others working at the Meethotamulla garbage dump to prevent it from being cleared up,” he said.
“I have not taken a single cent, but I know that there are politicians, state officials and CMC officials that do. I challenge them to prove that I have taken money,” he added.
Udayakaantha said, “I am not a rich man, but I am fully aware that the people appointed me to the UC to serve them. If I had collected money, people would know it, because they know that I have been with them at every turn. They trust me, and I will do nothing to breach that trust”.
He added, “garbage collection has become a National issue today. The best is to bring viable projects to resolve this issue without giving into meaningless protests by the three-wheeler groups.
People fail to realize they are taken for a ride by cunning politicians with ulterior motives. What the government should do is, implement the good and viable plans to minimize the danger at hand and completely wipe out the menace. The people have to be convinced that the government’s pure intention was the welfare of the polity they represent.”
“If the government takes steps beneficial to the masses, those staging protests would turn their protests into campaigns promoting government’s movements.
That is what the people expect from a responsible government—not to shelve the good plans in the face of opposition, but to implement them instead and silence and send to limbo, the prophets of doom, he added . Udayakantha also said that instead of appreciating what he did to minimize the danger of the issue as the then Chairman, now a group with ulterior motives sling mud at him.
Making reference to the erosion of the man-made garbage mountain in the year 2012 and the flooding in the area in the year 2016, he said, the people who received his assistance and relief when they were in dire need of help, appreciated it. They expressed their gratitude for the steps he took to save their lives.
Recalling the very recent disaster experienced by the families at Meethotamulla, he said that his timely action had saved the lives of more than 20 families living very close to the garbage hill.
Udayakantha added, “Having received the information about the imminent danger, while I was at a funeral house, I went to the very spot and almost forcibly, got them move, as some were reluctant.
Today, they show their gratitude with smiles. If not for that immediate action, more lives would have been lost.”
Udayakantha had a word of appreciation to the Commissioner of Colombo CMC V.K. Anura for acting swiftly to save the lives of the people at Meethotamulla, on his request.
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