Chinese name board at project site raises issue

The matter of using Chinese instead of Tamil in the name board of Metro Colombo Solid Waste Management Project is being dealt with the Project Manager and the Chinese Embassy, National Integration, Official Languages, Social Progress and Hindu Religious Affairs Minister Mano Ganesan said.

Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, the minister said that he instructed the Chairman of Official Languages Commission to immediately contact the Project Manager of Sanitary Landfill site in Aruwakkalu, Puttalam. He said the letter would also be copied to the Chinese Ambassador in Sri Lanka. China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) is the contractor of the Metro Colombo Solid Waste Management Project.

The name board of the project came under flak in social media platforms recently as it has used Chinese instead of Tamil, thus violating the Language Police of the country.

“I believe this was done out of ignorance. The Chinese in Sri Lanka should respect local laws.

 By dropping Tamil and accommodating Chinese, they have created an unnecessarily fear psychosis in the country. I have also seen elsewhere that they have used Mandarin and English only ignoring both Sinhala and Tamil. They cannot do so. We have received several complaints on sign boards at Chinese project sites,” he commented.

The minister later tweeting in his account said that his ministry has initiated action on the name board at his instructions. “We cannot tolerate violations of local language laws at Chinese sites in Sri Lanka. We wish to provide assistance, if any required by them, when putting up this kind of sign boards.

We also plan to engage with all relevant authorities including the Chinese Embassy in this regard,” he said in his Tweet.

Economic Reforms and Public Distribution Minister Dr. Harsha De Silva, reacting to the picture of the name board circulating on social media, also raised his concerns on the matter stating that it was “totally unacceptable”. The Metro Colombo Solid Waste Management Project plans to solve the capital city’s escalating waste mismanagement problem, which culminated in the disaster at Meethotamulla.