The Dirty Side Of Colombo
By Abdul H. Azeez
The Beira Lake is a landmark of Colombo. Its green waterfronts are overlooked by five-star hotels and slums alike. People take pleasure rides on swan boats, others race in organised competition while some others can be seen fishing!
Fisherman with his catch right next to the sewage pipe
It is no secret to anyone that the Beira is immensely polluted. Excrement flows and mingles among chemical and medical waste. Five star hotels take to regular dumping of chlorine to clear up the waters in their vicinity and to facilitate the views promised to their customers.
The Sunday Leader was alerted by a concerned citizen to an area of the Beira where several factories and institutions were simply dumping their sewage into the lake. Among them was a factory owned by Browns PLC and a government organisation named Janasaviya. Just a few meters away fishermen frequent the overgrown area of the lake searching for a goog catch. Little do they know that most of the fish are attracted by the constant flow of excrement entering the waters at that point.
There does not appear to be a system in place to clear up the Beira Lake or to even ensure that it does not get more polluted. Speaking to The Sunday Leader ex-deputy mayor Azath Sally said sea water was pumped into the lake under the previous administration. ‘But that has stopped now. There is no proper system in place to clear the Beira. Corrupt institutions means that people have to pay bribes to receive even basic services pertaining to sanitation. This is an area seriously lacking development in the city’.
It is evident that without a sustainable system to continuously minister the needs of the lake, things will go from bad to worse. Authorities currently operate on a knee jerk basis, only acting when there is a pressing need. Clean ups are only organised when dengue shows its ugly head, pollution is only addressed when too many people raise a ruckus and their protests cannot be ignored. This ensures that the city is clean but only on a short term basis and it does not permanently improve everybody’s living standards. Sadly changes will occur only if there is a crisis, most times of a tragic nature.
SL is a polluted third world garbage dump run by fools. Don’t belive it when some say it is a middle income country. There are more poor people here than Africa. I live in a beautiful overseas paradise and a charity sponsor to many poor people in Colombo. What a disgrace.
I am also Mahinda. Why do you hate Sri Lanka? You mind your own business in where you are. This news paper did her good job by bringing it to everybody’s attention. The South Korea in 60’s had worse places than Beira Lake . We have to be positive and should march toward the living standard of South Korea is enjoying now.
Mahinda, you are correct. The malaise in sri lanka is due to indiscipline, corruption, wastage of national resources and poor management.
In the old days, with only about one fourth of beaurocrats and politicians as of now, sri lanka was truely a paradise.
SWRDBandaranayake started the rot with communal politics, his widow made it worse and JRJayawardene completed the ruination with his infamous constitution.
I long for the days of the british raj when we were a crown colony, when there was discipline such that even trains ran to time.
Now we are on the slippery slope of power hungry politics, and soon will become like Nazi Germany. Only the politicians will be the beneficiaries.
Thank you Mahinda for your most compassionnate and helpful comments…May you live for ever in your overseas paradise and not face the misfortune of coming into contact with this “polluted third world garbage dump .”
Quote”Authorities currently operate on a knee jerk basis, only acting when there is a pressing need.” Unquote. It is in perfect sinc with the law enforcement in the country. The Police acts only when pressed from top. The top only presses the cases when pressed by their kith and kin or loyals or mass protests (like samurdhi officer’s case). This is how rule of law operates in our beloved mother country. What a pity!
Mahinda 2, listen mate, your SL will always be poor with garbage and flies. it is too late now. You cannot get out because no one will have you. Just get back to your cave mate and stay there.