Face Off: The Colombo Candidates

By Raisa Wickrematunge

New candidates, new policies. With Municipal Council elections coming up, candidates are canvassing with a will. Posters of a few candidates are already visible around Colombo. Yet, it would seem that quite a few are reluctant to vote.

There are those like Nazly, who said that he would vote, as he did for all elections. “It is my right to use it wisely on the candidate whom I feel will do well for the general public as a whole,” he said. But he was clearly in the minority. Many others said they were disillusioned with the whole process and with politicians. “The people stealing from us will change, and it will not make a single difference in my life. So I do not care,” said Chatura. This was echoed by Kasun, “I lost my faith in politicians a long time ago. I generally do not trust any politician from any party, as it is my firm and sincere belief that the only interests these men and women hope to serve are their own – power to the people be damned.” Kasun did add that one of the main candidates in Colombo was making him reconsider. ‘I find his liberal values very attractive. He has yet to convince me, though. Is he all about meaningless rhetoric, or can this guy actually take Colombo places? I guess only time will tell, and I am not sure I want to bet my vote on such an uncertainty. So, no, I am afraid I will not be voting this year, either,” he said.
Thush said, “Although I am not particularly invested in the politics of this country, I must admit that there is no candidate who has reached me in any of the mediums that I am exposed to daily (mainly radio and the web). Basically I do not see any one person being able to make a difference in the near future over the other, which is why I am not too concerned about this election. I guess it all comes down to the party they represent and what that party stands for.”
With many of Colombo’s youth unsure of how to cast their vote, perhaps it is time to examine the politician’s policy statements – pared down. So, without the usual fuss, frills and rhetoric, here are some of the main candidates vying for the Mayoral post in the Municipal Council elections, and their promises to improve the city.

Milinda Moragoda

The UPFA candidate has held Cabinet portfolios before. A former leader of the Sri Lankan National Congress, he joined the SLFP in order to contest for the position of mayor.

His Policy Platform

•    A clean and efficient administration
•    Right to information
•    Protecting and saving religious and cultural diversity
•        Building approvals within a month
•    A safe city
•    A modern and beautiful city
•    Better living conditions for tenement dwellers
•    A mechanism for swift action in case of breakdowns
•    Improved sports facilities
•    Purawesi Saviya to counter youth unemployment
•    Improving and streamlining healthcare facilities
•    Foreign aid
Note- This is Moragoda’s 12 point 100 day programme. He also has a long term (4 year) policy document in draft form, which will evolve with input from the public.

 M. J. M Muzammil

The UNP candidate was first elected a Western Provincial Councillor in 2004, and was re-elected in 2009. He also contested in the Parliamentary elections in 2010.

His Policy Platform

At the time of going to press, Muzammil was unable to provide his policy platform to The Sunday Leader.

Mano Ganesan

Ganesan is the Leader of the Democratic People’s Front (DPF). He is also president of the trade union Democratic Workers Congress, and Convenor of the Civil Monitoring Commission, a human rights movement.

His Policy Platform

•    Development with humanism; beautifying citizens’ lives before infrastructure
•    An administration that will be a model for ethnic relations and equality (e.g. all 3 languages used in administrative work)
•    Opening of all the city’s waterfronts to the public for reasonable use
•    Engaging the citizens in running Colombo by forming ward committees
Shafeek Rajabdeen

Rajabdeen is a member of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC). He was a Member of Parliament until last year.

His Policy Platform

•    Develop pre-schools; new equipment and more qualified teachers, more education facilities for tenement children
•    Renovating community centres, fitting them with air conditioning and converting them into gymnasiums for youth
•    Add children’s section in public library and improve library premises
•    Improve garden tenements- eventually rehousing people in their place of birth
•    People’s participatory projects; getting people involved in community service
•    Management of solid waste
•    Building more children’s playgrounds
•    Introduce legislation to oppose Ministry of Defence involvement in Municipal areas

So there you have them, the candidates and their policies. It will be interesting to see if any of these candidates have struck a chord with voters. Who will win this face-off? But the more salient question is, will people vote, considering the general disillusionment expressed?
The answer to that will become clear on results day.

Moragoda Acknowledges Garbage Yet A Huge Stink

By Raisa Wickrematunge

UPFA Colombo mayoral candidate Milinda Moragoda acknowledged that despite the extensive beautification programme, solid waste management in the city continued to be a problem.
Moragoda said he knew there was at least one garbage dump site in Kolonnawa. He noted that the area was built as a landfill, so it would be possible to pile earth over the garbage.
However he added, “It’s not the best option.” Kolonnawa has enough space for it to be used for another one and a half to two years, but after that, a more viable solution would have to be found, he said.
The problem was compounded due to the nature of Sri Lanka’s garbage, which was similar in composition to India’s, Moragoda said.
The water content of the garbage makes it difficult for it to converted into an energy source, he observed.
In addition, he conceded that many children’s parks in the city were badly maintained.  The same was true of football fields belonging to youth clubs. The problem was that the community had been expected to help in maintaining the parks, he said. As such, Moragoda said he would, with the help of citizens, set up community organisations to ensure the maintenance of parks, football fields and other public spaces if he is elected Colombo’s mayor.

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Hakeem Denies Slamming Moragoda….

Rauf Hakeem

Minister of Justice and SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem denied rumours that he had been criticising UPFA mayoral candidate Milinda Moragoda for squandering money during campaigning.
It had earlier been said that Hakeem had criticised Moragoda for canvassing for votes in nightclubs. However, Hakeem refuted the rumour as utterly false.
“I never spoke of him or criticised him in that fashion,” Hakeem said. He added that he had worked with Moragoda when he was in the Government negotiating team seeking peace with the LTTE. Hakeem added that he had read his manifesto and thought it ‘novel’, adding that it dealt with appropriate issues. “Since our parties are contesting, I wish him well. We may constructively criticise some of his statements,” he said.