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| Sunday, 16 February 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Meegoda awakens to economic resurgence by SUREKHA GALAGODA Meegoda, a village which was once quiet at night, has now awakened. It is sleepless and bustling with trading activity during the night, even on a Poya or mercantile holiday.
The Meegoda Dedicated Economic Centre spanning three acres, was established to facilitate the wholesale trade and export of vegetables, fruits and fish. Its competition with Pettah's Manning Market has resulted in prices of retail goods sliding down. The brainchild of Minister of Rural Economy and Deputy Minister of Finance Bandula Gunawardena, the centre has 85 stalls, four banks and all other infrastructure facilities. Trading commences around 9.00 pm and goes on till 5.00 am the following day, but people start coming as early as 7.00 pm. It gets busier when lorries carrying vegetables, fruit and fish come from Dambulla, Welimada, Nuwara Eliya, Matara and Trincomalee. When the Sunday Observer visited the centre around 9.30 pm, some traders were so busy that they did not even have time to talk to us as "time is money for business". Traders who earlier purchased goods in Colombo were happy as they do not have to waste time travelling to Colombo any more. "There are some teething problems as some goods still do not find their way to Meegoda, but we are optimistic about the future and hopeful that these problems will be solved," they said. The National Savings Bank (NSB) branch at the centre, staffed by seven personnel, is open 24 hours a day. "Our opening day saw a collection of Rs 650 million. We have opened 1,300 accounts so far," said Manager P.D. Piyasena. He said: "Around 150 customers patronise the bank daily. Some come for transactions as late as 12.30 in the night. Traders are more interested in having current accounts as it helps them transfer money from Meegoda to Dambulla, Nuwara Eliya or Welimada. This also protects cash as traders do not have to physically carry it."
The fully-equipped and computerised NSB branch expects to have an Automated Teller Machine during the next few days, he said. Mahinda Ranaweera of Asiri Traders said that though the centre has been established for wholesale trading, there is a big demand for retail trading too. "We did retail trade during the first few days although we were not used to it. Now that has been stopped and the minimum we can sell is 10 kilos." Traders like the arrangement as it saves them time and money. He said: "On an average, we sell around 1,000 kilos per day and are hopeful of increasing it." Ranaweera said they can sell at prices lower than those of Manning Market traders as they have a good relationship with the farmers from whom they buy direct. Ranaweera, who has been selling vegetables since 1980, has another shop at the Dambulla centre. T.H. Shantha, a wholesaler in fish, said: "We sell around 4,000 kilos of fish a day. The centre has eliminated the middleman and there is no congestion like at the St John's Fish Market in Pettah. As we are open at night, people can close their shops and come to do their purchases which saves their time." Fish lorries reach Meegoda from Puttalam, Trincomalee, Tangalle, Gandara and Kudawella. Jayasiri Edirisinghe from Welimada spoke to us while conducting his business. "We get around seven to eight lorries of vegetables and sell a kilo with a profit margin of two rupees. Establishing the centre has brought prices down, not only in village fairs in and around Meegoda, but also at the Manning Market." Sundaram, an importer, said: "Business is improving daily. It is a new area and we are happy with the sales. It is far above our expectations as we did not anticipate much sales. We do not want to sell retail as it will affect traders in and around this area." Anura Kumara, who sells goods at village fairs said: "The goods are cheap and buying from Meegoda has reduced our costs, but we do not still get adequate quantities of some of the items." He was optimistic that this problem will be ironed out soon. Economic Centre Manager Ranjith Nihal Hewawasam said that around 100 lorries come daily to Meegoda. "We are streamlining parking arrangements too. Goods are cheaper in Meegoda since we do not charge for parking. No commission has to be paid to middlemen." He said the Minister is planning to find space along the road to build shops for retailers and affiliate them to the Meegoda Centre so that retail consumers will not be disappointed. |
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