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| Sunday, 23 February 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Oliyamulla draws world's attention by Vimukthi Fernando A few rods and poles covered in poly-sacks. A few clothes - threadbare, lay on a few wooden planks. A cotton saree, shaped into a cradle hangs from a pole supporting the roof. 'Home sweet home'? Nothing could be further from it! But, not for Kaveri, Siva and their six months old daughter struggling to exist at the Kerawalapitiya marshes. A few miles off... Long wooden benches... cardboard boxes, pots, pans and other utensils are the makeshift walls!! Fifteen families huddle in a church hall, at the mercy of the parishioners and well wishers.
Displaced? They are. Refugees? Yes. Victims? Certainly. Not of any natural disaster. Floods, cyclones or landslides. Nor of the war which wracked the country for nearly 19 years. But, of the ravaging effect of party politics which has spread its tentacles throughout Sri Lankan society. While 168 families evicted from the lands at Navaloka Udyana Pura, Oliyamulla, Wattala live vagrant lives under trying and inhuman conditions, after seven months the land stands bare... of use neither to the authorities nor to those youth and children of Navaloka Udyana Pura and vicinity for whom a play ground was to be built there. Their eyes moist with tears speaking of their plight. Memories make them speechless. Faces get contorted in anger and helplessness. "Please do not publish our names" is the plea. No photographs, showing their faces either. The exception is a lone woman at the bogs of Kerawalapitiya. Not only those who were evicted, but their neighbours at Oliyamulla are petrified as well. "Why?" "Ada api katha keruwoth, heta apita monawa weida kiyanda baha. Api punchi minissu" (We do not know what will happen to us tomorrow, if we speak out today. We do not have the clout). A few reluctant volunteers talk at last. "We were among the first settlers who moved in. I can remember the date very well. It was on February 28, 1999, I was informed that I was selected to receive a plot of land. We settled there with an initial loan of Rs. 50,000 at a monthly interest of 20%. Thereafter, we built it up with the money earned by my daughters working at a garment factory. It was a slow process and it was all we had," says a mother of about 60. Tears well up in her eyes as her voice breaks off. "We did not think that such a nasty blow would fall on us. Because, as far as we know, it was carried out legally. The authorities at the time were involved in the allocation. The land was surveyed and at that time about 35 to 40 families were given 3 1/2 p. each. Previously, some families were given 5 p. each," says a young mother. "Some influential people of Oliyamulla asked us to settle forcibly on the banks of the canal. But, we didn't do it," they allege. Instead, they had opted for 'lawful' settlement. And, their settlement was legally accepted. They show their tax payment bills to the local authority, their electricity and water bills. They were not shanties, nor temporary sheds. Theirs were permanent constructions, built of brick and mortar with house numbers allotted by Wattala-Mabola Urban Council. The last batch of settlers were at Oliyamulla for about two to two and a half years, they say. They were the landless and the poor in the vicinity. Second and third generations of Oliyamulla and Thelangapatha residents, and a few families evicted previously from Balahenawatte, better known in the area as 'Laimawatta.' December 31, 2001 brought the news of their doom, they say. That was when they received eviction notices from the Urban Development Authority (UDA). They made several representations to the local authorities and politicians who allocated their land, and stayed where they were, on the assurance that they would not be evicted. And July 11, 2002 was the fateful day that changed their lives. The UDA along with the Wattala-Mabola Urban Council and the police bulldozed 108 houses giving only 3 hours notice, while most of the residents were away at work or on other commitments. "Most of us were left without anything. Our household items, clothes, books, documents and even the meals cooked in the morning were in smithereens." The children returning home from school could not find their houses. "And we could not sit for the scholarship exam," adds a small voice - recalling how their lives were disrupted. At their time of tragedy, the only help they received was from the clergy both Buddhist and Christian who intervened to make representations on their behalf to the Human Rights Commission (HRC), while they lived in temporary shelters on the main road. When the HRC made inquiries and ruled that they be allowed to go back to Oliyamulla they moved in and settled amidst the rubble. But, only to be re-evicted on July 24 and 25, 2002. The UDA, UC and Police chased the residents away, refuting the interim direction of the HRC. "That time, even the cement floor was dug out." And they started on a vagabond life. They moved back to their temporary shacks on the main highway, and later on were offered shelter at the nearby temples - Sudharmaramaya Vihara, Thelangapatha for two weeks and Gangaramaya, Peliyagoda for over a month. Those who had some financial assets moved in with family and friends though they had to undergo the inconvenience of shifting their belongings from one place to another every few weeks. The families tried to re-enter the land on permission of the HRC a second time on September 2, 2002. But, the police intervened, threatening to arrest anyone entering the area. The local authorities and politicians assured the families that they be allocated land from a site down Greenway Terrace, adjoining Vijaya Kumaranatunga play ground at Kerawalapitiya Wattala. "Some of us were taken there and shown a plot of land being filled up, as the place to be allotted. Thereafter, we hired a lorry and brought all our belongings left at the Gangaramaya temple," says the person who borrowed Rs. 1,000 from a money lender for the task. But, they were in for another shock. "Once we reached the plot of land with our belongings, we were informed that it was private property filled up by a businessman. Some families evicted from Balahenawatte have settled on one side of this plot and we were to occupy the swamp on the other side. It is a place infested with serpents and other swamp animals. The conditions are unhygienic and inhuman. No drinking water and no sanitary facilities. However, with all the difficulties we stayed there for one month. We did not have any option. But, with the rain and floods it was impossible. And the church was kind to allow us to stay for the past 4 months." Seven months after the disaster, 15 families with 25 children including 12 under 5 years of age stay at a small church hall. One family with a six month old baby lives in dire conditions at the marshes in Kerawalapitiya. These people, who do not own a square inch of land are the poorest of the poor. The day labourers and casual workers who do not have any finances to start life anew - who have to keep on labouring for their daily wages merely to exist. They are those who do not have any political affiliation. Who would support any faction that promises to ease their problems. "At the local government elections, it was the new appointees we supported," they explain. "We walked behind Mr........ for hours, held placards and shouted in processions. Sometimes leaving our children alone and hungry in temporary shelters. We had to," say the mothers. "...... mahattaya apata le walin athsan karala oppu denawa kiyuwa" (Mr..... said that he would sign our deeds with his own blood !) Their cry for justice has fallen on deaf ears, for it has been the law makers and the law keepers who have meted out injustice to this constituency. And now, the local and political authorities try to deprive them of the little assurance they received from the legal system as well. They want these families to withdraw the fundamental rights case they filed against the Police and the UDA, supported by the Inter Religious Peace Foundation and the Centre for Society and Religion. "They threaten that we have to withdraw the case, to be provided with amenities to better our living conditions," they allege. "When we complained to minister ...., on a recent visit to church, he also wanted the case withdrawn. But, how can we believe them any more? The case is our only security," they say. "We are prepared to go anywhere in Sri Lanka, if we are provided with suitable plots of land." Their plea is only for a place to settle down, to live respectably, in human conditions. Isn't it time to open our ears to their cry? |
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