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| Sunday, 24 April 2005 |
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Colombo's stinking nightmare It stinks. The 36 million rupee stench of the garbage row emanating from the air-conditioned discussion rooms of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and the Courts, is spreading swiftly throughout the country.
By Vimukthi Fernando and Rikaza Hassan "How on earth are we going to do this (disposal of garbage) and for how long?" questions Mrs. Pallewela, a resident of the Bambalapitiya Government Flats. It was only last Sunday (April 17) that the Colombo Mayor appealed to the Colombo citizenry to dispose of their garbage at their own premises, burying or burning them. The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) has been facing the problem of disposing 650 to 700 metric tonnes of waste per day since March 31, when the contractor for waste disposal, Burns Trading Company closed the gates of their Bloemendhal dumping site to CMC's waste trucks. The situation turned worse with the Sinhala and Hindu new year holidays, when the garbage was not even collected properly due to shortage of staff, as many had taken leave to celebrate the new year. The problem arose due to the unsatisfactory performance of Burns Trading since September 2004, says Colombo Municipal Commissioner, Dr. Jayantha Liyanage who claims that though the company has a good plan for garbage disposal and recycling, including a fully fledged compost plant at Sedawatte, due to an internal dispute, the quality of performance suffered. He however declined to give details, since the issue is now in Courts.
Meanwhile, the CMC has filed a case against the Company to continue garbage disposal, but, without payment. However, at the last hearing, the court ruled out the possibility of garbage disposal without payment. Then, we decided not to accept garbage for disposal. We have been the silent partners in keeping Colombo city clean. If we are paid our dues (Rs. 36 million for four months), we are ready to open the gates immediately," he says. The company had invested Rs. 800 Million in its Sedawatte compost plant, which was run at under-capacity levels, due to breaches of the agreement by the CMC. It had made other investments to improve solid waste management, and needs to meet its running costs as well, he says. Meanwhile, a company press release accepting that both parties have defaulted the contract claims that all efforts of settlement had failed, "due to the behaviour of one official of the CMC who has been influenced by certain outsiders with vested interests, even though similar situations which arose on previous occasions were settled amicably. The action of the said officer and higher authorities of the CMC with an ulterior motive, has resulted in making this crisis a major issue, which otherwise could have been settled amicably," it alleges. The Municipal Commissioner claims that the payment was stopped due to the need for immediate action arising from reasons that cannot be disclosed. Further, the dues are much less, according to his calculations. The company is paid at the rate of Rs. 550/= per MT for disposal of about 650 to 700 MTs of garbage daily. However, after fines for defaulting the payable amount is not Rs. 36 million but only Rs. 13 million, he claims. While the parties wrangle out money issues, garbage has become a mounting problem. The situation is a real mess, says Deputy Mayor Azath Salley. It seems to be escalating with the CMC being brought to books by the Central Environment Authority (CEA) as well. The CEA is currently in the process of taking legal action against the CMC for not adhering to the provisions set out in CEA directives and guidelines for efficient and environment friendly disposal of garbage, the Sunday Observer learns. It is time to seek a lasting solution, on a national level, says Salley and proposes garbage fills to be converted into gasoline, fertilizer and electricity in an effort to recycle and re-use. But, intervention of the national government or the Provincial Council by way of providing land as garbage fills is essential for the CMC, he adds. Unavailability of land has become a major problem for the CMC, where garbage disposal is concerned. However, the CMC will dump its garbage at Madampitiya and Wattala sites, until the court case is over, says the Municipal Commissioner. The CMC spends Rs. 34 to 36 Million monthly for its privatised garbage collection and disposal programme. However, much of this money could be saved, if the local authorities handle the garbage collection and disposal themselves, says Dr. Ajantha Perera, renowned environmental activist and a pioneer campaigner in safe disposal and recycling of solid waste. The crux of the problem lies in the fact that local authorities with no knowledge of the subject are blindly following the advice of 'foreign' donors and privatising garbage collection and disposal operations. The problem, common to South and East Asian countries is rooted in World Bank advisories. Privatisation is welcomed by decision making officers in air-conditioned rooms waiting for an opportunity to line their pockets, she claims. "Privatisation is not how you are supposed to be running a country. My advice is "do not privatise." The local authorities and officers must take the responsibility. Appoint expert advisory committees. Recruit suitable persons if manpower is not enough. Introduce a recycling program with proper infra-structure. It is very easy, all you have to do is to go back to Madampitiya or Sedawatte and start a simple compost plant taking the examples of the successful plants in Vavuniya and Udunuwara Pradeshiya Sabhas. I have volunteered to help the CMC out of this crisis," says Dr. Perera. Her intentions though good may also get submerged in the pool of ideas that seems to be held by the different officials in authoritative and decision making positions in the CMC, with incinerators, compost plants and landfills coming into the foray of opportunities. Furthermore, if the allegations of 'vested interests' are true, low cost options proposed by experts may never see the light of day. In such a context what are the prospects of the tax-payers? And as Ms. Pallewela of the Bambalapitiya Government Flats questions, "How on earth and for how long?" are the people to suffer? It is imperative that policy guidelines be established as well as implemented by a central authority. If not, the day Colombo and other towns get covered in its own garbage mounds would not be that far. **** Residents say... For the past few months, domestic waste has not been adequately collected from the city of Colombo. The situation turned worse, or rather smellier and unhealthier last week with everyone including garbage collectors having taken the week off for the Avurudu celebrations. As the CMC, already in a legal wrangle with the CEA and now having suspended its contract with Burns Trading Company for poor performance, it is the residents who are forced to suffer the inhumanity of coexisting with their own domestic waste. The Sunday Observer spoke to a few residents within the city limits of Colombo. Mrs. Paleel, a resident of the National Housings' Maligawatte Flats says that they are faced with disposing not only their own domestic refuse but also that of the rest of the building as all the garbage that is dumped through the garbage chutes on the upper floors ultimately end up on their level. As the Mayor of Colombo has asked residents to bury their garbage, she says they will end up having to bury the waste of the entire building if they are to comply with the Mayor's request. Since of late "the situation has only worsened. With the heavy rains in the last few days the drains are all blocked, as people have cemented them so as to put up houses on them and the whole water gets mixed up with the heaps of garbage to give an awful stench. The Municipal Council is not taking care of anything properly. I have no idea what to do." Another resident Mrs. Pallewela of the Bambalapitiya Government Flats when asked about the Mayor's request says, "How on earth are we going to do this and for how long? Already we pay a garbage collector to come and collect our garbage as the Municipal Council does not send its collectors to dispose of our garbage." Mr. Gomez of the housing scheme on Ratnam Road says that the site where they dump their garbage is overflowing with garbage as all the residents are forced to dump their domestic waste here. He says "the stench is unbearable as they do not collect garbage very often. We have a horrible time dealing with the flies." Serpentine Road, Borella is another place hard hit by the garbage fiasco. Mrs. Kamani, was quite resigned to her fate. At the time of speaking they still did not have their garbage disposed of since the Avurudu week but expected them "in a day or two." Mr. Wijemanna also of the same area is quite angered by the inefficiency of the Municipal Council and says that garbage "provides ample breeding ground for parasites that cause disease and gives a bad odour, usually we only have our garbage collected about twice a week, but now it's gone well pass that." |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Reeking unbearably at its roots, with allegations of lack of knowledge,
disregard of local expertise and simple methods of disposal, inefficiency
and private and vested interests of officials, the problem has made Colombo
residents suffer since March 31, 2005 while the CMC and Burns Trading
Company (responsible for garbage disposal), slug it out in the courts. 
A spokesperson from Burns Trading Company, says that the CMC stopped
payment for the services rendered due to unknown reasons. "The company was
trying to come to an amicable settlement before an arbitrator in keeping
with the agreement. 
