Mitigating Colombo's widening disparities

By Afreeha Jawad

Ever heard of Colombo and the other Colombo? To bring in fusion between both is Oxonian Susil Sirivardana - this time pitching his tent in the slums. Incidentally Sirivardana is among the remaining few of Sri Lanka's intellectuals whose commitment to a task needs no explanation nor emphasis.

Taking the interview board by storm on his return from Oxford Sirivardana displayed his intellectuality in no small measure when he offered his services to teach in a remote school in far away Wanni which to mediocre minds was no match for all his academic attainment. Much water has flowed under the bridge yet his commitment to the underclass has not ceased to be his concern. Hence his focus on Colombo's slum dweller.

Recalling this endeavour's initial stages Sirivardana recalled how one time Colombo's Mayor Prasanna Gunawardena in 2002 got the Municipal Council to vote in an annual Rs. 25 million upto 2005 to implement the partnership promotion programme to improve urban poverty.

"The thinking was sound," recalled Sirivardana and continued, "but there were huge problems in translating it into action what with an unwilling CMC bureaucracy.

So, the PPP was a glorious failure. Ironically, the Praja that came out of it comprising ten individuals - all from the tenements itself is breaking ground and is catching on fast in some of Colombo's slums in Borella, Seevalipura, Dematagoda, Narahenpita, Maradana where a greater concentration of slum dwellers are found. Leaving one to understand the importance of the theory of subsidiarily, when the bulwork of state machinery could lead to futility it is the grassroots that could effectively churn the wheel of progress for the problem confronts only those deposited out there and not the bureaucracy. We know only too well how state bureaucracy works in 'public good' which is why perhaps we have reached failed state level.

This attempt of Praja is not to totally overcome the disparity between Colombo and the other which certainly is a utopian task. Yet a structural change in Colombo is possible to mitigate the Us/ them dichotomy.

So for three months the Praja and Sirivardana met once a week at the mayor's office each for 3 hours. It was a case of investigation, inquiry, collective study and analysis. The Praja members even said "well it's our own problem and we will work on it."

Praja, informs Sirivardana is based on the Ghandian Anthyodaya Philosophy - all very pro urban poor, Apolitical in party terms but very political in terms of the poor.

To those that live in a world of make believe Sirivardana sends out a warning signal. In the absence of magnanimity, at least in self interest the elite he believes must change their attitude. For instance if dengue or some other infectious disease comes down on the slums, it will definitely affect all levels of society. The mosquito or germ will not differentiate between rich and poor.

So there is this great need to uplift the urban poor.

"Besides areas of hygiene, the urban poor need to be economically elevated. Star class restaurants and hotels could lend a helping hand in all this. Otherwise come food riots, it is the poor that will storm into these places and start looting like what happens in Calcutta." It is his view that the urban poor could be taught the finer points in food production. "The constant blame hurled at them over uncleanliness will not hold for long should food riots come," he said.

Likewise elite corporate ventures could come in and facilitate them in self employment and recreational facilities.

So, for the general social expressions of "Oh! these fellows are all crooks, drug addicts, tenements are hell holes very unclean. These you know are Mudukku People and should be avoided like the plague" - these then would not carry us anywhere. Sure enough it will all boomerang on all of us," he added.

Observable is the will on the part of the urban poor to come out of their fallen state. They in fact are into Middle class fashion, carry cell phones and some slum areas even have beauty parlours. With monies coming off stints in the Middle east they've gone in for luxury items like fridges and washing machines. Most of them are facilitated with water and electricity - their only need being a little support which could come only from the elite class to enable them to hold their own.

What's more there is constant interaction between this informal and formal Colombo. The plumbers, electricians, masons and the like come from here and serve the elite who in turn should have the moral conscience to improve their living standards. So the need for business, political, academic and religious elite to step in and work towards this deprived segment is very much the hour's need." Praja members present at the interview detailing their work said, "We've done quite a lot of work. Anti filaria drugs were distributed, they were also taught to separate solid waste from the rest, disaster management, personal hygiene, human rights, environmental upkeep." An anti-drugs campaign was also conducted in collaboration with VOICE, Sarvodaya, Praja and the Dangerous Drugs Control Board.

Sirivardana also informed of the slum community's faith in Praja in the absence of the mistrust of counsellors, NGOs, academics, police and so on because of Praja's commitment and will into the slum dweller's well being. Praja members are of them which has led to the cementing of mutual trust and faith.