Badulla Municipal Council:

People need a transparent MC - UNP Mayoral candidate

The Sunday Observer interviewed the leader of the Opposition of the United National Party (UNP) who will contest the Badulla Municipal Council for the Mayoral post at the forthcoming Municipal Elections. He is none other than the former Mayor M.D.A. Hemachandra who held the Mayor's post for a period of 16 years from 1991 to 2006. We inquired from him about the contribution he made to the Badulla town during his tenure of office as the Mayor of Badulla. He said that he made a tremendous contribution to the Badulla town. He started his dialogue by saying that Senanayake Park that stretched for three quarter of a mile was packed with unauthorised vendors obstructing the pathway and preventing the movement of people from using the passage.

"It was on my initiative that the unauthorised structures were demolished and the park was restored to its pristine glory." He said when he was elected as the Mayor in 1991 there was a row of huts at the junction near the Badulla General hospital.

During that period the vendors had even invaded the bus stand and put up unauthorised stalls. As a result the bus stand had to be moved further towards the railway station road causing inconvenience to the public. Even motorists found it difficult to drive on the post-office road as vendors had occupied space on either side of the road creating congestion.

He said the same fate befell on the Railway station road and he used his official capacity to evict squatters and unauthorised traders and found them land elsewhere. "Thereafter through the Presidential Mobile Service we acquired a land opposite the Badulla Post Office and settled the traders there. But unfortunately a building could not be put up there due to various other constraints. However, we laid the foundation stone for the building, " he said.

Asked what the People of Badulla expect from the new Mayor who will assume office after the 8th of October, Hemachandra said people expect a transparent Municipal Council more than anything else. They will expect the new Mayor to be people-friendly. People should also be able to approach him to air their grievances. He said, people do not vote for a particular party at Municipal Elections unlike at the General Elections people vote for a person of their choice, be it a friend or someone else whom they trust and a person who will help them to get a job. That's the usual pattern followed at a Municipal Elections, he said.

The former Mayor lashed out at the Compost Project launched by the UPFA administration and said it was an unsuccessful project. He said when he was the Mayor he had a plan to set up a compost plant at a land that belonged to the Wildlife Department at the 5th mile post on the Badulla-Mahiyangana road.

We were allocated a 5-acre plot for this purpose on a Court order. But what happened was the Compost Project was set adjacent to the Park on one side and the Playground, the Badulupitiya tenements, Hanwella, Hindagoda, Gangaboda areas on the other side causing an unbearable stench. Even people who visit the historic Muthiyangana temple cannot bear the awful stench that emanates from the compost project in the evening. More than six million rupees was spent on the project which was a wastage of public funds. "People have complained to me when I visit their homes. They have shown their bitterness ," he said.

Referring to the road network when he was the Mayor, he said 14 roads were carpeted with funds from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Madapathana, Alugolla road were developed according to a plan.

He said roads were developed today devoid of a plan. A drainage system wasn't incorporated when roads are constructed today.

The present administration had even defaulted the loan arrears that we obtained from the Asian Development Bank, he said.

The former Mayor even took pride in saying that he opened 23 Pre-Schools in the villages and a crematorium in the Badulla town.