Dehiwala-Mt. Lavinia will be the best MC - Dhanasiri Amarathunga

By Ranil WIJAYAPALA

Dhanasiri Amarathunga a one-time UNP strongman who made Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia MC electorate victorious for the UNP, proved this time the people of Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia are always with him whether he is in the UNP or the UPFA. This time he made the UPFA victorious at the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council ending the ten-year administration of the UNP.

He obtained 25,768 preferential votes from the UPFA list becoming the first candidate exceeded the 20,000 preferential votes from Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia MC election to become the Mayor of Sri Lanka's second largest Municipal Council.

He says barring arrack and posters in his campaign was the major success behind his victory. He has already initiated work in the MC to get it freed from rats and white ants as it has been neglected for years.

In an interview with the Sunday Observer the newly elected Mayor Amarathunga says that he needs one year to make Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia a beautiful city after implementing his program to make it the best Municipal Council in the Western Province and also in the entire country.

Following are excerpts of the interview.

Q: The UPFA had a comfortable victory at the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council this time. How do you see this victory secured by the UPFA team led by you ?

A: It is after ten years that the UPFA won Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council after ten years tenure of the UNP. It was me who made the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia MC which was earlier run by the People's Alliance taken under the UNP as a former UNPer. It was UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe's foolish decision to appoint Sunethra Ranasinghe as the Mayor of the Council that compelled me to join hands with President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Today, I made the UPFA also victorious at Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia MC after ten years and also became the Mayor of Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia MC from the UPFA. This is a great achievement for me personally and also for the UPFA under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Q: You were able to obtain highest number of preferential votes among the UPFA candidates ?

A: As a UPFA candidate I am the one who obtained the highest number of preferential votes to become a Mayor. As PS Chairman Prasanna Solangaarachchi obtained the highest number of preferential votes. Here I was the team leader of the UPFA though some others also claimed that they are team leaders. People voted me because they wanted a person with a backbone.

They also need their area leader also like their national leader President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

He is the number one leader of this country with a backbone. So people also look at me in the same angle and voted me to become the Mayor because I was the only ex-Mayor and the SLFP organizer in the UPFA list. Some people tried to sling mud at me saying that I have obtained money from the Muslim people to allow to have Mosques. But all those efforts become futile as people refused all those mud slinging campaigns and voted me to become the Mayor.

The success behind my victory is due to visits to 24,000 houses and my wife's visits to 10,000 houses. We had pocket meetings and did not sling mud at people when others were slinging mud at me. We had a campaign sans posters, arrack and mud slinging. That was the success behind my victory.

I am the only person twice elected as the Mayor in Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia and the person who had obtained highest preferential votes.

Q: What is your next step in political life ?

A: Any person who enters politics have a dream of entering Parliament. I also has the same dream. When I was successful in Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia when I a was UNPer, that was the reason for Ranil Wickremsinghe to take political revenge from me. He cannot tolerate any person becoming successful in their political career.

That was why he treated a person like me who had served the UNP for 20 years spending millions of money to the party so badly. Sunethra Ranasinghe was the UNP organiser and she was scared that I would enter parliament from Dehiwala. That was why they treated me like that. Now my path is clear and I will proceed on that path like any other politician. I do politics to serve the people and I should go to the proper place to do that service to the people.

Q: There is a complaint that state power and resources were used to gain the victory for the UPFA at the LG election.

A: There is no such incident reported in Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. We knew that we were winning the election. So we did not want to spoil our victory.

There is not a single complaint about election violations and clashes in Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. As the UPFA team leader I decided to get rid of posters and arrack from our campaign. We put up only cutouts. I knew they were the two key factors leading to clashes among supporters. Therefore, we avoided both posters and arrack in our election campaign. Therefore, I can firmly say that we have never used state machinery or resources for our campaign.

Q: Now that you have become the Mayor of Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia MC, what is your plan for the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia?

A: One of the biggest issue in this area is the garbage problem. I have to give priority for that issue. By the time I handed over the Mayoralty to Sunethra Ranasinghe we used to collect garbage from households every other day and from business places everyday. Now garbage is collected from households once a week and from the business places once in two days. We need to streamline this process again. I need one or one and half months because the machinery regarding this has been completely disrupted. Officials are working at different places. Many of them have been politically victimised. No one can say that we cannot solve the garbage problem because we did it earlier and made Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia the best MC in the Western Province for two consecutive years under my Mayoralty. We can make Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia MC the best Municipal Council in the country. I will do it. President Mahinda Rajapaksa instructed Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister to conduct a competition among LG bodies. I am sure I will be able to make Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia the best MC in that competition.

Q: A few days back you said that Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia MC is filled with white ants and rats. What do you exactly mean by it ?

A: Actually the MC building is filled with white ants and rats.

The entire MC Council has been neglected for the past few years and when I went there recently on the request of Municipal Commissioner to find out the situation there I saw the entire chamber where monthly meetings are held completely infected with rats and white ants. The curtains there are in no proper conditions and Mayor's office has also been in bad shape. Even the table cloth of the Mayor's office has been damaged by white ants and rats. I instructed them to clean the entire building and refurbish to make it a place to move about.

Q: It means the former administration has neglected even the MC building?

A: When I was the Mayor such a situation was not there. It was during the past few years that they allowed rats and ants to mark the Municipality. I am going to completely change this situation and create a Municipality free of rats and ants. I have already taken steps in this regard.

Q: But some people say that you are making these changes for personal comfort as the new Mayor ?

A: There is nothing like that. I need no personal comfort there because I am ex-Mayor of this MC. Therefore no one can teach me about this. At the same time people in the area, rate payers are visiting this council's building on daily basis seeking our services. When they visit that place it should be a pleasant place for them. As a Mayor and also in personal life I am maintaining a dignified position in the society. People look at me as the first citizen of the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia MC area. Therefore, the Mayor's Office and his room has to be there as the room of the first citizen of the area.

I do not care how the former Mayor has worked there and maintained the place. But for me, I need the place as I wish and also for the convenience of the people visiting there. We have not wasted money. What we have done is to replace what have been damaged and all that has been done with the approval of the Local Government Commissioner. I have not taken anything home.

What we have done is there in the MC. We painted the building and replaced the curtains and carpets which are more than twelve years old. The MC building is stinking. I do not need a stinking Council. What I need is a clean Council building before we clean the other areas. People gave me the highest number of preferential votes because they knew that I am a clean man despite the efforts by others to sling mud at me.

Q: There was a big tussle among the UPFA candidates to become the Mayor. How you are going to work with them as a team ?

A: There is no problem among us. I summoned all the UPFA Members and had a meeting. I told them that election is over now and we should work together as one. From now onwards I will act as the Mayor, Kesaralal Gunasekara as the Deputy Mayor and the others as UPFA Members and we will all march along on one path.

There is no dispute among us. President Mahinda Rajapaksa also instructed us to work as a team and specifically said that we all must work or otherwise step down giving that place to a person who can work. Therefore we are ready to work as a team.

Q: You mentioned that you had problems with former Mayor Sunethra Ranasinghe. So how are you going to interact with the Opposition when you function as the Mayor ?

A: There is no speciality with the Opposition. They are just Members of the Council. With Sunethra Ranasinghe I have only a political dispute. When she was the Mayor she used to harass me.

I tolerated for twenty years and at last decided to leave the party and join the UPFA.

More than three quarter of UNPers came with me. Without the support of the UNPers and the Muslim it is impossible to win Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. I am one who could gain the support of them all. Sunethra Ranasinghe this time obtained 15,000 votes. I was there in the UNP under her and obtained more than 25,000 votes. She should be shameful about it because she was nominated as the Mayoral candidate. But we just contested to become Mayor.

Q: When all the Municipal Councils are won by the UPFA the Colombo Municipal Council has been won by the UNP. Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that the victory of the UNP at the CMC is a start of a new journey for the UNP. As a former UNPer how do you see this situation ?

A: That is the usual practice of the UNP leader. After every defeat at elections he always says that the party should take a new start learning a lesson from the defeat.

At the next election also he gets the same result. What is he doing at all elections is to aluth vidiyata nana eka (experience another defeat in a new way) He could not increase UNP's vote base and could not win any election.

The UNP will never win. But one thing is sure none of these UNPers will leave President Rajapaksa, because he is a very good leader. For us, those who join him from the UNP, Mahinda Rajapaksa is important than he is important to SLFPers, because we were there in the UNP with a weak leader. We tried to give him a boost but it was useless. When we joined the UPFA we saw the difference between the two leaders. Therefore, he is more important to us.

The President also loves us very much because the UNP is left with only a handful of people. At this election also those who have obtained the highest number of the votes are those who have joined the SLFP from the UNP. But today we are strong UNPers. From head to foot we are SLFPers. For us President Rajapaksa is our leader and he is like a father to us and gives us strength. So no one will leave him and UNP will not be able to win an election as long as Mahinda Rajapaksa is there.

Q: When all the Municipal Councils were won by the UPFA, Colombo MC was won by the UNP. Don't you think it as a hindrance for all the cities to go on one path ?

A: The CMC is also comes under the Western Provincial Council. Chief Minister Prasanna Ranathunga is our boss. The Western Provincial Council is run by the UPFA.

The central government is run by the UPFA and the Local Government Ministry is also with the Government. Therefore, whoever is in charge of the Council it is being handled by the Provincial Council. On the other hand Muzammil is also not foolish.

He knows how to handle things. Within another one or two months he will also work with us. Not politically but in the administration. Because, he will have to decide whether to go home after dancing to the tune of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe or to do a service to the country after working with the President and the Government. He will have to take that decision.

He will also have a political future if he also contributes to the Government's effort to the make Sri Lanka the miracle of Asia. Otherwise he will lose his political future also.

He does not have any problem by doing so as many city development programs are initiated by the Urban Development Authority which is under Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Q: How committed are you to fulfil the promises you have given to the people prior to the election after becoming Mayor?

A: I have not given false promises to the people. Among the promises we have given is the solving of the garbage problem, developing road network, eradicating mosquito menace and a few other things.

We also promised to give some relief for the three-wheel operators and also for the fishermen. We will also take steps to improve sports activities. These things can be done through the Municipal Council and we are committed to fulfil those promises. This is a full time job and I am ready to fulfil all the promises given to the people.

Q: Prior to the election you said that you will have a separate program to resettle the illegal settlers in Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. When are you going to initiate this program?

A: President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that by January next year programs will be initiated to resettle the illegal settlers. We are not going to evict them from their places.

What we are going to do is to provide them alternative places adjoining their villages. For fishermen we are going to provide multi storeyed buildings closer to the sea. We have already selected plots of land in Attidiya area for housing schemes. We will have to remove the illegal settlers by either side of the canals as we need space for the development of these canals.

Q: With the program you have presented for the development of Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, how long do you need to implement these programs and make Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia a beautiful city ?

A: I need one year's period for this. I need to work with the President, the Government, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa to develop this area.

We need to work with Basil Rajapaksa to improve the infrastructure facilities in the city while Gotabaya Rajapaksa is providing us programs to beautify the city. We need to develop and beautify the city after mixing all these programs together. We are going to beautify the beach area after removing all the illegal settlers enabling the people to relax in the beaches. If we can manage all these programs we can improve the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia within another one years period.