To support city beautification program, tackle garbage issue and resettlement plan:

People must cooperate with Govt - Colombo Mayor M.J.M. Muzammil

By Ranil Wijayapala

Colombo, being the commercial capital of Sri Lanka gets a very important place in the country and all the issues confronted by the city become almost national issues. Therefore, administering the city as the Mayor of Colombo is considered a very prestigious as well as challenging task for any person. M.J.M. Muzammil has now got that task before him, after a tough challenge for the position from the government side.

After completing more than one year in the office of Colombo Mayor M.J.M. Muzammil says that he was not elected to confront the Government, but to work for the betterment of the citizens of Colombo.

Therefore, cooperating with the Government is a key element in serving the people in the city, Muzammil says in an interview with the Sunday Observer. He also emphasises the fact that the people need to trust the government and cooperate in its efforts to develop the city of Colombo.

Following are excerpts of the interview the Sunday Observer had with Colombo Mayor M.J.M. Muzammil.

Q: You have completed one year as the Mayor of Colombo. What were you expected to do for the city as the Mayor and how far have you proceeded within this period?

A: We have just completed one year. I feel during this one year we have achieved a fairly reasonable task.

The Council has been without an elected Mayor for two and half years and the system has not been placed towards the people. Now there is a Council working with the people, there are institutions committed for the development of the city. We see during the past one year the city development program has enhanced.

Q: What are the things that you could do for the betterment of the city?

A: Let’s start with the beautification program. It was initiated by the Urban Development Authority on the initiative of Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and that was continued uninterrupted. Even though we were elected from an Opposition party, on the city beautification programs we cooperated with the Urban Development Authority, the Environmental Police and other institutions.

The Municipal Council is working closely without taking a political ideology, because we have to work for the betterment of the people and for the betterment of the city. The city has been improved.

The city does not belong only to the people of Colombo. It belongs to the entire country. If this city is developed it will be good for tourism, investors and all the other sectors; because visitors get their first impression about the country from the city of Colombo. It is the nucleus of the entire country. Everyone has to work hand in hand for the development of the city. So we have laid a very strong foundation during this one year to achieve this target.

Q: There was a tough campaign from the government side and from the UNP for the Mayoralty of Colombo. Once you became the Mayor of Colombo many people thought that you may go against the agenda of the government and engage in a sort of confrontational type of administration in the Colombo city. Now we see you are cooperating with the Government. Is this due to your agenda also being similar to the agenda of the government or whether you are complying with the government agenda for the city?

A: I don’t understand the word confrontation. What is there to confront? I feel confrontation at election. We ran election and I represented my party as the Mayoral candidate. Our leader and my party had the faith and confidence to give me the nomination and we won the election. It is not that I won, the party won. So, that does not mean I am elected to confront the government. I am elected to work for the people. If I don’t get the support of the Government, if I do not get the support of the Urban Development Authority, the Land Reclamation and Development Cooperation Board, the Municipal Council cannot run. We have to understand that. It is a compromise for the betterment of the people, the betterment of the country.

Q: As a political party you were critical about the removal of the shanties, unauthorised structures from the Colombo city and the way the people were resettled. Are you maintaining the same stance on these issues or do you have separate plan to address this issue?

A: That is a very understood concept. We were very firm in our commitment to the people that traditionally the people have been living in the city, and they cannot be forcefully removed from their places.

So my greatest happiness is that the government also understands this situation. Because the poor people were living in gardens, in shanties and they have been living there for years and years.

Their livelihood is in that area. Their children are schooling in that area. So it is difficult for them to move out from the city to find their livelihood. Building 60,000 houses is not an easy task for the CMC alone.

It is the responsibility of the government and especially the Urban Development Authority is making a serious effort to use even the private sector participation to build houses and settle these people in those areas.

The people must trust the government and people also must cooperate with the government in their efforts. There may short-term unhappiness, doubts. But when there is a commitment that they will be given decent houses to live, they should cooperate with the government. That cooperation is still not coming up from the people. So I am sure that the people also must understand this. There are a few elements who are trying to disturb this. We must make them understand that.

I am sure that there are some people living in shanties in valuable lands. There are people who have built houses in drainage lines and in pavements. They are living in very unhygienic conditions. Some of the storm water lines and some of the sewerage lines all pour in one rain.

This is a very serious health hazard. If we look at Singapore, South Korea or Malaysia, people who have been living in shanties were cleared after constructing high-rise buildings. But for a short while they may have to live in temporary shelters until houses are built.

The Government in principle has agreed that these people will be given reasonable housing facilities in their own areas where they live. That is the challenge we have. We may be able to reclaim the valuable lands for further development. I am sure we can achieve that target.

Q: So what is the CMC action to ensure that these people are living within the city?

A: Defence Secretary has given a firm commitment that they are building houses within the limits of Colombo. They are building about 10,000 houses. They need lands. So we are extending our support to put up temporary transfer units. In Madampitiya they are building 400 to 500 temporary houses in one of our lands.

That is for the people to be housed temporarily. When the people are removed from their houses they will be kept in these transit houses and later will be resettled after the houses are completed. This is the cycle. We are also extending our support to ensure that these people are kept in the city until new houses are built.

Q: Can you give an outline how many people are to be shifted from their houses to facilitate the ongoing development projects?

A: It is a huge task. We have 1,600 garden cities in the Colombo city. Rome was not built in one day, goes a saying. If we want to clear up all these shanties we need at least 60,000 housing units. We have lands to do build them new houses within the city.

Q: There are fears that when constructing these high rises to resettle the people living in these settlements the same environment that prevail in those resettlements will be create.

A: At present these people are living in spaces of 150 square feet. Sometimes two families live in a 300-square foot housing unit. We are giving 400 square feet for one unit.

They will be receiving 400 square feet house. People have to understand this situation. We are not shifting the people who are living in luxury houses. If you walk around you will see they have no toilets; they are using common toilets. Here, every house will have 400 square feet and there will be two bedrooms, kitchen a visiting area and a toilet. They are getting much better facilities than what they are having now.

Q: What about the people who are losing their livelihood with the removal of vendors engaged in business in pavements and other unauthorised structures?

A: There are certain areas where people are living in pavements and engaged in businesses. What we have to understand is that we have to respect the pedestrians. People must have enough room to walk on the pavements. We have to find alternative places for them to do their trading. It is a thing that we have to work in both ways.

We can’t destroy someone’s livelihood. An alternative location has to be found to carry out their livelihood. At the same time we have to see that the people walking on the pavements are safe.

A lot of people have been killed after walking on the streets. We have to respect people’s right to live. So the pavements are important. It is up to the UDA to provide them alternative places to engage.

Q: The issue of garbage has become serious in the Colombo city with the non-availability of dumping sites and various other reasons. How is the CMC going to tackle this matter?

A: Garbage has been a serious problem in the Colombo city and we have been spending around Rs. 1.2 billion for that purpose. But still it has not solved the problem. That is only to keep the city clean right throughout the year. It is under strict supervision of the Environment Police.

We are getting very good cooperation from the Police to make sure that people are not throwing dustbins or garbage on to the road. Now we are going to launch a campaign for the people to sortout garbage. That is the first important step in managing the garbage in the city. We should make sure that the garbage we collect are sorted out.

That is the modern technique. About 20 percent of our garbage could be recycled. We are going to introduce to the households the type of bins that they will be able to sort out the garbage. Through that we will reduce about 20 percent of our garbage that is going into our dumping grounds.

For a day we are handling about 750 metric tonnes of garbage. If we can sort out 20 percent that means we are reducing 20 percent of garbage not going to dumping yards. Because the dumping yards and the land fill sites are getting filled up.

I am thankful to the UDA, Land Reclamation and Development Corporation and especially the Defence Secretary for helping us solve this issue.

However, the garbage topic is not only confined to the Colombo Municipality. It is an issue of a whole country. Garbage collected in Colombo is not only from the garbage of the people who are living in the city.

The city is patronised by about 650,000 people who are living in the city of Colombo, at the same time about 450,000 to 500,000 people come and go daily. There are traders who are coming to Colombo and do their businesses in the Colombo city. We are getting vegetables and other trading materials coming from other parts of the country daily.

Therefore, this is a national issue and not a problem of Colombo Municipality alone. The garbage coming out of the Port, hotels, hospitals have to be cleaned by us. So we are catering to the whole country. I am collecting the garbage from all parts of the country.

Q: Is CMC getting alternative places as dumping grounds or are you having alternative solutions to tackle this issue?

A: We are looking at how to recycle this garbage and to get a final product.

A lot of people are coming out with various proposals and we are looking at how this garbage can be turned into energy or fertiliser.

We are in the modern age and garbage is being turned into various sources but at a heavy cost, which has to be looked at from the national budget.