At the helm:

The 'busiest bee' in Colombo!

by Sajitha PREMATUNGE

When you smell it you wrinkle your nose and look around for the source, only to see a garbage truck. You hold your breath and hope to god that it will pass by before you run out of air. But did you ever think how much work goes into garbage collection, among other matters handled by the Municipal Council of Colombo? It employs a staggering 7,400 people and is still under staffed. "There are 4000 vacancies, forcing us to out-source on garbage collection", said Bhadrani Jayawardane, Commissioner, Municipal Council of Colombo.

"The Municipal Council has the authority to make necessary resolutions for the development of the city." And the administration of Municipal Council of Colombo has 16 departments to carry them out headed by the Municipal Secretary, Treasurer, Assessor, Legal Officer, Director Training and Development, Chief Procurement Manager, Chief Medical Officer Public, Chief Medical Officer Curative, Chief Medical Officer Ayurvedic, Chief Veterinary Surgeon, Municipal Engineer, Chief Fire Officer, Chief Librarian, Director Playgrounds and Recreation and Charity Commissioner.

The Chief Administrative Officer is the Commissioner, while there are three Deputy Municipal Commissioners - engineering services, administrations and professional services. The municipal secretary is in charge of recruitment and promotions while the legal department is headed by a qualified lawyer. The Municipal Councils biggest Department is its legal office. With more than six directors at a time - director solid waste, drainage, development, works, environment and workshop.

The Chief Medical officer (Public) deals with the general health issues and activities such as prevention work, working with community based organizations, clinical services, maternity services and pest control such as fogging for mosquitoes. The chief medical officer curative - also headed by qualified professionals - is in charge of health issues of low income people.

There are 12 to 16 ayurvedic dispensaries, providing services to the general public, run by the chief medical officer. "The fire and rescue department, apart from their general functions is equipped with necessary experience and sophisticated equipment to rescue flood victims" explained Commissioner Jayawardane.

The Council has six offices in six districts - 1, 2a, 2b, 3, 4 and 5. "Four professionals work in each of the offices - the MOH, district engineer solid waste, district engineer drainage and district engineer works, plus staff for solid waste collection and garbage disposal." she explained. Apart from these activities the offices are involved in awareness activities, maintenance and public health activities with community collaboration.

"It is the oldest local authority and the economical hub of the Sri Lankan Government" the Commissioner explained. But when you see something everyday it is easy to take it for granted. Commissioner Jayawardane explained that the city dwellers owe the Municipal Council Rs.400 million in arrears in the form of property and other taxes. 7000 of the people in Colombo are concentrated in just 36 square kilometres. 1614 of them reside in low income areas.

The Commissioner explained that the major problems faced by the Council is traffic, solid waste disposal and drainage problems. "600,000 people go in and out of Colombo each day! They use toilets, roads and other public places. It's a very big system" and the maintenance of such a big system is bound to be difficult.