Vasu, the ultimate choice as Mayor, says Maitripala

Uditha Kumarasinghe

COLOMBO: The United People's Freedom Alliance yesterday stressed the importance of electing its mayoral candidate Vasudeva Nanayakkara as the next Mayor of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) at the CMC Election to make a clear change in the administrative structure of the country's commercial capital.

It has come to be accepted by the entire voting population of the country that power in the CMC should be vested in the UPFA, SLFP General Secretary Minister Maitripala Sirisena told a media briefing in Colombo. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's decision to nominate Nanayakkara as the UPFA's mayoral candidate is aimed at effecting a viable change to the present corrupt administration of the CMC, he said.

The Minister said foreigners and other visitors to the capital have to endure pollution and chaos in the Colombo city.

"Vasudeva is a genuine politician who always fought against fraud and waste without changing his policies. That is why the President decided to appoint such an honest politician as the UPFA mayoral candidate who has a better chance at winning, he said.

Sirisena said, legally the UNP is totally precluded from grabbing power in the CMC through an independent group. The UPFA is planning to go to courts in this regard.

The Minister noted that the UNP in its over five decades long hold of the CMC, functioned like a separate Government. During this period, the administration and other common amenities of the city suffered badly. The Colombo city can only be developed by vesting the CMC administration under the UPFA Government, the Minister said.

Nanayakkara introducing the UPFA's CMC manifesto said the document does not contain a series of pledges similar to other manifestos. "This manifesto has been introduced 'In the image of Mahinda Chintana For a City of National Harmony'.

It has covered all burning issues in the city such as poverty, congestion and the stench of garbage, spelling out solutions." He said the UPFA manifesto contains a series of first hand details on the low income groups living in the Colombo city. Nearly 52 per cent of Colombo's population fall into this category and live in shanties and tenement gardens.

President Rajapaksa has identified the problem of shanties as a national problem taking prompt measures to deal with it. A programme has been launched to construct 65,000 houses for low income families.

This project has already started in Wanathamulla, Mattakkuliya and Bloemendhal road with 500 houses earmarked for construction.

The CMC will also actively join hands with this programme, he said. The UPFA manifesto has presented a perspective on planning the activities of the municipality giving a new life to the entire city creating conditions suitable for human living, he said.

During the period of the UNP administration, fund allocation for public welfare was slashed. However, the social democratic policy of the Mahinda Chintana is to give a helping hand to the low income groups to uplift their living conditions. He said law and order in the Colombo city has collapsed.

Alcoholism and drug addiction which is rising daily has become a severe problem among low income communities.

Under the Mahinda Chintana, a special operation is being conducted to overcome this, Nanayakkara said.