Over to you Minister of Highways and Mayor Dehiwala MC

The canal running through the first culvert on Attidiya Road, from Galle Road (Maliban Junction) (Opposite T.V. Lanka T.V. Station and 750 mts from Galle Road) when it passes Dharmadara Road (Road by the side of Maliban factory).

At the corner house No. 76 compound 15 widened by putting 3’and 8’ concrete pipes to the canal blocking the smooth flow and filled on top and covered with a parapet wall to make the compound bigger of that corner land in an illegal manner.

6’ Broad canal’s water cannot pass through this 3’and 8’ pipe when it rains heavily and water goes back flooding the Attidiya Road and all houses in that area, when it rains half an hour.

No action has been taken to remove the said concrete pipes and the illegal construction though this problem was shown to almost all the people concerned who deal with such problems, including the Mayor several times.

Hundreds of families are suffering when it rains and Attidiya Road gets impassable. It is not fair to allow one person to encroach the canal for him to make his compound bigger and others to suffer very badly twice or thrice a year.

On behalf of others I request the Mayor of the Dehiwala Mt. Lavinia Municipal Council to come and see personally and take some action. Mr. Ratnayaka the engineer who is in charge of this area knows about this situation and wish to mention that I went with him and showed him everything.

DEEPAL HEWAVISENTHI
Ratmalana

Over to you Minister of Power and Energy

We the residents of the Mahavila Gardens are having power cuts/failure at least 2/3 times a week for the last few months. The power cuts are there for more than 03 to 04 hours and the last was on May 24, 2007 from 11.30 p.m. to May 25, 2007 till 3.30 a.m.

We are unable to contact the CEB control room as the said lines are busy or engaged or they do not answer. We, the residents of Mahavila gardens request the concerned officials to look into this seriously.

We also like to mention that the power failure is only confined to this garden.

Over to the relevant officials engineer, Minister of Power for a quick relief.

Residents of Mahavila gardens

Over to you Wattala and Ja-Ela District Secretariats

The matter that I would like to bring to the notice of the authorities is the deplorable state of the Linton Road at Nagoda, Kandana, the garbage along the road and the pigs that inhabit it.

The marsh land along the Linton Road has become a garbage dump for many outsiders who use this for their daily travel. (Pic 1) several factories around the vicinity are seen doing the same, this has become so disgusting and a health hazard that people find it difficult to travel on this road.

We, a group of concerned residents have organised several Sramadanas to clean it up, but no sooner it’s done, they keep piling up more garbage. Some of the residents have even been harassed and threatened, when trying to stop outsiders from dumping garbage here.

This is a vacant land and it’s been misused because nobody is taking responsibility for that land (Marsh). What we would like to see done is that the present dump cleaned up and the authorities to put a stern notice to prohibit the dumping of garbage or to sell it off. It is better off than letting it become a major health problem.

Now there is another problem, hordes of pigs from a nearby farm use this garbage dump as their feeding ground, not to mention the health hazard, but several of these poor animals have got knocked down by vehicles and left to die.

Now what the residents would like the authorities to do is to inform the owners to look after the animals properly and to keep them fenced in, not allowing them to freely roam around.

The other biggest problem is the road itself, which is in a very bad condition, especially along the marsh land. the biggest joke is that a certain section of the road has been carpeted (why only this stretch of the road is being carpeted is a good question) while the other areas have been neglected very badly.

In some areas you cannot even see a tarred road (Pix. 2 /3). The main reason for the bad condition of the road can be attributed to the fact that the full stretch of the road is falling under two District Secretariats, and none of them is taking the responsibility for the full stretch of the road.

Since heavy containers (40 footers) are using this road as well, just tarring the road is not sufficient. At least concrete needs to be used if it is to last for a considerable amount of time. My request is for the authorities of the Wattala and Ja-Ela district Secretariats to look in to these issues and take action to solve the problems of the people.

WEERASINGHE
Kandana

Over to you Minister of Transport

Every time the price of fuel (Auto Diesel) is increased, private bus owners and their unions start shouting demanding increases in bus fares.

At times they go to the extent of going on strike, keeping the buses off the roads, making the commuters undergo severe hardships in getting to their work places and back and also in attending to other work. Finally the authorities too give in and allow them to increase the fares by certain percentages. This basis on which fares are increased is a mystery.

At the two recent fuel price increases, the total increases was by Rs. 5 per litre. Most of the buses plying on the roads are of 60 passengers and each bus is running five to six kilometers with one litre fuel. The distance apart two sections is under 5 km.

The minimum fare for a section is Rs. 5. The increase sought by private bus owners is 20 per cent that is Rs. 1 per section per passenger, meaning an increase of Rs. 1 per passenger per section. If it is assumed fifty passengers travel in a bus at a time extra income will be Rs. 50 per section.

Hence to cover-up an increase of Rs. 5 per section bus owners get Rs. 50. But in most of the buses in the mornings and evenings are overcrowded.

Therefore, it appears the amounts increased in the previous fuel price hikes even for the present two fuel price increased. Has anyone ever tried to analyze the price revisions on a mathematical basis or is being done in an arbitrary manner?

W. R. ALWIS
Colombo 13

Over to you Mayor Moratuwa MC

On May 7, the workers of the Moratuwa Municipal Council have come and removed all the manhole covers in Peiriswatte Road, Uyana, Moratuwa apparently to clean the manholes.

Without any prior notice to residents they have done this. In the evening they have gone home without closing any of the manholes. The residents who went in cars in the evening could not take their vehicles to the lane and people who had their vehicles parked inside could not take them out.

The worst was the open manholes were totally unprotected. If the rains have come or in darkness the Mayor could have had another one or two funerals to attend in the Uyana village if one or two have fallen to the pits.

Who was the supervising officer who was involved in this? Why couldn’t they finish the job in the night? Why could not they at least put some danger board to protect the residents?

P. FERNANDO