People’s Voices

Over to you Chairman Matara PS

THE Nawimana Road leading to Aparekka from Matara was well-maintained sometime ago. But at present, it is very sad to note that the Nawimana Road leading up to ‘Maha Viharaya’ is a broken road with heavy dents. A section of the tarred is completely removed and filled with soil. The road gets flooded even when there is slight rain.

Residents, motorists and road users are put into difficulties by allowing the road to remain in this condition. This is a predominantly residential area and quite apart from great inconvenience caused to the road users for about a year, the houses are discoloured by the constant fall of dust during dry weather and mud during the rain.

During the rainy days the residents as well as schoolchildren face a major problem such as slippering and falling on the muddy road.

So I request you to kindly direct this problem to those responsible for relevant action to be taken without further delay.

AMARASENA KODITHUWAKKU – Matara

Over to you Mayoress Dehiwela/Mt. Lavinia

IN THE beginning of 2006, the last building plots which were available at the Kalapura housing complex were donated to artistes by the Tower Hall Theatre Foundation Authorities.

Four of these blocks were just adjacent to the houses bearing assessment numbers 148/20, 148/21, 148/22 and 148/23 at the Templers' Grove housing scheme.

All these houses are two storied and built nearly two decades ago by a reputed building company. Each house had cost nearly one and a half of million rupees.

From the inception, the rain water had drained into the vacant land. It is pertinent to mention that the affected houses all have been built on an incline and unfortunately no provision for a drain had been made in the survey plans, which had been originally owned by the UDA.

The residents have made complaints to all related authorities v.i.z., the Municipal Commissioner, the Mayoress Municipal Council Dehiwala/Mount Lavinia, the Director General Tower Hall Theatre Foundation, the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister Western Province, the Ombudsman with a view to obtain an alternate solution to drain rain water.

In terms of the law ‘The right of the owner of an upper tenement to discharge water on the lower tenement.’

The Mayoress took immense interest in this matter of grave concern to the affected residents and summoned several meetings by inviting all the affected residents, the owners of the donated lands and the Municipal Council officials, the Planning Engineer and the Chief Engineer Drainage with a view to resolve the matter and to bring redress to the worried and affected residents who had enjoyed the privilege for over two decades.

At several meetings, alternative suggestions were made and the residents were promised that a solution would be made through an alternative drainage plan, as soon as possible.

Now almost one and a half years has passed and several promises were made by he Chief Engineer Drainage of the Municipal Council that the work related to the proposed new drainage system would be done but still he has not lived up to his promise. It is now reliably learnt that the Chief Engineer Drainage has been transferred from his Attidiya office.

It is our fervent hope that even at this late stage steps would be taken by the Mayoress to instruct the newly assigned Chief Engineer Drainage to complete the proposed drainage system with a view to prevent the stagnation of rain water in houses.

Since the blocking of the rain water outlets, the said houses were since affected badly several times as the rain water had no other place to drain out, but to seep into the houses causing chaos among the respectable residents who hitherto had no problem of rain water getting stagnated in their premises and houses getting flooded.

SUNIL THENABADU - Mount Laninia