A balancing act

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s pledge to a group of self employed vendors in the Pettah and Fort to remedy their grievances stemming from their use of the pavement to ply their wares no doubt would have come as a great relief to these persons who have been subject to many vicissitudes over the years in their battle to eke out an existence.

Addressing members of the Federation of Self Employees comprising pavement hawkers, Three wheeler and lorry drivers at Temple Trees on Monday the President said he would formulate a policy relating to the use of pavements after careful consideration of the problems encountered by both pedestrians and vendors.

The President noted that the pavement belonged to both pedestrians and pavement hawkers and both parties had the right to it. What is required is a balancing act giving access to both parties, he said.

The President’s concern for pedestrians is understandable since they cannot be forced on to the highway, a prospect fraught with danger, to make way for pavement hawkers.

On the other hand pavement hawkers thrive only when there are crowds and take advantage of the space provided by the pavements. As a segment engaged in self employment their livelihoods too need to be protected without causing undue harassment to pedestrians.

Their eviction would cause a loss of livelihood and the possibility of them taking to a life of crime. The President no doubt is aware of this prospect. Hence his sentiments of live and let live. We often witness episodes where pavement hawkers are forcefully evicted from their domains to make way for city beatifying projects or other expansion schemes.

Some time back a former urban development minister under the Chandrika Government used the police to drive away pavement hawkers in the Fort and the Pettah while on a crusade to redevelop the city only to see his mission fail due to the intervention of another Cabinet colleague wielding much clout.

Therefore the whole issue is also laced with politics since the pavement hawkers form a strong lobby affecting political fortunes of candidates during election time. Hence one cannot afford to ignore their role and demands and the advocation of a balancing act to serve the interests of both pavement hawkers and pedestrians is timely.

Towards better air quality

At last after much dilly-dallying and procrastination fuel emission testing on motor vehicles got underway yesterday fulfilling an urgent requirement touching on the well being of the population.

The first two emissions testing centres at Kiribathgoda and Miriswatte junction on the Colombo Kandy highway commenced operations yesterday. This will be followed by mobile testing centres islandwide where testing would be done to ensure that vehicles conform to emission standards set by the Government.

The whole exercise is to regulate vehicle emissions that pollute the environment and pose health risks to the public. Recently former IGP Victor Perera revealed that a large number of Traffic policemen suffer from respiratory ailments resulting from inhalation of noxious fumes emitted by vehicles.

We hope at least now these traffic policemen would be not wearing handkerchief masks to shield them from black smoke clouds and on the contrary take proactive measures to apprehend unroadworthy vehicles now that they have the full backing of the Government.

It is also hoped that the city skylines would now be cleared of the grey smog hanging like a deadly pall and that the people will be able to breath freely without fear of ingesting poisonous substances in to their systems.

Both Transport Minister Dullus Alahapperuma and Environment Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka should be commended for their resolute stand on the matter.

It has not only spared the public from fatal consequences but also saved the Health Ministry a sizable chunk of its budget which would have otherwise gone towards the treatment of disease contracted from vehicle pollution.

With the introduction of the testing it will now be incumbent on vehicle owners to be armed with a VET (vehicle Emission Testing Certificate) to renew their vehicle licenses. The Government should ensure no leeway is afforded to offending vehicles and that every one is made to comply with the guidelines.

There is bound to be a time lag before the full effect of the project could be witnessed. In the meantime steps should be taken to provide the widest publicity to the vehicle testing programme so that the message would reach a larger segment of vehicle owners in the country.

The move would also contribute to the disciplining of private buses the worst polluters of the environment.

It is no secret that a good number of these buses are owned by policemen who may attempt to pull strings to get their vehicles off the hook. The authorises must ensure that all vehicles are subjected to this testing if the entire exercise is not be jeopardised.