For better housing

The plan mooted by Minister Wimal Weerawansa for a new look city housing schemes is to be welcomed. According to a front page story in our weekend paper the Sunday Observer the Government has allocated Rs 1,000 million to effect urgent repairs of city housing schemes under the NHDA. This follows the observation made that most of these housing schemes built decades ago are in a dilapidated condition. According to NHDA General Manager L S Palansuriya over 40,000 families live in city housing schemes which had been constructed in the 1970s. Proper repairs and maintenance could not be done due to financial constraints.

While effecting the necessary repairs the NHDA should also ensure that a wholesome job is done and that these housing schemes are made habitable. We say this because most of these schemes are in a squalid condition and are an eyesore. Most of them do not have proper sanitary facilities and water is often a scarce commodity at these flats. Merely giving a facelift to these housing schemes is hardly the solution. It should also be ensured that a suitable environment is created for dwellers in order to make their lives comfortable. This is because some of these flat dwellings are hardly fit for habitation due to their murky settings and sleazy condition. As already mentioned a majority of these dwellings represents an eyesore with garbage dumps littering their frontage and animals scavenging in the mess.

It is also no secret that many illegal activities including vice are rampant in some of these dwellings that are being occupied by criminal elements with unsavoury characters too patronising them especially at nights to ply their illegal wares. It is also well-known that some of these flat dwellings are havens for the drug trade and are occupied by drug addicts who pose a threat to the normal lives of the peace loving citizens in these housing schemes. Therefore while undertaking the physical renovations of these flats the Minister should also take steps to weed out these unsavoury aspects making these housing schemes congenial for living.

The Government at least owe it to the thousands of school going children occupying these flats to create a conducive environment to enable them to engage in their studies without let or hindrance and do everything possible to remove the murky atmosphere in these dwellings. Not just the major housing schemes the Minister should also consider giving a facelift to the hundreds of tenement schemes that dot the city landscape.

These tenements are overcrowded and like the flat dwellers they too lack the basic amenities. Here too vice and criminal activity thrive intruding into the lives of law-abiding citizens. Most of the dwellers are from low-income groups who are forced to live in these tenements due to their economic condition.

With ambitious plans to beautify the city the steps taken to refurbish housing schemes is indeed an appropriate one. This also necessitates addressing the issue of slums. These slums should either be relocated if the city is to be beatified or appropriate dwellings constructed to house this segment of the city population.

No doubt this poses a problem given the fast diminishing space in the city due to heightened commercial activity and over population. Care should also be taken not to resettle slum dwellers in water retention land that is bound to exacerbate the frequent flooding of the city. Colombo in fact needs a complete overhaul in keeping with modern Asian capitals and for this a comprehensive blueprint should be drawn taking into account all aspects and facets such a housing, traffic volume, parking and the commercial side so that a complete new and modern city could be evolved.

The right step

The Traffic Police have declared a ban on vehicle parades during this big match season. According to Colombo DIG (Traffic) Asoka Wijetilleke stern action will be taken against students travelling in vehicles in a dangerous manner during the big matches.

One recalls some years ago a student of a leading school being killed during such a big match vehicle parade. In that context the decision taken by the Police is a wise one indeed. Not only that, the Police should arrest those big match revellers who go on hat collections harassing the general public and also those breaking into girls’ schools and disrupting school activity.

The Police should also look out for students who consume liquor in public during the big matches and becoming a nuisance to the public. Clean fun cannot be objected to providing these don’t exceed the line, but today big match revelry has come to be associated with boisterous and sometimes violent conduct by overenthusiastic students that need to be dealt with, with a firm hand.