DISP SE GARBAGE AT ARUWAKKALU
The Court of Appeal yesterday issued an interim order preventing the Wanathavilluwa Pradeshiya Sabha and its Chairman from enforcing any fee from
the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) during the dumping of garbage at the
Aruwakkalu sanitary landfill site. The Court also gave temporary permission to dump garbage at the site till the case is further heard.
The issue came about when the Ministry of Megapolis and Western
Development decided to halt the disposal of garbage accumulated within Colombo city limits at the
Kerawalapitiya garbage dump. The ministry made this decision claiming that the facility’s capacity to accommodate garbage had exceeded its limits.
However, according to CMC sources the Wanathavilluwa Pradeshiya Sabha had requested a monthly fee of
Rs. 2.5 million to dump garbage at the Aruwakkalu site. The cost of transporting the nonrecyclable waste to Aruwakkalu alone will amount to Rs. 45
million monthly, despite the cost and other logistical problems involved with the transfer of approximately 200 metric tonnes of garbage.
However, when the first convoy of trucks carrying garbage arrived at the Aruwakkalu site, the security officers have obstructed the disposal of garbage and have stated that the site is not ready to accept garbage. The Wanathavilluwa PS Chairman has then turned up at the venue and forced the trucks to be turned back.
The CMC said that in addition to that, the Wanathavilluwa PS Chairman had started making various demands
from the CMC to facilitate the garbage trucks to the Aruwakkalu site. These included the provision of a gulley bowser on a temporary basis, a garbage compactor, construction of a gym etc.
The case will be heard again on August 28, 2019.
The PS Chairman is reportedly using a loophole resulted as a mistake made by the Megapolis Ministry. The ministry and the Aruwakkalu project had failed to gazette and takeover under the landfill project or the Road Development Authority, a small section of the access road to the site. This section comes under the PS and is being used as one ruse to prevent access.
In his comments to the Daily Mirror, Wanathavilluwa PS Chairman Samantha
Munasinghe said that they demanded money as per the Pradeshiya Sabha Act. “According to this Act we are responsible for the roads and public health in the area. So the CMC will be using our roads while garbage is a public health concern. Once they bring the garbage we have to segregate everything, dispose accordingly and bear the cost of maintenance.”
He further said that he asked for a bowser and a compactor from the Provincial Council. “We will take money for transporting garbage,” he added. “Let the CMC dispose garbage at Aruwakkalu for the time being. We will take necessary action in the near future.”
Garbage was seen piling up in the Colombo city over the past couple of weeks since the Municipality had not been able to collect garbage and then dump at a proper location.
WANATHAVILLUWA PS PREVENTED FROM ENFORCING A FEE FROM CMC
GARBAGE WAS SEEN PILING UP IN THE COLOMBO CITY OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS
PS CHAIRMAN SAYS THEY DEMANDED MONEY AS PER THE PRADESHIYA SABHA ACT