Playing Pandu
The recent announcement by Minister Bandula Gunawardene that plans are afoot to build Sri Lanka’s biggest international cricket ground with day/night facilities and a seating capacity of 40,000 people in salubrious Homagama brought tears to the eyes of many Sri Lankans. Sadly they were not tears of joy but tears of amazement laced with anger that they could even contemplate spending USD 30-40 million on a stadium when the entire country is precariously poised staring in the face of an economic disaster.
In the planet that we inhabit, COVID-19 has wreaked havoc with many having lost their jobs and have resorted to eating one meal a day simply because they can’t afford the luxury of having three square meals. But it appears that in a parallel universe there is no Coronoavirus, instead life is to be lived and never mind, tally –ho off they embark on a mission to build a cricket stadium.
Once feted as a top class economics tutor this Minister in question arrived on the political scene and presented himself as an economic guru. Sadly many derided him when as Minister of Education in 2012 he claimed that a family of 3 could quite comfortably live off Rs.7500 per month. While opening the Maternity and Childcare centre in Mullegama in Homagama the Minister gaily announced that if people “refrained from wasteful expenditure” they could live “happier, fuller and pleasanter lives.” Oh how I wish he remembered those pearls of wisdom...
Living on bank loans and debt relief packages from countries around the word, Sri Lanka is on the precipice of an economic abyss. Ironically a few hours after the announcement of the building of the stadium there was another announcement to say the price of petrol was to be increased by Rs.5 per litre. The general consensus is that Sri Lanka has enough cricket stadiums with several in Colombo itself. Why do we need a brand spanking new stadium barely 20 kilometers away from Colombo. After all we don’t play cricket matches on a daily basis and certainly not matches that warrant 40,000 backsides on seats! Yes we are a cricket mad nation, however given the current climate the need of the hour is to look after the welfare of the masses. Before stadiums are built, feasibility studies need to be done which need to take into account consideration on the impact on the environment, society and the transport infrastructure. I wonder if this has been done? Or is this just a vanity project?
I hope those concerned will be struck by a conscience that this stadium is not the need of the hour and if such vast sums of money were so readily available they should instead develop the schools and other vital infrastructure in Homagama rather than built a cricket stadium that no right thinking individual wants!
I hope those concerned will be struck by a conscience that this stadium is not the need of the hour and if such vast sums of money were so readily available they should instead develop the schools and other vital infrastructure in Homagama ......