Garbage sausages and dirty tricks of the Meethotamulla tragedy

The Meethotamulla Avurudu tragedy where a fire at the mountainous garbage dump snuffed out more than 30 lives and left several missing has laid bare some incredible stories.

One such instance was how a food importer had dumped a large stock of outdated sausages there. A group picked up the stocks, washed them, re-packed them and sold them to smaller grocery outlets. There is little doubt they ended up on the plates of unsuspecting consumers.

This is just one of the stories related to Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka by his senior officials who were deployed to visit the scene of the tragedy and report their findings.

Another was how a local council which was not authorised to dump garbage at Meethotamulla, did so. This council is in the north of Colombo. Tractor loads were brought in during midnight. A man who operated a fleet of tractors had been paid Rs 9,000 per load. Of this amount, only a paltry Rs 1,000 had been paid to those at the garbage dump for dumping some 300 tons of cargo daily. The moral of the story was clear – there is a lot of money even in garbage.

What did the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry do with regard to garbage disposal? An official said it had called for ‘Request For Proposals’ (RFP) several months ago and received 123 bids by those wanting to establish waste disposal projects. In view of strong canvassing, the Ministry had placed a US$ 50,000 deposit and a number of local bidders backed out thereafter, the official said.

Then came an incredible revelation: Among those who had made bids were those officials holding high positions at offices of very senior politicians in the Government. They were promoting overseas clients and the exercise could not proceed when their identities were found out, an official said. Thus, he said, the garbage which usually is allowed up to heights of 30 metres had gone up to 42.5 metres at Pottuvil Kumbura, the state land where the garbage mountain lies at Meetotamulla.

A lesser known fact was that the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) had set apart Rs. 600 million to evacuate families living around the garbage dump area. Two weeks before the devastating tragedy, the CMC had pasted notices on 25 houses and offered them a measly Rs 15,000 to leave their homes because they were in danger. Only 14 families accepted the offer. Some of the notices posted on the houses still remain.