Wattala Pritipura beach in minister's neighbourhood lacks facilities: Residents

Pritipura Beach in Hendala, Wattala is a tourist attraction close to Colombo that draws many local and foreign tourists. However, this spot sorely lacks public facilities.

In particular, there are no public toilet facilities and drinking water facilities. There is no place to safely store beachgoers' clothing for bathing. There are no play facilities for small children.

There are dilapidated stalls, but there are no places where you can get clean food and drinks. There's clearly room for development.

More regrettable is the fact that the Police Lifeguard Team does not have a permanent small-scale or building with first-aid facilities for its work. Using a booth covered with temporary sheeting donated by a beachgoer, the Police officers have only one yellow safety device hanging from the booth.

At least one or two rescue boats are required. Two or three rescue tubes should be on hand. The relevant authorities, including the Disaster Management Centre, have promised to provide them but have not yet.

There is no first aid kit for emergencies. It is also not possible to safely deposit the first aid medicines that are currently brought for use.

At present, four officers of the Police Marine Division are attached to the Wattala Police Station and three of them work here regularly. But the number of officers is not enough. In the past year, there have been several rescues; five of them have been reported as rescues done with great effort and great risk.

'Clean Ocean Force', a private sector service organisation, is engaged in the collection of waste on the beach.

Residents and visitors question why authorities do not see the shortcomings.

Opportunities that had been promised for many years to be developed under the Wattala Development Plan have not materialised.

Residents are hopeful that the attention of the Minister of Tourism who resides in the Wattala area, will be given to this when attention is being paid to the development of tourism. Development of the area will be improved in ways that will give them economic strength.