New project throw out pola vendors

Vendors at the Maharagama Sathi Pola (weekly fair) fear that plans by the Municipal Council to build a five storey supermarket, where the pola is conducted, will force the pola vendors to the streets due to the lack of space allocated in the new area.

Vendors at the pola said that despite the area allocated by the Municipal Council for them to conduct business as usual, the lack of space was sure to bring down many to the streets. The sathi pola which is now conducted in a land by the road in Maharagama, is therefore to be shifted to an area allocated behind the Municipal Council grounds. Saman Priyala, a vendor at the pola stated they had requested discussions with the authorities on numerous occasions but had received no response.

“The Sathi pola is held on Monday and Thursday and moving it to the grounds is not going to help anyone, because it’s just going to be a nuisance for everyone,” he said.

He explained the Municipal Council would find it difficult to build the five storey building as there was a water pipeline going through the land. “The place that has been allocated to us will be a waste as there are more than a thousand vendors and there is no room for all of us, ” he said. Vendors also complained that sufficient relief was not being given by the government to those conducting business there.

“These are the lands that our mothers and fathers conducted business before us, they say that they will give us new land but they are not doing that in a proper manner,” Susantha Renuka, another vendor said.

Meanwhile, Vice President of the Maharagama Municipal Council, Sunil Kodithuiwakku stated that no decision would be made without the approval of the vendors in the area. “But we have no say in the decisions made by the Urban Development Authority about the area allotted in their development plans,” he said.

Kodithuwakku however promised to hold discussions with the vendors before a decision is made.