Race against time to dress up for CHOGM 2013 visitors
Renovating, refurbishing, resurfacing for a right royal reception; traffic on several areas to be restricted
From streets to cemeteries, historical forts to botanical gardens, the country’s places of interest are being spruced up for the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) with workers hurriedly trying to keep to the deadline of end of the month.
Colombo city, where most of the Commonwealth programmes will be held, is seeing a rapid transformation with road surfacing, paving, landscaping and street lighting.
Municipal Commissioner Bhadrani Jayawardena said the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) is working on overdrive to meet the October 31 deadline.
“There are 3,000 CMC employees working day and night, along with support from 200 Civil Defence Service (CDS) personnel. We understand there are inconveniences to the public, especially with road resurfacing. But the work is to reach completion soon,” she said.
This week, the roads were dusty with CMC workers placing flower and herbal plant pots in some of the major routes to be used by delegates.
The Colombo Municipal Council has also distributed notice to residents requesting them to clean and paint the walls and gutters facing the main road.
The joint letter issued by Mayor A.J.M. Muzammil and Ms. Jayawardena, requested the public to remove the boundary walls of buildings wherever possible, grow flowers to highlight the elegant environment and the ‘Green City Concept’ to passersby.
“Almost all the delegates will pass through Colombo city. We are also expecting a visit from the spouses to Viharamahadevi Park, beautification of which is to be completed by October 31,”the Commissioner said.
The opening ceremony is at Nelum Pokuna (Lotus Pond) Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre on November 15, with the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) being the main conference venue. The Business Forum is to be held at Cinnamon Grand, Colombo. As delegates arrive from November 12, traffic on the Katunayake Highway, Kelaniya Bridge, Baseline Road, Galle Road from Ratmalana to the hotels will be restricted to facilitate VVIP travel, police sources said.
Police Spokesman Ajith Rohana said the old Parliament roundabout to Galle Face roundabout, Kollupitiya Junction to Liberty roundabout, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Independence Avenue, Nanda Motors roundabout, Horton Place, Roads surrounding the BMICH, Parliament Road heading to Waters Edge and Union Place will experience frequent road closure.
Motorists will be advised to take alternate routes and these will be notified by Traffic Police by the end of this month, the SSP said.
Meanwhile, officials of the Ministry of External Affairs will be among those attending an etiquette training programme for liaison and protocol officers involved in CHOGM tomorrow.
All officers assigned to work with the delegations from various countries are expected to attend. Authoritative sources said the training is a professional course by the Singaporean Government.
Meanwhile, a number of places in the city are getting ready with hopes of a visit by Charles, Prince of Wales.