Much ado about Rosy’s loo
Not even two months in office and Colombo’s first woman mayor Rosy Senanayake nearly slipped into a manhole last week when it was alleged that she planned to spend 5.7 million rupees in renovating her toilet at the mayor’s official residence.
Her enemies even went to the extent of comparing the compensation given to the families of the 30 who died in the Meethotamulla tragedy last year, which they claimed amounted to a total of Rs. 3 million compared with the Rs. 5.7 million allocated to give the mayor’s toilet a new look and the commode thereat a firmer flush.
But the eve r g reen Ro s y Senanayake nee Ramanayake -- aged 60, but who still looks fresh as a dew drenched morning rose, one whom time will not age or custom stale -who won the Miss Sri Lanka contest in 1980 and then graduated from the starlet arena to compete in the world’s ‘aunties contest’ where her good looks crowned her Mrs. World in 1985, was made of sterner stuff. It was apparent that the opposition and the social media had greatly underestimated her. Beneath her skin deep beauty there beat a heart of bravado.
This week she shot back. And demonstrated that she was not just a pretty face, a mannequin showcased in a fashion dress boutique draped in an expensive sari and the pallu or the fall, as it is called in English, wrapped demurely around her shoulders.
Not one glossily made up with lipstick, powder, rouge and black dye on hair with a hint of a tint of eye shadow to complement the full facial fare but a woman of substance who had sacrificed her private life to flit and buzz the social elite’s cocktail circuit but one who had devoted her life to public service and was bent on improving the lot of the thousands living in Colombo’s seedy ghettoes. Not forgetting, of course, her dedication to make more beautiful the nation’s capital city of Colombo. Including the Mayor’s official residence, of course.
But her foes hadn’t bargained for Rosy’s fiery response which left them dumb stricken. Last Saturday, she emerged from the Mayor’s office restroom with all the mayoral broomsticks she could muster to sweep clean the malicious allegations made against her in her bid to restore the official grand old mayor’s mansion to its former glory for posterity’s sake which the former mayor, even after a full- fledged refurbishment made four years ago, had left it in a decrepit state unfit for human habitation.
Addressing a press conference, she made it clear that her opponents had got the figure wrong. She said a charge had been made against her that she intended to spend Rs 5.7 million. That was wrong. It was only Rs 5.2 million; and to prove her assertion forwarded the letter dated the same date issued by the Municipal Commissioner Lalith Wickramaratne who vouched the same. Secondly, it was not merely to renovate one toilette but to renovate six. And not only that. Its was to renovate the entire residence.
She said: “Within a week of coming to office, I consulted a team of architects with a view to refurbish- ing the Mayor’s residence. It was my intention that this building which has a long history and is of archeological value shoud be preserved. It was a part of a programme to preserve buildings of archaeological value such as the Colombo Town Hall and the Old Town Hall.”
And guess what? She added her proudest boast which Colombo’s rate payers should thank their lucky stars they voted her to office on March 19th this year.
She said, “I chose a private contractor who had worked for me earlier and gave the contract to him. When others suggested that I should call for tenders, I said No. For those who would have tendered for the contract would have put in bids which would have cost the municipality five time more.”
Heavens be blessed. For that’s a saving of over 20 million bucks of tax payers’ money. And furthermore, if the Colombo district’s ratepayers are not already blessed having a mayor they can call Her Worship, she met the claims of her opponents about her latrine expenditure with the utmost disdain. And drove the final stake which laid to rest her opponents complaints.
She said: “I don’t need the Mayor’s bathroom. I have my own private residence with 7 bedrooms and 8 toilets in my husband’s home.”
What more, indeed, can a woman want? When the world’s her oyster, when the Mrs. World crown still sits prettily upon her head even after thirty- three years of winning it? Not to mention, of course, six loos to use in the mayor’s mansion and another seven in her husband’s home with an extra one to flush down with contempt the envious snide remarks of her less fortunate foes?
To paraphrase Shelley, "If beatification is already here, can sainthood be far behind?"
Heavens be blessed. For that’s a saving of over 20 million bucks of tax payers’ money. And furthermore, if the Colombo district’s ratepayers are not already blessed having a mayor they can call Her Worship, she met the claims of her opponents about her latrine expenditure with the utmost disdain. And drove the final stake which laid to rest her opponents complaints.