Mayoral candidates must know that life in Colombo revolves around dignity

When the Colombo Municipal Council meets on June 16 the first order of business is to elect a new mayor and a deputy mayor

The tempo is set for the election of a new Mayor for the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC). Vraie Cally Balthazaar (NPP),Dr. Ruvaiz Haniffa and Riza Zarook (both SJB) are some of the prominent names in the fray, but no party has a clear cut majority in Colombo with regard to the election of the new mayor. This is why the election for the Colombo Mayor’s position is a hot topic and a much looked forward to event in the Sri Lankan political calendar. 

Colombo is the business hub of Sri Lanka. As much as a vibrant private sector needs to be involved in selling goods and services, there is an equal need for an efficient Municipal Council to serve the public. As Balthazaar herself pointed out in one of her television interviews, the CMC is a place where people have to go from matters ranging from work to death. She has been quoted saying that the CMC has to cater to the needs of Colombo being a business hub and also regarding matters  close to the people’s hearts. Dr.Haniffa, in the run-up to the race for the Mayor of Colombo, has been quoted in interviews stating that his party wishes to make Colombo a happier place. 

Balthazaar is a fresh face in Sri Lankan politics. As an individual with a media background, she has seen enough of the dark side of Sri Lanka politics and the shortcomings of the CMC. She is also a mother with children. Hence it is heartening to hear from her that she wants to make Sri Lanka a better place not only for her children, but other children in this island as well. If she wins the race for the Colombo Mayor’s post, she will have to walk the talk and usher in change; a change that throws into oblivion the bad and the ugly, and retains only what’s good. Balthazaar’s first name is Vraie, which in French means the ‘truth’. Let’s hope that she lives up to her name in the event she wins. 

Colombo is the largest and oldest Municipal Council  in the island. It needs a budget of Rs 30 billion annually. If this writer remembers right, sometime back, a mayoral candidate once said that the CMC can generate enough money that it doesn’t need the financial help of any government. This is why there is a hectic race to get to the mayoral seat at the CMC. 

Diverse political opinion

Colombo is diversified, hence opinion on politics is bound to differ. Unlike in the rural villages of Sri Lanka, Colombo’s people are a little impatient and tend to take drastic, but calculated decisions. Most of these decisions are selfish ones. How the people or in other words Colombo’s voters think will be reflected on June 16 when the new mayor and the deputy mayor are elected following a vote. 

A vote will be taken this time around at the CMC because no political party has a clear majority to announce a mayor. For the record, the NPP has 48 seats, SJB 29, UNP 13, SLPP 5 and SLMC 4. To add to this and to give a reflection of changing voting trends, the NPP suffered a worrying blow at the recent LG polls where it gained only 43.25 % of the votes in comparison to the General Elections where it garnered a mammoth 61.5 % of the total votes. Colombo has never seen a mayor being produced from the NPP or the JVP given the entire history of Sri Lanka politics. According to what insiders have to say, it’s going to be a hectic race because the independent groups will play a key role in selecting the Colombo Mayor this time around.  

Lit up by the poor

All those aspiring to be the new mayor must know that Colombo is also a city of contrasts. This is a fact the people in power have failed to observe. Be it Christmas or Vesak, such religious occasions have seen Colombo being lit up with lights and decorations spending millions of rupees. And on most occasions these decorations are assembled and hung by the members of the downtrodden masses, often laborers during their day jobs, but people who double up as electricians and handymen during the festive season with the aim of earning some extra cash. Most often than not, Colombo’s beauty doesn’t reflect in equal proportions when one does a study of how people in general live in this bustling business hub. 

Then we have the Colombo shanties or the unauthorised houses and the makeshift shops which add to the already existing Colombo chaos. Some streets in Colombo are far too cumbersome to walk on and are even dangerous places to roam at night. Security for local women and female foreigners is a point of concern when they travel at night because street lamps in the most isolated places need replacement. Then we have the issue with unsteady trees that grow on the pavements. We do remember a tree (half rooted to the earth) falling on a bus parked on a street near Duplication Road in Kollupitiya. As many as 17 people were injured. Just recently there were heavy winds which resulted in power interruptions because trees fell on power lines. The CMC must do something concrete about trees that are planted along Colombo roads. There is a massive risk of people being exposed to severe injuries in the event winds bring them down.

There is this crude joke that is often made in the Colombo circles that when a waste collecting truck - producing the most unbearable stench - travels in the night, we all know that it is the garbage disposal truck that does the rounds in Colombo 7! It goes without saying that it’s the Colombo 7 folk who dispose of the worst garbage. The whole of Colombo needs a better and more efficient garbage disposal procedure. 

Let’s hope that the best person wins the race for the Colombo Mayor’s post and takes on the challenging task of making it a city where everyone can live in dignity.