Improve standards of condominiums immediately!

A child succumbed to injuries as a result of a piece of concrete that came off from a condominium complex in Modara. Speaking in Parliament, MP Bimal Ratnayaka apologised to the child’s parents. But no apology or compensation could bring the dead child back to life. This is a crime due to negligent practices by relevant authorities. The issue of condemned condominium complexes had been brought to the limelight in many occasions, only to fall on deaf ears. MP Ratnayaka also explained practical challenges in maintaining condominium complexes due to individuals addicted to drugs. He said that parts of elevators and bits and pieces of essential infrastructure have been robbed by drug addicts who sell them for petty amounts to find money. This is evident in condominiums such as Sahas Uyana. In many of these condominiums, the elevators don’t work and in case of an emergency people have to use stairs. Due to poor maintenance, many of these apartment complexes have sustained cracks in walls, sometimes with trees growing in such places. But people continue to live even with cracked walls, leaking taps, poor sewage systems as they have no other place to go to. Some of these housing units are extremely small for a family of four or five individuals to live in. Therefore, the government needs to take public housing more seriously and ensure that they are constructed according to the highest standards. 
Waruna Madusanka