I Love Sri Lanka

For more than a year, i have been wanting to write this article. The reasons behind this are a plague for the residents of Angunawala. A water project, a so called development to benefit all has been a problem so obstructive to daily life of ours, that we have had to spend many a day (mostly on half day from work) at the offices of MTHojgaard and the Pradeshiya sabaha (Divisional secretariat).

The said water project which was started on 27 May 2006 & is due to be finished on May of 2009 has been the reason for:

• un-patched roads to our houses for more than 2.5 years
• Catchment area for water which comes to road has increased due to new roads to water tank and the uncovered area for water tank which has removed trees and growth.
• Small culvert put by the company which results in water coming onto roads. Also no proper drainage system.
• of huge pot holes which are dangerous to both man and vehicle
• of large tunneling (for water pipes) on the small roads to our houses which are slowly constructed damaging our vehicles and at most times making the use of vehicle or the road impossible
• the sinking roads and culverts due to heavy machinery (i.e. Backos, Cement mixers, trucks etc.,)
• severe dust pollution from the mud filled roads on dry days.
• of slippery and dangerous roads on rainy days (pregnant women, elders and children are unable to travel)
• of large scale road wash ups due to poor drainage at the water project site (water tank).

This had been going on for nearly three years without respite.

Are we also not tax paying, bill paying citizens of Sri Lanka? And we have had water from previous lines from the Udunuwara water project. But i also agree this project will benefit a larger number of people who are living around the kandy district. It is the disrespectful and untimely as well as lazy work schedules followed by the workers employed or sub contracted by MTHojgaard & its engineers and overseers who are to blame. We have seen severe thefts happening as no officer of MTHogaard is present most times. This has resulted in slow work and low quality work.

For an instance, they laid the pipes for from the main Peradeniya – Gampola rd to the water tank at Angunawala more than 6months prior. But they have had to repair many leaks and replace some pipes due to bad work and are still repairing these pipes. The road to the water tank which is less than 0.5kilometer was dug and not traversable by vehicle for nearly 2 months. A friend slipped on the road and could have been injured but for luck. We have had to go on the stone ridges on the road sides to go to work.

Also it really hurts as some parts of the road was built by the residents by pooling money and was only used for about an year before the water project ruined the roads. You can see from the pics below this.

Here are some photos.

ABOVE PICS TAKEN BEFORE PIPES LAID. BUT WATER TANK CONSTRUED. HEAVY MACHINERY ON ROADS .ROAD NOT PATCHED IN NEARLY AN YEAR .

PIC DATE : 29_02_2008

ABOVE PICS TAKEN DURING PIPE LAYING.  HEAVY MACHINERY ON ROADS . ROAD NOT PATCHED IN NEARLY 2 YEARS .

PIC DATE : 09_12_2008

After heavy rains. during this time the road was unusable even by foot as it was slippery muddy and dangerous. Roads to our house was closed for nearly 2 months like this.

Video Coming soon

And more current pics

Things the company can do to solve our problems:

• Lay proper drainage system
• Lay larger culvert near water tank
• Patch road with concrete or tar instead of mud
• DO A PROPER JOB OF IT

I have even mailed the parent company in Denmark more than a year ago with photos and written information so as to get attention. Also repeated  trips are needed to the company head office to get their attention.

So as you see we are at a dilemma as neither the company or the government takes responsibility(water board who are finally responsible for the water project or the pradeshiya sabha). The company’s workmen and vehicles aren’t affected by roads as they have big vehicles like jeeps and double cabs.

I hope by writing this article, these multinational companies will take more care when they take on projects in our poor countries, acting like saviors yet really, money hungry beasts.

Please keep an lookout for the latest from angunawala as we are still undergoing worsend raod conditions.

Update:- For the last few days March 10,  2009 again we cant use our vehicles have been washed off. Still awaiting repairs.  We had to clean culverts and put dams across roads to send water properly.

Please see here for Company profile on the project