Exposition puts Govt. planning to the test

The 10-day exposition of the Sacred Tooth Relic ended yesterday with thousands of devotees flocking to Kandy for the rare opportunity of paying homage to the sacred relic. While the exposition was welcomed by all, there are many lessons to be learnt from the poor management of the exposition process which drew criticism both from residents of the city as well as the devotees.

It is understandable that when thousands flock to the ancient city, there will be congestion and chaos but what transpired during the past 10 days cannot be blamed on the public alone but authorities who were tasked with the arrangements including the Police, Government officials, Maligawa administrators, all should take part of the blame.

Prior to the start of the exposition, Minister of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Hiniduma Sunil Senevi was among those who addressed the media along with Police representatives and members of the Maha Sanga to assure the public that all arrangements are in place for the convenience of the thousands expected to come for the exposition. They estimated that around two million devotees would take part in the religious activities and hence were well-aware they had a gigantic task at hand.

Public announcements were made across many areas in the country encouraging people to come to Kandy while in some places, even transport facilities were arranged to bring them to the ancient city for the exposition. All these are noble deeds and must be welcomed but the hard reality is that a lot of things are easier said than done when it comes to making arrangements for such a massive undertaking.

More than six persons including two policemen died of heart attacks and other natural causes during the 10 days while staying in queues or engaging in duty. More than 300 were hospitalised due to heat exhaustion.

The worst was the piling up of garbage all over the city as well as the lack of sanitary facilities which led to public spaces turning into open air toilets. Added to that, inconsiderate members of the public did little to help the situation, throwing garbage into drains and even the Kandy Lake turning the picturesque city into an ugly sight.

It was only amidst public anger and media reports that President Anura Kumara Disanayake summoned relevant officials and tasked them with cleaning up the city. By Saturday many volunteers had joined the clean-up operation.

But cleaning up alone will not help with the Public Health Inspectors’ Union warning yesterday that Kandy is facing a serious health risk including the spread of dengue and chikungunya as well as other infectious diseases.

Municipal authorities in Kandy have said that the amount of garbage collected in a day amounts to the quantity collected in a month in the city showing the massive task at hand. Hence even though the exposition has ended, the challenge to clean up the city remains.

There is little doubt that the timing of the exposition was problematic given it comes days before the local authorities election. There have been political undertones to the event and the Election Commission has received several complaints in this regard. The flip side for the Government is that it exposed the weaknesses on its side in planning an event of this magnitude.

While the President made an unannounced appearance in Kandy as criticism grew, the Buddha Sasana Minister was nowhere on the scene and is yet to make any comment on the lack of proper planning for the exposition. It’s unlikely the public will hear from him given that the entire NPP depends on the President to salvage the situation when it goes off track.

So, while the exposition was a blessing to many, the Government needs to learn from the mistakes it made and ensure these are not repeated.