Importance of every citizen supporting ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ initiative of President AKD

The mind of a person is evident in how he lives and certainly in how he disposes of his garbage. This could be said of the nation which is but a collection of individuals and their minds. The Japanese are known for their ultra respectfulness to others. This is seen even in a cursory glance of the spotless streets of Japan and how a citizen of that country would use a public washroom.

Sri Lanka in contrast, once faced the humiliation of some foreign diplomats speaking without mincing their words of the horrific status of public washrooms, when they were invited to speak at a tourism related exhibition two years ago

One of the notices in Nuwara Eliya against dumping of garbage

By Surya Vishwa

In October, just few weeks after being elected to office, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake announced the ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ initiative, a nationwide program to enhance cleanliness and environmental responsibility by citizens and the State, and to bring about much needed attitudinal changes.

This endeavour is aimed at boosting tourism while improving citizens’ quality of life through the promotion of environmental awareness and civic responsibility. By clean Sri Lanka we can thereby interpret that what is expected is a cleaning up first of our minds – and with clean minds bring about clean actions which will automatically result in a clean nation, devoid of garbage, devoid of hypocrisy and devoid of corruption. These consist of the unclean mess that had clogged the progress of this country since 1948 to date.

It is not an exaggeration to state that if this type of initiative is not introduced, at least now, after waking up from the rip van winkle sleep of 76 years, that Sri Lanka would be known as the garbage dump of Asia as opposed to the fairy tale like slogan ‘Miracle of Asia.’

It is thus imperative for the Clean Sri Lanka endeavour, directed by President AKD to be supported by the public with seriousness, understanding that the era of tinsel ceremonial Presidential directives are over.

It is only a president who has lived an ordinary existence and like other fellow mortals walked – (stepped onto the road and actually walked in his life) as opposed to being transported in oblivion in fancy vehicles, who would prioritise such an initiative. No doubt in his years as a tutor he has tripped over the bags, bottles, beer cans, biscuit packets and whatnot strewn all over the roads across this country. This mass exhibition of the visage and stink of litter is what one would sight first thing in the morning as one proceeds to begin the work day.

Horrific status of public washrooms

The mind of a person is evident in how he lives and certainly in how he disposes of his garbage. This could be said of the nation which is but a collection of individuals and their minds. The Japanese are known for their ultra respectfulness to others. This is seen even in a cursory glance of the spotless streets of Japan and how a citizen of that country would use a public washroom.

Sri Lanka in contrast, once faced the humiliation of some foreign diplomats speaking without mincing their words of the horrific status of public washrooms, when they were invited to speak at a tourism related exhibition two years ago. In another previous event, a diplomat who was chief guest at a tourism forum, appealed to the authorities in the formal address given by that dignitary, to pay attention to public washrooms and hygiene, if Sri Lanka wanted to improve revenue through tourism.

It would be wonderful indeed if the staff of the President’s office (and all Municipal and Pradeshiya Sabha officials across the country) could dedicate one month for both the sake of their physical fitness and for the salient purpose of seeing how the bus-stands, public toilets, pavements and roadways of the district they are responsible for look like. If they do this daily – walking to and from work (or maybe cycling – another very healthy way to travel), they would see what all citizens see but are immune to. In the informal discussion this writer held this week, with the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Commissioner and his officials the basic question asked of them was if they walked as opposed to using vehicles for public inspection.

This page has published for five weeks in a row the pathetic condition of one of the most salubrious tourist locations of Sri Lanka – Nuwara Eliya – which had in colonial times earned the name of Little England due to the similarity to Britain in climate. Today Nuwara Eliya is a sad skeleton of what it was – unplanned housing and slum like structures border many of the roads and it is common to see tourists trip over garbage.

When this writer visited the Municipal Council of Nuwara Eliya to meet the new commissioner, K.M.H.W. Bandara who previously served as the Municipal Secretary of Nuwara Eliya, the discussion that ensued with Public Health Inspector Kithsiri Herath, pointed to the fact that ‘many other districts were worse,’ and that the happy go lucky dumping of garbage anywhere one pleases was the norm across this country. Indeed it is so.

Walk along the most elite environs of Sri Lanka – Cinnamon Gardens, once a cultivation ground of acres of cinnamon but which today, despite its boast of housing the ‘poshest’ of Colombo, cannot say that it is not garbage free. Look into the drains and the shady nook and corners of this alcove in the capital city and one would find mysterious garbage bags often ripped open, containing rotting food – or lunch-sheets with food on them placed on the road.

Take a cue from Lee Kuan Yew

In this backdrop Anura Kumara Dissanayake may go down in history as the only one (there have been eight presidents prior to him), to identify the root of the problem of an uncivilised and uncultured nation. He could take a cue from the policies of Lee Kuan Yew who took change of a country which resembled a fishing village and transformed it into one of the most disciplined nations where not a shred of paper would be dropped on the roads. How did he do this? Did he import a fairy godmother who waved a magic wand and turned Singaporeans overnight into environment safekeeping and public hygiene protecting Cinderellas? No. He risked being unpopular and introduced stringent fines, laws and inspection units. 

Hefty sums that would make a person bankrupt had to be paid by anyone who violated the rules. The then gum chewing habit of the people was put an instant stop by banning import of these items. This ended the habitual and unconscious placing of the chewed gum between railway doors which prevented them closing properly.

Many people did not love these strictures or the man who ushered them in. They protested, whined and resisted. Finally the nation settled down to doing what was decreed and thereby making Singapore one of the cleanest international hubs of the world.

Tourism is a major contributor to the Singaporean economy. It was the ardent wish of Lee Kuan Yew after the establishment of Singapore in 1965 to model this fledging nation after Ceylon which was what he saw then as the best example of a modern and beautiful country. In general at that time, it would have been even to him seemed like wishful thinking, as Singapore’s only strength was its port. It lacked the multifarious natural resources Sri Lanka was endowed with. Yet it has today built forests where there were none. Singapore has formed scenic natural spots resplendent with dedicatedly grown parks and created waterfalls. The Singapore airport is a mesmerising testimony of horticulture.

Destroying in every possible way we can

In Sri Lanka meanwhile we have dedicated over seven decades for just the opposite. We have spent this time destroying in every possible way we can, the impeccable beauty of this land. Have we, who were born to this country, ever pondered that we are upon one of the most diverse epics of nature – where in 24 hours one can wade the ocean, climb the mountains, gape at waterfalls, bask in the sun, huddle in the cold and witness almost all world religious cultures – Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism as one traverses across the length and breadth of this paradise isle.

Have we ever thought of educating our general public that Sri Lanka would be losing tourists if we go on like this – creating a mass scale Meethotamulla of this nation? Incidentally it is almost 10 years after the Meethotamulla garbage dump explosion and collapse and the flurry of activities immediately after to search for solutions (it was witnessed that the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe dutifully wore a mask to protect his health), when he visited the place.

That episode is now completely forgotten. However, the people who lived next to those dumps, suffer to date the stench the then PM could not tolerate for even a few minutes without covering his nose and mouth. Their children live there and go to school from that location.

The paradoxical reality

Reverting to the topic of tourists, it is not rocket science that a country which resembles a hell of refuse cannot attract tourists. The heavy spending for tourism publicity campaigns that depict the country as one of pristine beauty and cleanliness will only lead to negative results when the foreign visitor sees the paradoxical actual reality. To realise this fact one does not need to memorise a host of theories and achieve a piece of paper euphemistically called a degree. An intelligent five-year-old would comprehend this.

No visitor would like to come to a place reeking of garbage, populated by a people for whom dumping their refuse anywhere they please, into the streams of wondrous waterfalls, onto the road, the bus stands, in front of other people’s houses, is a mere norm.

This writer has now spent around eight weeks in Nuwara Eliya having shifted the personal library and office there, surrounded by the sight of forests, mountains and waterfalls; a general complementary factor for any writer.  Yet, what has transpired is the complete opposite. Everyday walking across Nuwara Eliya, originally for the purpose of imbibing its beauty, has now become a nightmare. Almost every step of the way one accosts garbage of every form and when there is no garbage there are the excreta of dogs, both stray and domestic. The practice of keeping food for these dogs on plastic bags and plastic ‘lunchsheets’ make the matter worse. The standard islandwide practice of serving curry onto plastic bags is a menace that makes whatever little effort there is in the country for recycling further arduous. Sri Lanka’s repeated banning of plastic bags is by now a joke.

From where this writer lives, atop a mountain facing a waterfall, small houses built haphazardly with little sanitation dot the incline and the drains spout a multifarious array of litter everyday. Picking up the beer cans and plastic bottles and watching the curious look of the new neighbours this writer has abandoned the earlier adopted strategy of talking them out of their irresponsibility. Basic attention to personal safety necessitated the departure from this stance after a neighbouring old woman whose past time seemed to be kicking about plastic on the road threatened to physically wrest me out of the house I reside in.

Change ourselves and help others to do so 

What Sri Lanka has to learn is the following. Changing a government is no use unless we change ourselves and help others to do so. It is now the norm in Sri Lanka to frown at anyone for whom the dastardly act of littering this land is a crime. We have teachers, university professors, municipal authorities, public health inspectors, parliamentarians, environmentalists, musicians and artists (among many others in differing vocations), for whom it is the everyday done thing to walk carefree past tomes of garbage.

The last time I was there over a year ago, a vast area directly opposite to the Vavuniya University was a garbage dump which had been accumulating for years. In this backdrop have we ever wondered why we are receiving ‘education’ or ‘higher education’? Have we ever contemplated on what countries like Singapore and Japan do differently? Just for the record, Japan and Singapore have designed their entire education system – from childhood onwards, to make children and youth responsible adults.

They are taught to be true to themselves and do a task to perfection. It is the children who clean toilets, keep the building and sports grounds clean, who water the plants and prepare the food and then serve them at the school canteen. Is it therefore a miracle that these countries have strong economies? These countries produce energetic, creative and pragmatic individuals who can think and create and get things done and to perfection. They do not create human photocopying machines who are able to perfectly place onto paper memorised jargon that they do not understand a whit.

Hence, we will conclude this write up placing below the links of the previous articles produced in this page where we had also included a set of policy ideations.

We will be happy to hand over the printed versions of these and other relevant writings to the President’s office and the team that is heading the Clean Sri Lanka initiative. We have already done our part by personally sending them to the Municipal Commissioner and some of the relevant officers. An invitation also has been extended by the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Commissioner and accepted by this writer to present these writings and the series of photographs – most of which were unpublished due to space constraints, that show the locations where garbage is thrown and burnt indiscriminately. Therefore on 26 December 2024 there will be a formal presentation at the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council hall for the senior and mid rank municipal staff on the writings which appeared in this page pertaining to the garbage situation of the district. To facilitate this presentation is a decision taken by the current Commissioner, K.M.H.W. Bandara who took up office last week.