The garbage that gets collected in the Balapitiya Pradeshiya Sabha has been dumped in a land area located in the Heenati South Grama Niladhari division for several years. This practise had been done for so long without taking any of the environmental factors into consideration. The unbearable stench and other health concerns such as the risk of heightening mosquito breeding grounds have become a threat to the health and wellbeing of all the residents in the area.
The residents have sought the intervention of the Balapitiya Pradeshiya Sabha to get the officials to help end this garbage dumping problem. However, nothing had been done irrespective of the number of pleas and complaints that were made.
Harshana* a resident of the area heard about the Right to Information (RTI) Act through a workshop conducted by SLPI with the financial assistance of USAID-SDGAP programme.
He filed an application to the Balapitiya Pradeshiya Sabha regarding this issue. The request was filed in December 2018. Harshana received a reply within a few weeks of applying from the Information Officer at the Pradeshiya Sabha. The officer’s response was that they were taking measures to clear the garbage dump.
Soon after, the Pradeshiya Sabha made arrangements and sent a backhoe to pile sand on top of the garbage heap. It was their promise that this will be done each month and that they will also fumigate in order to maintain an eco-friendly environment. The Pradeshiya Sabha also mentioned that the land on which the garbage was dumped was a privately-owned land and that they would find a suitable State property and to move the garbage dumping site and take measures to recycle the material.
While the Pradeshiya Sabha has continued to take measures to prevent the emission stench with fumigation, villagers are keen on making sure the dumping site is removed permanently from their area. The residents have filed another RTI application seeking to know the details of the progress of the said action about a State property that could be used for this purpose. The residents await a response for this and vow to be vigilant and fight to get information that they need using RTI.
Harshana said that he felt like a hero after the villagers started praising him for directing them in using the RTI Act. He said that he is motivated and encouraged to use the Act in the future to help people in his area.
This update was prepared by participants of the Information and Communication Training Workshop conducted by the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) through a grant funded by the United States Agency for International Development through the Strengthening Democratic Governance and Accountability Project Activity.
“The contents of this post are the sole responsibility of SLPI and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.”
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