Today the world has developed in many fields and it is said that the whole world has become one global village. But does it mean that all these resources have been equally distributed among the parts of the world? As much as it’s sad to say, the answer is no. There are people still living in many parts of the world without access to basic needs such as housing, water, toilets and even electricity. In developing countries like Sri Lanka, the number of people living without basic facilities is high. People have been involved in various attempts to get those basic facilities from the government. There are many shortcomings in the basic facilities thus obtained by struggling. But in many cases; People’s requests are just requests and just papers.
Similarly, a newspaper recently reported on the people of Araba Nagar, Kokkulankal area who are suffering from lack of basic needs. The news was that the people of Araba Nagar, Kokkulankal area were living without basic facilities such as drinking water, latrines, road development and electricity. We asked the Irakkamam Divisional Secretariat and the Addalaichenai Divisional Secretariat why basic facilities were not provided to those people through RTI. The two Divisional Secretariats gave different answers to each other.
Irakkamam and Addalaichenai Divisional Secretariats were asked what steps have been taken by the Divisional Secretariat to provide these basic facilities. The Irakkam Divisional Secretariat said that electricity and toilet facilities have been provided. However, the Adalaichenai Divisional Secretariat said that activities are underway to provide electricity to the people in the area.
We also questioned that if the basic facilities were not provided to the people of the area, the reason should be stated and if the basic facilities were provided, the amount spent on the project should be stated. The two divisional secretariats did not respond.
The Irakkam Divisional Secretariat had given important information about this Araba Nagar, Kokkulankal. That is, there is an unresolved border issue between Addalaichenai and Irakkamam Divisional Secretariats. Action was taken by the Government Agent to resolve this. And it is yet to be resolved as they were stopped by the “Theegavabi” people when they went to show the boundary by the Land Survey Department.
In this situation, the Addalaichenai Divisional Secretariat has given a grant to a person from Akkaraipattu and certain families have been settled in the land without the permission of the Addalaichenai Divisional Secretary. The Irakkamam Divisional Secretariat further stated that the basic facilities can be provided only after linking them with the Irakkamam Divisional Secretariat. However, it is noteworthy that the information provided by Adalaichenai did not provide any information about this.
When the two Divisional Secretariats cannot say for sure which Divisional Secretariat the people of this area belong to, who will provide the solution to their problems?
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