Gammadda: Fishermen demand a "Gammadda Pradeshiya Mandapaya"

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Sri Lankans living in urbanized cities have got accustomed to the use of bottled water. Travelling further and further away from the urbanized cities in the country we met a group of people who have been forced to resort to drinking mud water to quench their thirst. All the residents of the Suhandipuram village in Mulathivu depend on three wells. Members of over 950 families in this village have no other option but to drink this muddy water to quench their thirst. According to the villagers, these wells started to get contaminated 6 years ago. Despite the authorities being notified of this problem on numerous occasions, not a single responsible official had addressed this issue. These people who have been forced to drink muddy water, are constantly hospitalized. Even to get this muddy water they have to travel at least 20 kilometres to reach. Meanwhile, 150 families living in Pudumathalan village in Mulathivu are suffering from lack of clean drinking water. These villagers have to travel 1km daily to get water from a well. The water that they use is not suitable for human consumption. The residents of Kallagolla village in Millatigaspitiya have dreamed for years of quenching their thirst with a drop of clean water. Although the provincial council had begun a water project in the area, according to the residents it was not a success. At the end instead of providing water to the people in the area, a sum of Rs 900,000 used to that end was flushed down the drain. The fishing community of Dodamduuwa Galle also spoke of their issues with the Gammadda team. The wave breaker of the Dodamduuwa fisheries harbour is damaged. The waves of the ocean now hit the shore. Due to this several boats docked at the fisheries harbour have already been badly damaged. A local noted that "the government is appointing the person who knows about farms to the fisheries sector and appointing the person who knows about fisheries to the farming sector. He added that they even don't know who their subject minister is now" The light at the signalling tower at the fisheries harbour resembles candlelight. Ideally, the brightness of this Signaling tower should light the way for fishermen sailing on boats 10 kilometres out in the sea, but the fishermen in Dodamduwa only see the Signaling tower after having navigated on their own through the seas. A local requested the Sirasa Media organization to organize the program named as "Gammadda Pradeshiya Mandapaya", where you bring the relevant Ministers and officials to the village, in Dodamduwa.