• JICA project final Rs. 1 b on hold due to debt restructuring
• Only 4,000 houses, commercial properties have sewage outlets connected to Wastewater Management System
• 6,000 more units yet to be connected 

Building the necessary infrastructure facilities to collect wastewater generated from kitchens, bathrooms, and toilets spread across 733 hectares and providing connections to 12,200 private residences, State institutions, and commercial property units in a densely congested city with complex topography is no easy task. 

Nevertheless, the Kandy New Wastewater Management System completed three stages of the project and held a ceremonial opening in November 2021 with the participation of then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

During a recent field visit to the densely-populated low-income houses situated in the Mahaiyawa Municipal Council section and Mahaiyawa Model Tenement, The Sunday Morning witnessed first-hand the difficulties in maintaining sanitation facilities even with some infrastructure provided by various State-initiated development projects that had taken place over the years.

Public restroom woes 

In anticipation of our arrival, some of the residents from both administrative sections of Mahaiyawa had gathered at the Kandy City Wastewater Management Zone II office located near the Mahaiyawa Sub-Post Office.

Voicing her grievances, Mahaiyawa Sub-Post Office Sub-Postmaster K.S. Shyamali Silva explained that the common toilet which had been built when the project office had been functioning was in a deplorable state.

“I work here from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and have to bear the unpleasant smells emanating from it. It gets worse when there are torrential rains as the pits start to overflow. Over the years, persons addicted to drugs have removed the fittings, but people access the facility and defecate. Recently, the water supply for the common toilet was disconnected. However, people still use the facility,” she said. 

While Silva only has to endure the discomfort during her work hours, the residents of the Mahaiyawa Municipal Council section had different concerns. A. Dilrukshi, a fifth-generation resident of the area, said that there had been pushback from the community when the project office had decided to build the facility.

“Initially we were told that the common toilets were built for the officials who were working on the Wastewater Management Project. As time went by, people who passed through the area started to access the facility. We did not entertain the idea of having a common toilet facility right at the entrance to our lane. We want this facility removed because it is posing severe health threats to our community and is an eyesore,” Dilrukshi lamented.

Before the common toilets were built, there had been a grocery store where the toilet now stands. A resident from the Mahaiyawa Model Tenement shared that the shop owner had been evicted with no compensation provided and that the municipal council had not allocated him new business premises to conduct his trade.

“The shop owner’s family waited for justice to be served, but later gave up and relocated to Colombo. There is so much our communities endure. Despite many of the residents being employed at the Kandy Municipal Council as waste collectors, sweepers, and parking ticket wardens, our sanitation needs are neglected. We serve the city to keep it clean and pleasant for everyone, yet we have to live amidst overflowing pits and no systematic way to dispose of waste and wastewater.”

Exacerbated by rains

“Five years have passed since these pipelines were laid and pits were dug and built to provide the wastewater connection. Yet, the project has not provided the connection to send the wastewater generated from our homes to the main system. When there are torrential downpours in Kandy, water gets stuck in these and the toilets that we use currently overflow and flood wastewater inside our homes,” Shirley Arnolda, a resident of the Mahaiyawa Model Tenement explained.

According to Arnolda, after the project work had been completed, the road which had thereafter been paved with concrete had not been restored, which posed a challenge as the rains would erode the paths and cause the pipelines to protrude, thus creating room for water to collect there after the rains. The residents had complained to the municipal council, the project office, and the Police environment unit regarding this matter to no avail.

“We had to then raise funds within the community to purchase necessary building materials such as sand, stones, and cement to cover this up. We have little knowledge in road construction, so as you can see, it is still prone to erosion when the rains come,” Arnolda demonstrated, standing next to the entrance lane leading to his house and those of many others.

The houses located in the Mahaiyawa Model Tenement have toilets and bathrooms built into the houses, therefore the residents in this locality were keen on getting their wastewater connections immediately. However, the challenge was to draw the necessary pipelines from the back of their houses to the main road to connect to the Wastewater Management System.

“Our grievances fell on deaf ears. Last year, the project office said that if the residents could pay and get the necessary pipelines drawn and the connector fixed, they could ensure that the wastewater would be directed to the main line. There was a catch to that proposal; we had to bear the costs to draw the lines from our households,” Arnolda elaborated. 

The Sunday Morning learns that a private contractor affiliated with the Kandy Municipal Council Water Supply and Wastewater Management Office had requested varying amounts to provide the necessary labour while the homeowners had to purchase and supply the building material.

Capacity building an urgent necessity 

Speaking to The Sunday Morning on the challenges faced by the municipal council, Kandy Municipal Council Chief Health and Medical Officer Dr. Pasan Jayasinghe said: “Kandy City municipal limits cater to the water and sanitation needs of tax-paying residents and business owners who number approximately 125,000. In addition, we have a daily footfall of 375,000 visitors who access the city for tourism, administrative needs, schooling, work, and medical requirements, to name a few. 

“The facility built with international agency funds provides us with capacity to accommodate sanitation needs of up to 300,000 people. We currently run over capacity, especially when there are torrential rains or when there is overcrowding in the city, for instance over the holidays.”

Dr. Jayasinghe reiterated that even if communities or businesses complained about pollution caused by improper wastewater disposal, given the limited staff which included five Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) and himself, there were mounting challenges in attending to all complaints.

“Ideally, one PHI should provide their services to 10,000 persons in the field. However, although I am the Chief Health and Medical Officer, I have to take over some of the field visits. Each of us has to oversee double the capacity of people. We then have to ensure that visitors to the city are provided with hygienic sanitation facilities as well as to ensure that eateries are selling hygienically prepared food. We have serious capacity issues when executing field duties in a city that serves 500,000 people’s sanitation needs,” Dr. Jayasinghe elaborated.

When asked about the Kandy New Wastewater Management System and its incomplete connectivity, Dr. Jayasinghe said that he too had had to bear the cost of drawing the necessary pipelines from his house to the wastewater connectors that would complete the connection to the main pipeline.

“Not everyone can bear the costs of building materials and paying for labour these days to ensure their sanitation facilities are connected to the Wastewater Management System. While I can speak for my personal experiences, I cannot comment on the delays in completing the project. I am well aware of the broader impacts and inconveniences it is causing to the citizens of Kandy,” he noted.

JICA holds back Rs. 1 billion

Despite almost three years having passed, the project is yet to reach completion as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) – the executing bilateral aid agency – has not released the final Rs. 1 billion which would fulfil the fund allocation required to complete the project’s final stage.

An official at the project office in Getambe, Kandy told The Sunday Morning that he could furnish some basic information, but was not in a position to provide a detailed explanation or the precise dates on which the last Rs. 1 billion would be released by JICA.

“The reason JICA has given for not releasing the final Rs. 1 billion to complete the last leg of the project is Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring. With the Rs. 21 billion we received in three packages to complete the three stages of surveying, planning, and building infrastructure to establish the Wastewater Management System, at least 4,000 households, commercial properties (State and private), and institutions (State and private) are utilising the facilities. The balance monies, upon receipt, will enable the connecting of the remaining 6,000 wastewater connections,” the official explained. 

Although The Sunday Morning attempted to contact the Kandy Municipal Council Commissioner for comment, we were informed that the Commissioner had been called to attend an official discussion in Colombo and would only be available at the office on Monday (20).

Civil society, community development collectives step in

While low-income families in six localities in Kandy, namely Mahaiyawa, Deiyannewela, Suduhumpola, Galewatta, Pathana Watte, and Nagastenna, face mounting sanitation issues, civil society organisations such as the Women’s Development Centre (WDC) have stepped in to ease the burden on the Kandy Municipal Council Health and Medical Office.

“We are grateful to the officials at the WDC who work closely with us to create awareness among these communities on sanitation and safe water usage. The community development initiatives they have carried out have had a positive outcome in changing behaviour patterns and attitudes of these low-income families on using sanitation facilities in a hygienic manner,” Dr. Jayasinghe added.

The WDC has collaborated with the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ), which acts as the Sri Lankan member organisation for the Freshwater Action Network South Asia (FANSA). 

“This partnership between the CEJ and the WDC aims to fulfil Sustainable Development Goal 6 for safe water and sanitation. With the WDC having initiated several community development projects in areas populated by low-income families in Kandy with limited access to safe water and sanitation, we can provide them with the necessary legal framework and technical knowledge to improve such facilities and conduct awareness sessions with expert input,” CEJ Executive Director Dilena Pathragoda explained.

(Note: The field visit to visit the Mahaiyawa low-income families was coordinated by the Women’s Development Centre)