Dr Sarath Obeysekera

A recent news item showed former students who studied in socialist countries joining hands with the Russian Cultural Centre to clean parts of Colombo. While such initiatives are commendable, they also remind us of a painful reality: Sri Lanka’s cleanliness problem is not caused by a lack of cleaning campaigns. It is caused by a lack of discipline.

Having studied in the Soviet Union during the 1970s, I witnessed first-hand how a society could function with remarkable order and civic responsibility.

During my years there, I never saw members of the public casually dumping garbage on roadsides, canals, parks, or public spaces. Waste collection was organized systematically, often during late-night hours when public inconvenience was minimized. The streets were clean not because thousands of people were mobilized for periodic cleaning drives, but because people simply did not litter.

In the student dormitories where we lived, responsibility was shared. Occupants of each floor were assigned duties to clean common kitchens, sweep corridors, and maintain shared facilities. Anyone neglecting these duties faced reprimand from fellow residents and administrators. Cleanliness was not considered somebody else’s responsibility.

The same discipline was visible throughout society.

Power cuts were virtually unheard of. Water supplies were uninterrupted. Telephone connections in residential flats were provided without the exorbitant charges common elsewhere. Residents did not have to worry about municipal rates and multiple taxes for basic services. The state planned, maintained, and delivered services with clockwork precision.

The Soviet system certainly had its shortcomings. Yet one lesson stands out clearly: a nation cannot progress without discipline, accountability, and respect for public property.

Today in Sri Lanka, millions of rupees are spent annually cleaning drains, canals, beaches, roads, and public parks. Within days, many of these places are polluted once again. Plastic bottles, food wrappers, polythene bags, and construction debris reappear because the mindset has not changed.

We continue to treat public spaces as nobody’s property.

The “Clean Sri Lanka” initiative will succeed only if it goes beyond slogans and ceremonial events. Citizens must understand that keeping the country clean is not the responsibility of municipal workers alone. Schools, workplaces, apartment complexes, businesses, religious institutions, and households must all be held accountable.

Local authorities should be empowered to impose substantial fines for littering. Public institutions should be evaluated on cleanliness standards. Schoolchildren should be taught civic responsibility from an early age. Apartment residents should share responsibility for maintaining common areas. Commercial establishments that pollute should face strict penalties.

Most importantly, political leaders must lead by example.

A clean nation is not created by one-day campaigns, media events, or speeches. It is created by a culture of discipline practiced every day by every citizen.

Sri Lanka does not need to copy every aspect of the Soviet model. But it would do well to adopt one of its most valuable lessons: public order and national progress begin when citizens understand that their rights come with responsibilities.

Until that happens, “Clean Sri Lanka” risks becoming another slogan. With discipline, however, it can become a national transformation.

I placed a snippet  in face book about the precarious road side garbage dumped along the RDA road in Kimbulawala in Kotte 

Irony is garbage dumped near the police post where the cops sitting inside surging mobile phone and does not bother about garbage on drain and next to the police post 

When I told him they said Sir we cannot do much Public should learn !

Sarath Obeysekera

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera