Sigiriya toilets out of order; tourists asked to go to jungle
Posted on February 24th, 2017
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
– See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk
I wrote about the Sad State of Sigiriya few months back .I mentioned the issues faced by not only tourists and our locals who are second class citizens” !
Security and officers of and the officers of the department of archeology hang around the gates looking for foreigners who want to cheat the system by trying visit with tickets for locals which is much cheaper and do not inquire about the sanitary conditions of the premises.
.During my visit I noted that touts selling artifacts at three –four time the price just before the entrance to Tourist car park where shops are located .When I confronted one and ask them why they rip off foreigners and even locals one local thud came charging at me .
SigirIya management is a disgrace and the minister in charge should visit Sigiriya incognito and see it himself and may opt commit suicide
Quote below is what I wrote to Lanka web last November
SAD STATE OF SIGIRIYA
We Just returned from one of the World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka today. Despite the fact that I should not be climbing up the lion rock due to my age ,I had a lion,s heart to overcome my own reluctance and fear and I concurred.
Rock was full of foreigners of European ,Chinese and many other nationalities who are charged 4350 Rs where I was charged only 80 Rs ,Of course for 80 Rs I was not supposed to bring my car to the gate hence we had to hire three wheeler paying 300 Rs to get to the Local” gate after a de tour .I did not get the wash room facility like in foreign sectors ( which reminded me of apartheid in South Africa ) where an attendant was standing at the door ( interestingly there was a notice board that it is free to use) ,who expected the foreigner (who discharged his refuse” on our land ) is rewarded with a toilet paper half-roll when you enter and he keeps smiling .
I knew all these as I came down running to have pee and found that with all the precautions, toilet was smelling .I did not mind because local toilet is worse and stinks .
If your remember I wrote about toilets in the museum in Pollonnaruwa .there were notice boards indicating for locals” and for foreigners”
I noted that so called guides carrying an umbrella pestering locals as well as foreigners to use them and charging exorbitant prices. I also observed that quite elderly men and women were trying hard to climb up with the help of guides who lose consciousness after hearing about their fee after they descend.
We should ask UNESCO to provide a First Aid with some ambulance type device to bring down and person who can get ill due to steep climbing .Even at half way point there are no officers or para medics to attend to any emergency .Some stairs were badly rusting and wobbly and yet Department of Archaeology turns blind eye to defective structures. At the entry point they could have given some printed material about the rock as the guides who speak foreign languages were uttering nonsense
Department guards look at local people who may be fair in colour with suspicion and my wife who was wearing a foreign attire was almost stopped until she blabbered in our language
On the way down scrupulous traders were milking money out of ignorant foreigners by charging 10 times for their artefacts and destroy the Sri Lankan name .
Department should privatize the whole Sigiriya Rock to a party who may run the establishment in a better way so that they spend more money for the welfare of locals as well as foreigners .
THEY SHOULD ISSUE AN EOI (EXPRESSION OF INTEREST ) ( OR USE SWISS CHALLENEG !) AND ISSUE RFP (REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL ) AND THEN HAND OVER THE MAANGEMENT TO A FOREIGN PARTY AT A ROCK” BOTTOM PRICE AS USULLUALLY THEY DO
THEN THEY CAN GIVE THE JOB OF RUNNING SIGIRIYA TO A SOMEONE IN THEIR OWN DYNASTY !
Unquote
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
February 24th, 2017 at 5:43 am
Indian colony.
February 24th, 2017 at 8:18 am
This is what the Sinhala modayas did by choosing traitor YAMA PALLAN headed by traitor chief die hard catholic
token Buddhist Batalande Wadakaya pol pot r@nil wickramaSinhalakiller. Sri Lanka was booming under MR.
Sinhala modayas, tamils, mussies for the first time had a chance to see motorways for real in their lives.
Not only that they even managed to travel on them. They were given the chance to go about their lives without the fear of getting blown into smithereens.
All the regimes before MR didn’t manage to build an inch of motorway in the country. Only thing they were good at
was murder, mayhem and robbery. But catholic-run Sri Lankan media managed to hoodwink Sinhala modayas and
branded MR & co were gang of thieves. Unsurprisingly Sinhala modayas fell for it and got rid of MR. Sri Lanka
started going in the opposite direction. These traitor YAMA PALLAN are only good at murder, mayhem, treachery
and robbery. Remember BHEESHANA SAMAYA, REMEMBER 30 YEAR OLD ‘UNWINNABLE WAR’? MURDER, MURDER
MAYHEM, ROBBERY AND TREACHERY. THOSE ARE THE ONLY THINGS THESE YAMA PALLAN GOOD AT.
MR did what these traitor YAMA PALLAN WOULD DO IN 500 YEARS. No point saying these things to traitor Sinhala modayas. TRAITOR YAMA PALLAN CAN’T KEEP A TOILET OR STREET CLEAN LET ALONE RUN A COUNTRY YOU SINHALA MODAYAS SHOULD UNDERSTAND BY NOW!
February 24th, 2017 at 1:50 pm
SRILANKANS AND FOREIGNERS ARE KINDLY REQUESTED TO DEFECATE IN THE OPEN, LIKE TAMIL NADU, INDIA.
Just Digressing:- Daily News Item reads, By Gazette Notification, It is compulsory that **A Motor Cycle and its Pillion Rider wear Helmuts***