{"id":100904,"date":"2020-04-08T16:57:15","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T23:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=100904"},"modified":"2020-04-08T16:57:15","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T23:57:15","slug":"dont-kill-pettah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/04\/08\/dont-kill-pettah\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t kill Pettah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chanaka Bandarage<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Even before the Portuguese\u2019\narrival, Pettah had been a major trading place. \nDue to its proximity to Colombo Port (Kolom Thota), the Kotte kings\nerected warehouses in Pettah to store spices, vegetables, fruits, grains, ivory\nand timber geared for export. Pettah (also, Fort) used to station tusker\nelephants that Sri Lanka (then Sinhale) exported to the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Dutch and the\nBritish periods, Pettah emerged as the country\u2019s main trading hub. It continues\nto be the case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In and around Pettah, the British\nbuilt such institutions as the Central Bus Stand, Fort Railway Station, Tram Station,\nManning Market (fruits and vegetables), St John\u2019s fish market, Tripoli Market, Chalmers\nGranary, Main Street\u2019s textile and Sea Street\u2019s gold centres, Front Street\u2019s\nelectrical appliances, bags and clock\/watch centres, food wholesalers around\nBankshall, Keyzer Streets and Gabo Lane areas, many small shops and boutiques in\nPettah\u2019s various Cross Streets and the small eateries and tea boutiques in St\nSebastian Road, plus, ample opportunities for pavement hawkers who traded from trinkets\nto motor vehicles! Then, the nearby Hultsdorf Court complex where several\nthousands converged daily. Due to these, Pettah has always been an exceptionally\nbusy place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is Pettah\u2019s busyness that it\nhas become such an interesting\/lively place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, it is a world famous\nplace. Overseas visitors to this country flock to see Pettah. They love the hustle\nand bustle there. The many street food outlets, the Dutch Period Museum and the\nRed Mosque are favourite tourist attractions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But since recently, the\nauthorities rather than building Pettah have been more concerned about dismantling\nPettah. It has gradually lost important landmarks\/institutions. Examples\ninclude the St John\u2019s Fish Market, Tripoli Market, Chalmers Granary,  shops\/boutiques in St Sebastian Road, removal\nof pavement hawkers and the iconic Manning Market (soon to be removed). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that they had felt\nthat Pettah is too busy and it should instead be a tranquilled, calmer place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relocating St John\u2019s Fish Market\nfrom Pettah to Peliyagoda is a major failure. It was a foolish thing to do. Business\nin Peliyagoda (which place becomes flooded during heavy rains) is not brisk. It\nis a difficult place to reach, as no public transport is available to the site.\nThose days, after work, office workers used to patronise the St John\u2019s Fish\nMarket. It is feared that once the Manning Market is shifted to Peliyagoda\n(very soon), it could face the same fate. Closing down of the Tripoli Market,\nwhich was very lively on weekends,  is sad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Manning Market MUST be closed\n(which would be a shame), there will be a public outcry if the  land is divided and sold to private property\ndevelopers to build luxury apartments (such transactions are the \u2018new fashion\u2019\nby governments). That type of a scheme would allow unscrupulous politicians to\nmake money. The precious Manning Market land belongs to people, it should\ncontinue to remain with the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The writer suggests that that\nland should be converted to a public park with trees planted and benches, water\nponds\/fountains erected. People could sit and enjoy\/relax in busy Pettah. Part\nof the area may be used to build a children\u2019s play area, also a large multistorey\ncar park (in the Railway Station end) as parking is a major problem in Pettah\/Fort.\nAfter Vihara Maha Devi Park we do not have any good parks in Colombo. Such a new\nPark would also become a huge tourist attraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is good that the pavement\nhawkers have now returned to Pettah, though in a limited way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is ludicrous to think that\nPettah should be a calm\/quiet place. It was never intended to be so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to its close proximity to\nFort Railway Station and the Central Bus Stand (both SLTB and private), Pettah\nwill continue to grow and stay busy. And we should build Pettah in that context.  The authorities should allow trade and\ncommerce to flourish in Pettah steadily. \nAgain, they should reconsider the decision, they must try to preserve\nthe Manning Market in the current location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The areas around the SLTB and\nprivate bus stands are unclean and unhygienic. They are eyesores. The offensive\nsmell that emanates from the Beira Lake especially from around Customs\nOffice\/Lake House areas is unbearable. It is sad that the authorities do not\npay attention to these (we want Sri Lanka to become the \u2018Wonder of Asia!). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many thousands frequent Pettah daily, including tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is good that new toilets\n(paid) have been built, but they do not seem to be clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recent establishment of the \u2018Pettah Floating Market\u2019 (PFM)\nis a good concept. It gave Pettah a new dimension, with its magnificent\nwaterfront becoming exposed.  However,\nthere seems to be lack of commercial activity there (except the Bake House). The\ncurrent shops have less  business. This area\ncan be developed into an open food court (Hela Bojun\/Diyatha Uyana styles). The\neateries in Olcott Mawatha are not up to the standard; also, they do not have\nvariety. Some of the shops by PFM\u2019s railway track side can be converted to\ntrendy cafes. It will be good to encourage people to use the PFM promenade also\nas a walking track (for exercise). For this, the areas up to Technical Junction\nand thereafter to Maradana Junction (opposite Elphinstone) should be well paved.\nMore shady trees and benches would be needed. The authorities must ensure that water\nin this area of the PFM Beira Lake is not toxic\/harmful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recent establishment of the small shop owners\u2019 stalls\nwhere items like clothes, caps and footwear are sold may be a good thing. True\nthey are highly congested, but Pettah\u2019s \u2018crowded\u2019 identity allows that. The\nonly drawback is that this new erection has resulted in the permanent shut down\nof the road behind the Bo Tree. Due to this, Pettah\u2019s traffic congestion has\nworsened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The condition of the new vegetable\/fruit market (retail) established\ncloser to Gaspaha Junction is of menial standard. In an open, empty building vendors\nkeep items on the floor as no proper stands\/stalls have been erected.  Erection of benches  should be considered; keeping food on the\nfloor is unattractive and un-hygienic. This is a very basic facility, it\nresembles a village pola. There is no running water there. Compared with what\nPettah used to have, what it needs is a  better,\nhigh standard  retail vegetable\/fruit\nmarket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, what the authorities\nshould do is to build\/develop Pettah. By doing this, if Pettah becomes busier,\nso be it.  We should not dismantle\ninstitutions and restrict crowds there, but allow Pettah to grow; freely, lively\nand uninterruptedly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chanaka Bandarage Even before the Portuguese\u2019 arrival, Pettah had been a major trading place.  Due to its proximity to Colombo Port (Kolom Thota), the Kotte kings erected warehouses in Pettah to store spices, vegetables, fruits, grains, ivory and timber geared for export. Pettah (also, Fort) used to station tusker elephants that Sri Lanka (then Sinhale) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chanaka-bandarage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100904\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}