{"id":83833,"date":"2024-03-31T00:45:08","date_gmt":"2024-03-31T04:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=83833"},"modified":"2024-03-31T02:59:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-31T06:59:30","slug":"83833","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=83833","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIsso vadai\u201dCart and \u201cKottu Rotti\u201dStand Vendors Forbidden on Galle Face Green from 2024 Independence Day; SLPMCS Cites Sanitation Issues as Reason but Others Suspecct \u201cGentrification” of vendors and Plans of moving them to Underground spaces as real motive"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy Mimi Alphonsus<\/strong><\/p>\n

When renowned global TV chef and documentarian, Anthony Bourdain, tried street food on Galle Face Green for his episode in Sri Lanka in 2017, the public seaside walkway bustled with \u201cissovadai\u201d carts and \u201ckottu\u201d stands. Today, it\u2019s a starkly different story.<\/p>\n

The vendors say the authorities have told them to clear out. Some have returned home, to Slave Island, without work. But many have shifted their carts to the Galle Road border, resisting police and risking turf wars with preexisting roadside sellers.<\/p>\n

Galle Face Green goes back to 1859 when it was used for British colonial sporting events. Over the years, it transformed into an iconic space where the public gather to eat street food, fly kites and watch the spectacular sunsets.<\/p>\n

Nowhere to go<\/strong><\/p>\n

One vendor who has sold \u201cvadai\u201d there since the 1990s insisted they were the original \u201ckeepers\u201d of the landmark: \u201cBefore the soda sellers came; before the Municipality set up stands in 1996; before the UDA [Urban Development Authority] introduced plastic \u2018Coca-Cola\u2019 shops in 2014; before Gotabaya [Rajapaksa] built the cement stalls under the walkway and rented them out in 2022; before all of this, our mobile vadai carts were here.\u201d<\/p>\n

They all now risk permanent eviction, they allege. The Sri Lanka Port Management & Consultancy Services (Pvt.) Ltd. (SLPMCS), a government-owned company under the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) removed vendors for Independence Day celebrations. This was standard practice. This time, however, they were not allowed to return.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally, we come back to Galle Face around 3pm after Independence Day celebrations are over,\u201d said one cart-seller. Fearing the authorities, he, like a majority of those interviewed, asked not to be named. \u201cSo, we bought the prawns and made the vadai but it was all for nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their businesses run on debt, he explained. They borrow money to buy produce for the weekend and settle the lenders the next day. And having to sell on the Galle Road, to where they have shifted, has hurt their income.<\/p>\n

One vadai vendor who claims to be licensed said he regularly made between Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 25,000 on a Friday. This has now dropped to around Rs. 10,000. He has worked at Galle Face for three decades.<\/p>\n

Mohammed Arshath is a construction worker who helps out a cart-seller during his free hours. Since the vendors are not licensed to work on the Galle Road they are often \u201charassed\u201d by police, he said. There are daily altercations.<\/p>\n

Another vendor works for a relative who has a permit. She is worried about her family. \u201cWe pulled our daughter out of her IT course during the last few months we didn\u2019t have enough money,\u201d she said. \u201cAs we don\u2019t have a pass, we can\u2019t fight to keep our right to Galle Face. We have to hope that our relatives do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The soft drink-sellers in the cement shops, too, expressed opposition to the SLPMCS plan. \u201cWe want the vendors to come near the sea,\u201d said Chaminda Vithanage. \u201cThere are fewer customers since they have left. Once people eat vadai, they will also want a drink from us.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nSanitation or gentrification?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The authorities have claimed they are concerned about food standards and public health. Some vendors admitted there have been sanitation issues largely among unlicensed vendors who set up on Galle Face Green during COVID-19 and the economic crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t know this profession well so the PHIs (public health inspectors) found rotten food and the use of incorrect methods,\u201d said one vendor. \u201cBut they were struggling financially so we felt we shouldn\u2019t say anything against them selling here with us.\u201d He requested anonymity.<\/p>\n

Inspections by the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) earlier this year did reveal some sanitation issues, the Sunday Times verified. Consequently, the PHIs jointly with SLPMCS conducted a workshop on cleanliness, CMC health officials said. They also vaccinated vendors for typhoid. But the CMC said they did not order the sellers out and that only SLPMCS was mandated to take punitive action, where necessary.<\/p>\n

Vendors don\u2019t believe public health concerns are the main reason for recent actions. They claimed that, even before they were cleared out on February 4 this year, SLPMCS officials had tried to chase them out saying vadai carts make the area unappealing to the Port City and high-end developments.<\/p>\n

Pointing to the new Indian ITC Ratnadipa hotel that is opening next month, Vijayakumar, who has been a seller for over 40 years, said the intensive policing only started after the new developments. \u201cThey have wanted us cleared for a long time, but especially now with the ITC,\u201d said Tuan Nazar Najeem (Toyna), the owner of Nana\u2019s Kottu stand. Nana\u2019s has been shut down since COVID-19 and never permitted to reopen.<\/p>\n

During interviews with vendors, it was even suggested that the government planned to \u201csell\u201d Galle Face Green to private developers. These fears have basis in fact, they said. <\/p>\n

In 2003, when Galle Face Green was under the UDA, a management contract was planned to be signed with a private company. But the Supreme Court ruled that, since the contract entailed payment by the management company to the UDA, it was more of a lease than a management contract; and therefore amounted to a wrongful attempt \u201cto pass into private hands\u201d public property.<\/p>\n

Rumours and lack of information<\/strong><\/p>\n

The absence of clear communication from SLPMCS has left vendors confused and fearful. It has also birthed rumours\u2013such as that some sellers have been promised Rs. 3mn each to give up their permits.<\/p>\n

The different licence statuses of vendors do not help. Some haven\u2019t paid their fees for several months. And after a month of pursuing the SLPMCS for a meeting, some vendors received a letter with the SLPMCS stamp and letterhead demanding that they settle their arrears (Rs. 2,500 is charged per month).<\/p>\n

These sellers maintained that they hadn\u2019t paid their dues because the SLPMCS had agreed to a waiver in view of serious economic challenges. But many admitted that they had run up arrears even before COVID-19.<\/p>\n

The letter also said only the first ten to pay up will be given the spots. But there are 29 sellers who claim to have permits. Vijayakumar alleged that this was \u201can ugly attempt to divide\u201d them.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Secretary of the Galu Muwadora Velanda Sangamaya (Galle Face Vendors Society) Gamini David met with SLPMCS officials on Thursday after calling off a scheduled protest, allegedly at the behest of the police. He said these officials accused many vendors of operating with irregular licences.<\/p>\n

Attempts to push a few vendors into the cement stalls and to expel the rest demonstrate a lack of thought for both vendors and customers, said Iromi Perera, a researcher at Colombo Urban Lab which advocates for equitable and sustainable cities in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

\u201cGentrification of vendors and moving them to designated spaces without consultation is not new and has happened at the Pettah floating market and the Manning market in Peliyagoda,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to mimic what you think is a world-class aesthetic but losing the unique identity of Galle Face and its iconic carts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat customer would want to sit in an underground concrete shop without the view of the sea, just looking at a concrete wall?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

French tourists visiting Galle Face to try the famous \u201cissovadai\u201d said they enjoyed the carts. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to taste the local food and it\u2019s nice to see the vendors next to the big hotels,\u201d one said. \u201cIf there are big developments, there is no soul and no reason to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the vendors Sunday Times interviewed, many had started working at Galle Face as children. Many others took over the trade from their relatives. Selling street food is their traditional employment, they said, and that access to Galle Face Green was their ancestral right.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey celebrated the country\u2019s independence,\u201d one woman said, \u201cand then took away ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courtesy: Sunday Times<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mimi Alphonsus When renowned global TV chef and documentarian, Anthony Bourdain, tried street food on Galle Face Green for his episode in Sri Lanka in 2017, the public seaside walkway bustled with \u201cissovadai\u201d carts and \u201ckottu\u201d stands. Today, it\u2019s a starkly different story. The vendors say the authorities have told them to clear out. …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘\u201cIsso vadai\u201dCart and \u201cKottu Rotti\u201dStand Vendors Forbidden on Galle Face Green from 2024 Independence Day; SLPMCS Cites Sanitation Issues as Reason but Others Suspecct \u201cGentrification” of vendors and Plans of moving them to Underground spaces as real motive’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83833"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83833"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83837,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83833\/revisions\/83837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}