Sri Lanka It's Happening

September 30, 2006

Mahinda has effectively decreed that only those who wish to employ a driver may purchase a car.

Bus travel has become well nigh impossible because of the checkpoints. At each checkpoint, everyone's identity is checked. With the buses being overloaded as they are, that is a lot of checking. Add to that the mind blowing traffic jams caused by these checkpoints, the result is that it takes at least an hour to travel 10 kilometers by bus. Double it if you have to change buses halfway through.

So unless you can afford the exorbitant fares charged by three wheelers and don't mind all the smoke and dust associated with three wheeler travel, the only option is a car of your own. Now comes the trick question. Where do you park it?

The beloved president has decreed that there should be no parking on either side of the road on the main roads in Colombo. Parking at even designated parking slots is no longer allowed. That means you need to park a long way away and walk to your destination.

Walking in Colombo is no easy task. It's either boiling hot or pouring with rain. You have to constantly keep an eye open for policemen. Not because they will stop you for jay walking, but because police drivers love to run over pedestrians. Ask the relatives of the three persons who died in Borella couple of weeks ago after being hit by a police bus.

Posted by raditha at September 30, 2006 9:19 AM