Some heartening  news we heard recently was that the Colombo Municipality is now being administered by a Special Commissioner. Our thanks go the Chief Minister for the change effected. It is a well known fact that the premier local authority in the island is one of the, if not the worst run public institutions in the country. A  wag commented that it is garbage inside and garbage outside and naturally, it stinks.

It won’t be an easy task for the new Special Commissioner. He must be wondering from where to start the cleaning up.  There will be the crooks, politicians, a lethargic bureaucracy at higher levels and a corrupt set of officers at lower rungs standing in his way in effecting any improvements to the system.

We, the tax payers, hope that the new Special Commissioner and the Commissioner whom  we are told are two experienced and honest officers from the Sri Lanka Administrative Service will bring about the much needed change to make the city a pleasant place to live.