News
For want of a nail … lack of funds led to students’ injuries from collapsed staircase
View(s):By Aanya Wipulasena
National Heritage Minister Dr. Jagath Balasuriya said on Friday that lack of funds was the cause for the collapse of a stairway at the Colombo National Museum that left 34 students injured, at least four of them with fractures on both legs according to hospital records.
Less than two-hundredth of the museum budget of Rs. 201,670,000, just Rs. 900,000, has been allocated to building maintenance for 2013, according to official records.
Premier museum in the country:The neglected entrance area
Dr. Balasuriya said the National Heritage Ministry lacked sufficient funding because most of the money collected at national sites run by his ministry went to the Central Cultural Fund (CCF), which came under the Culture and Arts Ministry. He pointed out that all the income from ticket sales at Sigiriya, for example, went to the CCF.
He said there were over 275,000 national monuments in Sri Lanka and it was difficult to maintain them with the budget allocations they get from the government. “In other South Asian countries they allocate at least 2 per cent of the country’s budget to national heritage but in Sri Lanka it is less than 1 per cent,” Dr. Balasuriya said.
The National Heritage Ministry had protested against the way the funds were allocated, and the President had asked the CCF to provide the National Heritage Ministry a certain ratio of its earnings. “That is not being implemented well,” the minister said.
On average, nearly 20,000 people visit the National Museum every month. Last year the museum had seen 25,689 foreign and 193,472 local visitors, bringing revenue that year to more than Rs. 17 million. Dr Balasuriya said this income went to the national Treasury and not directly to his ministry.
A five-member committee headed by National Heritage Ministry Additional Secretary D.G. Samarasinghe was appointed last week by Dr Balasuriya to probe the collapse of the staircase in the National Museum.
A detailed report is expected within two weeks. The committee will also inspect the museum for other areas that need renovation. The minister said the committee had learned that the staircase collapse was a result of too much pressure on it and not because the wooden flooring had decayed.
“This particular day, there had been students of five schools who came to visit after 4pm. As the museum closes at 6pm, around 300-400 students from these schools had rushed into the building.
“Usually students from school parties are asked to go one after the other in line. That day there had been officials who had asked the children to climb the staircase in this manner but they had failed to control them, and this led to the collapse,” he said. Many students suffered broken bones and at least four of them had fractures to both legs. Four students of Sumanajothi Maha Vidyalaya, Welimada are still under treatment at the National Hospital in Colombo.
The Sunday Times learns that some of the injured students had been taken sick on their way home after being discharged from hospital and had to be admitted to the Welimada General Hospital. Several are still receiving treatment at the Welimada and Badulla hospitals.
The spokesperson of the National Hospital Colombo, Pushpa Ramyani de Soysa, told the Sunday Times that although the students in the hospital were recovering well, they were still under observation and might not be able to go home for the forthcoming New Year.“
These students come from humble households. Their parents are either sand-miners or farmers. Even to go on this trip, most of them paid only a part of the payment and promised to settle the rest later,” said the Principal of Sumanajothi Maha Vidyalaya in Welimada, Mrs. Jayalatha Manike. Most of the injured students came from this school.
According to Mrs. Jayalatha even those students discharged from hospital had still not completely recovered. “Some of my students here can’t even walk yet. They can’t come to school, and most of them even missed the school term tests,” she said. She said that parents and the students were very upset as they would have to spend the New Year in bed.
“When I visited a student who had been injured that day she told me that she wishes she had not gone on this trip because now her family will have to look after her instead of preparing for the celebrations,” she said. She said the incident had frightened the students. They had asked her not to arrange any more trips to the museum. She was trying to convince them that the authorities were doing their best to avoid another accident and that it was safe to go there.
The Principal visited Colombo this week to check on her students. “This is not an easy job. It takes half a day to go to Colombo and another to come back. We don’t have places to stay in Colombo too. How can these parents afford the travelling expenses and find a place to stay?” she asked. She requested the authorities to provide compensation for the affected victims and their relatives.
When the Sunday Times spoke to the Minister Balasuriya regarding this request he said a decision on the compensation to be paid to the victims would be made at the Cabinet meeting due to be held after the New Year.
“We have already requested the relevant doctors to provide us with the medical reports of the injured to see who and how much the victims need,” he added.
In a separate incident last year, a break-in took place at the museum, and objects with historic value such as a sword and some coins went missing. Even though the police were able to arrest the person responsible for the robbery a few gems that were used to decorate the sword are still missing.
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus