Sugathadasa Stadium track: whose baby is it?
About a year ago, a brilliantly blue synthetic surface was laid at the Sugathadasa Stadium to replace the worn and faded red track which had faithfully served the facility over a lengthy period of time. However the facelift recently proved to be ill-fated with sections of the track peeling off. Considering the enormous expenditure and short length of service of the surface, the setback is a costly and embarrassing blow. So who should shoulder the blame for it?
 There is a Director General of Sports and a Sports Minister. So I think from the top to the bottom of the organization those who had any involvement in the installation and maintenance of the new track should be answerable to somebody. - Janaka Dharmapriya (Public sector employee) |
 The money for the project was allocated by the Sports Minister. The company given the contract for the job was selected by the Sports Minister. So the minister has final approval on everything. He and his entire chain of command should carry the blame. The main reason problems like this arise is there is favouritism when selecting the contractor. - K.M Rupasinghe (Teacher) |
 I think the blame must lie with the contractor because they were given the task of properly laying a track that should have matched international standards and lasted for several competitions. But it has only been about one year and it has already started coming apart. The people responsible for inspecting the condition of the track should also be held accountable for either not noticing or caring that the surface was coming apart. Something should be done because these are public funds they have wasted. - Lucky Thilakaratne (Student) |
 We can’t blame the company who laid the new surface because at the end of the day they are doing a business and like any business they will be looking to lessen their costs and increase their profits. The only person who should be held accountable is the Sports Minister. Ultimately he is the man in charge of everything and it is his job to make sure everybody is working properly. - Priyantha Perera (Three-wheel driver) |
 The entire track is not damaged, only certain areas of it. These are common things that happen anywhere in the world. I can’t speak a lot about it because I don’t know all the technical details. There are a lot of people who say things about something without properly understanding the subject. - Brigadier Priyantha Samaratunga (Chairman of the Sugathadasa Stadium Complex) |
 When you put down a new surface I think it is common sense that you can’t immediately start holding several events on it. You need to make sure that it is absolutely ready to host athletic meets and other events where people are going to be running on it at top speed. But the authorities at the stadium did not do this and instead opened it up immediately for many sports events in order to show off their handiwork. - Wasantha Dissanayake (Private sector employee) |