A garbage dump in Meethotamulla that was close to homes collapsed against a wall. The wave of garbage destroyed about 145 homes. 7 children and 19 adults have been removed from the site as dead. 12 have so far been admitted to hospitals. Due to a holiday there may be as many as 100 people from out of town still buried there.
The government had approved the garbage to be dumped on this site. Waste had been piled up to 30 meters high. The government did not set up an oversight board. There were no rules. A university professor had warned the government since last year due to rising methane levels there would be a collapse of the garbage mountain.
It happened here as it does in so many problem areas. Depraved indifference in regards to the human beings affected stepped in to be the ruling factor. When government gets involved as it did here to protect its image, the cause of the problem is voiced loudly. "It was the victims fault." Claims of we told them to move and offered them money to do so was loudly proclaimed. There is a problem with that. When you lay the blame on the victims you should have had the proof available for the press. One person should have done this. There is a whole lot of officials with a tale to share with anyone who will listen. I say ""No, thanks." My personal tales are more enjoyable and I don't have to tell them to anyone.
I watched news feeds and read information from the following links before blogging.
http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2017/04/17/sri-lanka-garbage-dump-collapse-orig-vstan.cnn
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/04/17/garb-a17.html
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/04/17/garb-a17.html
http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Meethotamulla-a-disaster-that-could-have-easily-been-avoided-EDITORIAL-127266.html
http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Meethotamulla-tragedy--127303.html
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