Civic responsibility in action: Three individuals mark Independence clearing garbage all day

IF you travelled in the district of Matale on 4 February, the day we commemorate each year a purported freedom, you would have seen this unique sight.

- BY THE HARMONY PAGE TEAM

Thisara Prabash and Hansani celebrate Independence Day by going above and beyond for a garbage-free country

Three individuals on two motorcycles were commemorating Sri Lanka's Independence Day in a manner the entire country should emulate.

They were not taking part in parades.

They were collecting bags of roadside rubbish.

After collecting about 5 to 10 bags, they were handing them over to municipal trucks, summoned earlier, and then moving to the next area, handpicking beer cans, plastic bottles, chocolate and biscuit wrappers, and everything you can imagine. Who organised this? Which NGO, INGO or donor agency provided the funding? Was this initiative organised by the Government? Who arranged for us to appear at the exact spot at the exact time they were hauling rubbish left by a citizenry celebrating a so-called Independence Day? The answers to these questions are as follows: no one.

The organisers were neither the State nor any international or local aid agency. There was no one to fund their petrol, to provide them with snacks or drinks, and certainly there was no PR company to get them into the newspaper.