Parking Touts: CMC Fails To Act
The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) has failed to take action against parking touts who continue to operate at key locations in the city.
Parking touts carry out the duties of parking wardens for a fee charged from the drivers.
CMC traffic division Director, Nihal Wickramaratne told The Sunday Leader that only authorised persons can charge for street parking.
He said that tenders are given to reputed companies to have parking wardens and the wardens must issue a receipt to the drivers.
He also said that all parking wardens are required to wear t-shirts or jackets with the company name and other details.
Wickramaratne said that the public can complain to the CMC or police if they are harassed by parking touts.
Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said that the CMC is in charge of parking wardens and anyone operating outside the system can be arrested.
Parking touts can be seen near the Department of Motor Traffic in Narahenpita, as well as near Asiri Hospital, Castle Street Hospital and other heavily populated locations.
Drivers and area residents raised security concerns over the parking touts as it is believed that most of them use the money for drugs.
Apart from having authorised parking wardens, the CMC last year introduced parking metres for the Colombo city.
Under the first phase of the project, launched as a Private Partnership Project (PPP) two roads were covered.
The project included installation of about 140 parking metres along the entire Galle Road, R.A. de Mel Mawatha and all by roads connecting these two roads.
Under the parking meter system motorists can pay parking charges by cash, touch cards or using a mobile application specially developed for parking payments.