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The Avukana Buddha and Flanking Brick Columns
by Professor Abaya Aryasinghe
It was after much agitation and representation that the ugly arch over the world-famous Avukana Buddha was removed. The writer of these notes contributed volumes of articles urging the removal of that so-called canopy which exhibited no touch of Buddhist architecture. The architect of this arch was a Diploma holder in Roman architecture. It appears that he found it difficult to devote from his foreign mentality as testified by many other examples in which he had a hand.
The Advisory Committee of the Department of Archaeology unanimously recommended about a few years ago that the arch should be summarily removed. The Engineering Corporation took nearly an year to decide whether it should undertake the job of dismantling it. Later it decided to give it up by placing lame excuses. Fortunately the Department of Archaeology faced the challenge and undertook the task of removal of the arch.
The general public opinion is that the arch should be completely dismantled and restore the place to its former prestige.
The Department of Archaeology however removed the curvature of the arch and left the huge stumps of bricks on which it stood. The very site now appears like a bombed monument marring the effect of ‘serene joy and emotion of the pious.’ These left columns of bricks flanking the stature appear like two Portuguese soldiers of Dom Jeronimo Azevedo.
When this question was raised at a meeting [29.9.99] presided over by the Minister of Cultural Affairs, Dr, Siran Deraniyagala, Director-General of Archaeology said that he decided to stop dismantling at that level in order to raise another arch if needed in future.
His stand is entirely wrong. Professor S. Paranavitana in 1950 has recorded that the Avukana statue needs no shelter since it is situated in such a way that it could protect itself against any type of weathering. The geologists have found that the kind of granite with which the statue has been fashioned is unusually hard and could withstand any adverse elements. It was professor Paranavitana who removed a roof built over the statue by the British stating that it did more harm than natural elements.
The political considerations in recent times prompted to raise an arch over the Avukana Buddha when Mr.S. S. Kulatilake became the Minister of Cultural Affairs. By doing this type of work these politicians wanted to show the public of their enthusiasm of promoting the Buddha Sasana.
Another instance of showing such interest dawned in 1977. Some pieces of charcoal unearthed at the Dakkhina Thupa at Anuradhapura were preserved at the Museum of Anuradhapura by Professor S. Paranavitana for future testing. The politicians in 1977 took this pot of charcoal round the country showing that those pieces represent ashes of King Dutugemunu and the Dakkhina Thupa was the site of his cremation. The present writer has disproved it and adduced evidence to identify that the Stupa in which charocal was found was the Dakkhina Thupa built by Uttiya, a paladin of king Vattagamini Abhaya in the 2nd century B.C.
President R. Premadasa considered that it would be an act of merit if the fallen Maligavila Buddha statue could be raised to its former position. In the process of lifting it dropped and broke into a number of pieces. It was due to failure of the device of the Engineer Kulasinghe. Later the broken pieces were collected and put into position by the architect who built the condemned Avukana vault.
By doing so the statue became short in height and despoiled.
The worn face of the statue was further despoiled by Rev. Mapalagama Wipulasara who is supposed to be a dealer in replicas of Buddha images. The Mudra of this image now shown is only an imaginary design that existed in the mind of that dealer.
These are but a few instance where politics superseded archaeological interests.
The present writer vehemently opposed the retention of the brick stumps left on either side of the Avukana Buddha and insist that this eye-sore should be removed forthwith.
At that meeting referred to above the Minister of Cultural Affairs rightly expressed the view that the site of the Avukana Buddha may be landscaped by planting trees which would protect the monument naturally. This idea is highly commendable.
The politician of the hoi-polloi
by Kirthi Abeyesekera
In the days of my wandering youth, I was once returning from a jungle expedition in Aluketiyawa, a remote village in Bintenna. It was March, 1944 - polling day in the Bibile by-election for the State Council. I was with Sena Rambukpotha whose kinsman, G. C. Rambukpotha’s death caused the by-election. We were trudging along the seven-mile gravel trek to Uraniya, to take the bus to Badulla, when a rickety old Wolseley car chug-chugged along, raising clouds of dust.
"Can I offer you gentleman a lift?" the occupant in the front seat asked. We instantly recognized W. Dahanayake, a candidate for the Bibile seat. Rambuks and I squeezed ourselves between a heap of pumpkins in the rear seat, honoured to be in the company of no less than ‘Galle’s Dahanayake’.
The polls closed, but the results yet unknown, Dahanayake made frequent stops on the way, thanking his supporters. At a humble wayside hut, was a damsel whose catching ‘reddha’ and ‘hette’ accentuated her shapely contours. Dahanayake sat in the open verandah for a few moments, sipping a glass of plain tea with a piece of jaggery. Returning to the car, he lit a cigarette from his tin of Capstan Navy Cut and went into raptures:
‘Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen.
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.’Waving a hand at the bronzed beauty, Dahanayake translated the four lines from Gray’s ‘Elegy,’ he eulogized her with, into a simple Sinhala phrase: ‘Keleta handa pewwa wage.’
Dahanayake lost that March election to S. A. Peiris, but unseated him on an election petition, and won the seat in October. And that was the source of the ‘Bibile brook’ that was to flow incessantly, to the poet’s refrain: ‘For men may come and men may go, but I go on forever.’ In later years, in Parliament, true to form, he was to shatter G. G. Ponnambalam’s record of 11 hours. Dahanayake held the floor for 13 hours.
The second time I met Dahanayake was at the Badulla Rest House where he was based for the October by-election. As secretary of the Literary Branch of the Uva Young Men’s Buddhist Association, I went to invite him for a talk to the Association. He hadn’t the time for it he said. But we had a long chat on a love we shared - English Literature. His favourite readings, he said, were Shaw, Shakespeare and the Bible - literary masterpieces from which, during his subsequent, long parliamentary career, he was to quote from as freely as he did from the Constitutional works of Erskine May and Sir Ivor Jennings.
The Honorary Doctorate of Laws he was later to be conferred with by the Vidyalankara University, sat light on his shoulders. He was a Man of Letters in his own right. The next time I met the giant killer from Galle was on the eve of the first Parliamentary election in 1947. He was eating ‘buthcurry’ with his driver at the Maliban hotel opposite the Fort Railway Station. Asked about his chances against the moneyed H. W. Amarasuriya, his opponent at Galle, he said, ‘Mama salli gahak hollanawa.’ David was to slay Goliath and take Galle by 2,000 votes. Dahanayake contested as a Bolshevik-Leninist - one of many party labels he was to wear in his political life.
As a Member of the State Council, he accused D. S. Senanayake of nepotism and said M. S. C. stood for ‘Member of the Senanayake Caucus, from which he distanced himself, saying he was ‘Member of a Separate Caucus.’
The son of Muhandiram Sepala Pandita Dahanayake, he was named ‘Wijayananda,’ after a temple in Galle. A legend in his lifetime, he was Sri Lanka’s Dick Whittington who walked barefooted from the backwoods of Bibile to Temple Trees, leaving indelible footprints along the way.
They called him ‘Daha,’ but to those close to him, he was ‘W,’ to distinguish him from his twin brother, ‘K,’ both of whom were expelled from the Thurstan Road Training College for assaulting a prefect who insisted on their eating ‘murunga’ with fork and spoon.
His was the ‘Voice from Galle,’ and there was nothing to match it. While the ‘Left’ movement, with its text-book pundits, claimed to be the ‘Protectors of the Proletariat,’ his philosophy was purely pragmatic. A mob orator who mesmerized the masses, his parliamentary speeches, embellished with witticisms from his rich repertoire, have adorned ‘Hansard.’
Holding forth in the House, on the rising price of textiles, he was interrupted by Appointed M.P. Singleton-Salmon who cut in to say, "We have brought the prices of sarees down." Dahanayake was not taking this lying down. "When the sarees are coming down," he countered, the sarongs are going up." And the House roared with laughter.
He told Wimala Wijewardene, Minister of Health in the same cabinet he was in, to recruit pretty nurses. "Yakku wage aye gathama, leddu bayawenawa." Dahanayake was a realist, a practical man to whom politics was a means to an end, not an end in itself. His mission was to ease the burdens of the poor. He was not bound by dogma. Party discipline was anathema to him because it fettered free thought. A parodist of no mean repute, he once told Sri Lanka Freedom Party leader, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike:
‘I do not love thee, Banda dear, |
The reason why is very clear;
I do not love thee, Banda dear,
Because you change from year to year.’Later, he joined the same Banda’s cabinet to become his first Minister of Education. I ran into the Honourable Minister at the New Colonial Hotel - also opposite the Fort Railway Station. In a few months he was to be the country’s fifth Prime Minister. Here he was, tucking in a plate of ‘buth-curry’ with his fingers - a Dahanayake trademark. He had no palate for Parliament Restaurant food subsidized by the people. He had quit his chain-smoking habit. The simple ‘Daha,’ he always was, he travelled Third Class on the railway, although he carried a First Class Pass, "because there is no Fourth Class" - so he could mingle with the masses and listen to their woes.
Dahanayake entered the political arena at a time it was the exclusive domain of the privileged class. He fought his way to the pinnacle of power through his compassion for the downtrodden. To him, politics was a passion, not a profession. The commoner who moved with ease among the elite, he was happiest with the ‘hoi-polloi.’ He propounded his own philosophy, drawn from his vast knowledge of Men and Matters.
An old Richmondite and Thomian, his broader learning came from the University of Life. Starting as a teacher, he remained the school master, par-excellence. To him, Parliament was just another classroom for life’s larger lessons. Wedded to his beloved Galle he served with devotion, yet, his perspectives were beyond the parochial. Although Gallists claimed him for their own, the Son of Ruhuna belonged to the nation.
The causes he championed were largely national. He waged war for a more equitable distribution of the national wealth, through a narrowing of the gap between the Haves and the Have Nots. Above all, he strove for social justice.
My last meeting with Dr. Dahanayake, was during the 1971 Youth Insurrection. I was writing a series: ‘Looking Back,’ and had picked four - Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, P. de S. Kularatne, Martin Wickramasinghe and W. Dahanayake whom I visited in his ancestral, Kumbalwela home. At 69, he was extolling the virtues of green leaves, papaw seeds and potato peel as a nutritious diet. I have fond memories of that meeting at which he gave me some lessons in journalism. He was a newspaperman’s dream. Every word he uttered could make a headline.
In the 1977 general election, he lost his beloved Galle to the United National Party. That ended his love affair with politics - a romance that was selfless and passionate. History will record the role played in the destiny of the country by a man who took politics, rather than a woman, as bedmate.
I remember Dahanayake as the fearless, forthright and fiery rebel who has inspired thousands of young men and women to stand up for their rights.
"Fighting is in my blood," the man who rebelled against every political party and defied party discipline in defence of his beliefs, told me in 1971. Dahanayake’s retirement from the parliamentary scene, after over three decades, brought an end to an epoch when politics was a vocation, not a free ride in a Pajero. His demise at 95, in 1997, took away, by far, the peoples’ most popular politician.
‘The Voice’ was stilled. But its echoes will ring, loud and long, in the hallowed halls of the land’s highest legislature, his second home, where he was at ease even in a loincloth.
Raisa Gorbachevby Nan
Maybe it was four months ago that I first read about Raisa Gorbachev’s baffle with leukaemia, and it hit me hard. What did she mean to me, I asked, that I should feel this way. The answer was: nothing to me personally, but she was the half of a very united, demonstratively affectionate and interdependent couple; a woman who blossomed forth from a staid background to world centre stage for a while and then faded away almost to obscurity.
Raisa Gorbachev was so different from Russian women and wives of leaders we had seen in newspapers or on screen in news telecasts, and those who walked past our home to the Russian Embassy down Flower Road, about two to three decades ago. They were stodgy, positively unfriendly, dumpy and frumpy. And here in contrast was this slim, well groomed woman radiating friendliness, a true partner to her husband, the Head of the Soviet Union.
First lady
Raisa Gorbachev was the first Russian First Lady to be beside her husband as a western style wife on international trips and back home too. Would she be the last? This time again there is the unfilled space beside Yeltsin, though his youngest daughter Tatyana Dyachenko is reputed to be a power behind the throne.
Raisa was attractive, articulate, active in her husband’s affairs and educated. Due mostly to her, her husband and she decided to be different from previous Communist Party high-ups and the handsome pair were brighter, bouncer, more open-minded, more outgoing, more attractive than anything the Soviet Union had, at that level, previously seen. She wore smart clothes (all made in Russia it is affirmed) and held her own, sometimes far outshone in discussion and knowledge her western counterparts.
She definitely influenced her husband and most probably had a big hand in perestroika and glasnost hitting the Soviet Union with a bang. The couple epitomized openness and fraternity. Of course they were not to know that these new sweeps of fresh air would gather force and spin out of control to blow away the monopoly of the Communist Party and cause the disintegration of the USSR. The Gorbachevs, adored before, were then vilified by the Communist old guard and won no sympathy from the new liberals. Some of their most trusted friends backed the coup in 1991 that threw Gorbachev to the wilderness. The shock and fear they might be killed caused Raisa to suffer a mild stroke and ever since then, her decline. Their downfall was underlined irrevocably when in the 1991 presidential election, Gorbachev gained only 0.5 1 percent of the votes.
Raisa Titorenka, with Ukranian roots, was born in a Siberian backwater to poor parents, her father working in the railway. Her grandparents had been repressed under Stalin and one had even died in a labour camp. Yet she firmly, and always, stood by the system set up by Lenin and Stalin.
She met Mikhail in Moscow University in 1951, Mikhail being of even humbler origins. She read philosophy while he did law. They married in 1953, an year after Stalin’s death. Their mentor was Yuri Andropov, the then head of the KGB who rose to be the leader of the Soviet Union in 1982-84. He saw that Mikhail climbed the party ladder fast.
Raisa’s ambition matched Mikhail’s but they seem definitely to have put country before self-concern for the people before that of their own family. This in sharp contrast to what is reportedly going on now, written about and made known, of money laundering, offshore banking and private stashing away of funds by Russian leaders and high-ups. Raisa and Mikhail never siphoned off money from Russia to foreign accounts; neither did they overspend on trips abroad, were never extravagant and all expenses incurred on foreign trips went through the embassies back to Moscow. Not for them American Express cards paid for by rich sycophants. She had style and aimed at being chic but never did she shop extravagantly.
The media now finger-points direct at Yeltsin’s youngest daughter’s husband as having sent millions of dollars abroad through the Bank of America in Moscow.
Raisa’s illness may have been sudden. All through hospitalization and chemotherapy Mikhail was by her side, refusing to leave her bedside even to rest. Articles appeared off and on in the foreign press reporting her condition and that of her husband. He proved how devoted he was to her, and how strong the marital bond they shared . He acknowledged the advisory role she had played in his political life and called her "my agent", admitting he discussed everything with her. This of course was not allowed to be known back home.
Raisa died in a German hospital on 20 September, aged 67. The articles I read mentioned the fact that she hold; an honoured place in history. She greatly influenced her husband and so it is believed that she probably held him back from unleashing the organs of repression that were at his disposal when the Soviet Union began to crumble in 1989 and the people rose against them. They knew they were being thrown from power and could very will be banished forever from Moscow or even killed, but Gorbachev being honourable, did not cause bloodshed just to save himself or his family.
Trouble in Zimbabwe
So different from leaders of the so called democratic states. To stay in power leaders will sacrifice people by the thousand, both armed forces and civilians It has happened, is happening and can very well happen again and again. Even in the most apparently civilized democracies when too much power lies in one person’s hands.
Note what has been happening very recently in Zimbabwe. Battling economic ills and an unpopular war in the Congo, President Robert Mugabe is cracking down on the independent press and its ability to question his authoritarian rule.
Two journalists - Mark Chavunduka - editor of The Standard and Ray Choto, a reporter of the same paper were taken into custody by the military after they published a report about the arrest of 23 members of the army who were supposed to be plotting to overthrow the government. The two journalists were reportedly tortured, electric shocked, near drowned by holding their heads under water to elicit the names of their informers. They did not yield - neither named names. They were released to civilian authority but what is expected is a verdict which the President will approve of: sentencing them to 7 year prison terms. Mr. Chavunduka is a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University this year and would have returned to Zimbabwe for a hearing on 4 October. What is feared is that this case will be proof that the government is willing to destroy basic freedoms to silence dissent.
Let me repeat that as it is frighteningly apt. The government is willing to destroy basic freedoms to silence dissent.
The unanimous tradition: essays on the essential unity of all religions. Edited by Ranjit Fernando. Sri Lanka Institute of Traditional Studies, P.O.Box 1204, Colombo, 1999. Paperback Rs.2,250.
When this book was first published in 1991 as a luxurious hardback, the Daily News in an editorial remarked that it `can certainly be regarded as a landmark in Lankan publishing ... with its fine binding, its exquisite paper and hand-mounted plates ...’, going on to add that, `equal to the presentation and far more important is the content (where) sixteen internationally eminent traditionalists have come together to pay tribute to (Ananda) Coomaraswamy in a manner that brings alive to the reader, whether he is an academic or a lay person, the traditional or religious worldview of pre-modern man in contradistinction to the present, Western-invented, materialistic worldview which dominates today’s world.’
The words neatly summarise the contents of this book: the original edition was a long time in the making, thus prompting an American commentator, Alvin Moore Jr. well-known in this philosophical area, to describe it in the learned journal, Sophia , as an `extraordinary and long-awaited book’ in addition to what he called its `excellence.’ Other scholars worldwide have been equally generous in their praise. And now a paperback version of this book is available, text and 20 plates printed on smooth white paper and priced at Rs. 2,250. It is available at the Vijitha Yapa Bookshop and at the Barefoot Bookshop or by Mail Order only from the publishers.
This new edition has itself broken fresh ground. Simultaneously with its publication in Colombo, it has been released in North America, and its release in the UK is imminent. It is already available from the leading book suppliers on the Internet, Amazon and Barnet and Noble. It is probably the first Sri Lankan publication to be distributed throughout the major English-speaking countries.
Help the blind to travel independently
The symbol of the walking stick or cane in the hand of a blind person, goes back to biblical times and beyond. Blind persons have used bamboo stick and even tree branches to alert them to obstacles in their path. Therefore, it is immediately obvious that the white cane is not just a symbol of blindness but a tool that can be used to achieve true freedom in mobility.
In the early days, blind persons had walked with their canes held diagonally in a fixed position. But when the blind veterans of World War II, returned to America, the form and the use of the white cane was completely altered. A method known as the "Hoover Technique" or the long cane technique came in to practice in the United States.
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson will go down in history as the first to proclaim Oct. 15, as the white cane safety day. The proclamation was made in the year 1964. This event marked a climatic moment in the long campaign of the organised blind movement to gain state as well as national recognition for the white cane. The Presidential proclamation also emphasised the significance of the action and of the visible symbol. He said in part: "A white cane in our society has become one of the symbols of a blind person’s ability to come and go on his own. Its use has promoted courtesy and opportunity for mobility of the blind on our streets and highways."
Sri Lanka first celebrated this event in the year 1969. Thus the white cane is now recognised as the blind person’s mobility aid the world over. Today in this country, an increasing number of blind persons are on the move. Some have employment and commute to work each day. There are those who are active in their communities.
Some hold memberships in various organisations, attend meetings, church functions, sports activities and students attend schools and universities. These days blind persons travel everywhere using all forms of transportation. Fortunately, because of this, the general public is becoming more accustomed to the idea that blind persons can go where they want to go on their own. As such, seeing blind persons on the sidewalk with a white cane in hand going to a particular activity, or clasping the arm of a sighted guide is no longer unusual. The more they are seen out and about, going where they need to go, the better they will be accepted by the seeing public. As a result this, overprotection by families, and negative attitudes and fears concerning blindness are waning.
All provincial councils, municipal councils, and the nation as a whole have the responsibility to provide safe pedestrian travel for all citizens, including the blind and the Vision-impaired. One way to do this is to install audible pedestrian signals at busy intersection. Everytime an audible signal is heard, the general public will be reminded that people who are blind are also an active part of community life. The signals should be there to assist the blind in their independent travel. These will provide strong evidence that people who are blind are moving around in the area on their way to work, shop or perform other normal daily activities.
Ever since 1964 Oct. 15, international white cane day has become the day of the year to publicise the need and achievements of the blind everywhere. However, our achievements have been few and far between. While our hopes, and aspirations and our needs are growing.
In Sri Lanka, we still have to get our priorities correct. We need a national policy for people with disabilities including the blind, to be drafted on consensus and not by just two people who monopolise the system. We need legislative enactment to be brought in to protect the blind from all forms of discrimination, especially from intransigent officials in the Ministry. We need social security and other benefits, equal opportunities for education, adequate facilities for rehabilitation and training, equal opportunities for employment and of course, legal status for the white cane.
All provincial secretaries should maintain registers to keep count of the number of blind persons in the area, so that necessary resources could be found to address their specific needs. For example, rehabilitation and training facilities for the blind are woefully inadequate, thus making the integration of the blind into mainstream society virtually impossible.
All the basic essentials of life-food, shelter, clothing, travelling, medical bills etc. are all bought on a commercial basis, and not on the persons ability to pay. We need to be protected from the hazardous and pennilessness of unemployment, hence we need to secure a monthly state payment for the blind, at least for those who are over 50 years of age, and not entitled to a government person of any sort . This payment should not be considered as a handout, but aid as a right. This would improve our economic independence and boost our social status in the society. Then most of our basic essentials of life would fall into place.
The blind in this country deserve a better deal to ensure that life is worth living. The blind are prepared to enter the mainstream society, to play their individual roles in the development process of the country. But society must be prepared to give us that chance to do so. Blind or seeing, every individual has something to offer. Please help us to utilise that potential to the good of the country. Then the objectives of the Samurdi movement will become a reality, and the country will be the stronger for it.
"This land belongs to you, and this land belongs to me. This land belongs to all of us, to live in peace and harmony."
This is the message of the Blind Citizens front, for the white cane day 1999.
by M. C. Jayasiri
(Hony. President)
Blind Citizens Front
Seethawaka’s flourishing industrial park
by Suresh Perera
Perhaps, one would think that the success story behind Seethawaka’s Industrial Park has been eclipsed by the idyllic mountain range engulfing it...
Under the auspices of the Industrial Development Ministry, Industrial Parks, as they are described, have come to stay, but how many people know what exactly these entities are and how they operate? Parks, people have heard of and it’s so with industrial zones as well, but to have industries in a ‘park’ is altogether a novel concept.
A visit to the country’s first international-scale Industrial Park at Seethawaka, 47 km from Colombo via Hanwella brought into focus the remarkable story behind this giant Rs. 3.6 billion project.
‘Unlike an industrial zone where the units are scattered, here the factories are within the 415-acre Park which is akin to an estate, says Project Director, Elmo Wanigesooria.
Six factories are already in commercial operation and twenty more are expected to join in by the end of this year, he said.
The Industrial Park, a brainchild of Industrial Development Minister C. V. Gooneratne, was completed on schedule and was opened by President Chandrika Kumaratunga in March this year. It has attracted investors from the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Canada, Malaysia, India, Korea, Hong Kong, France and Belgium. There are some local export-oriented companies as well which have joined ranks.
Moves are also afoot to straighten the railway line from Colombo to Avissawella at a cost of Rs. 150 million to facilitate the transportation of containers. At present, the Low Level road is used for this purpose, but road congestion can be avoided by switching on to rail transport, Wanigesooria explained.
Has the Industrial Park turned out to be a major attraction and how is the response from prospective investors? ‘The feedback has been tremendous. Already, 90% of the factory lots have been allocated. We are confident of achieving our target of 71 factories’, the Project Director stressed.
The investors will be manufacturing and exporting primarily to the global market items such as soft toys, processed minerals, rubber and wood products, high value garments, pharmaceuticals, textiles, sewing thread and zip fasteners.
‘What’s manufactured here are non quota, high value garments for the export market’, Wanigesooria pointed out.
A run-down tea estate was taken over for this project which was funded by the Overseas Economic Co-operation Fund of Japan (OECF). ‘Alternate lands were given to the families and some squatters who were here’, he said.
As an environmental-friendly measure, waste water is treated before being discharged to the Seethawaka river. Drinking water is also tested regularly at a fully-equipped laboratory within the complex, he said.
In terms of creating job opportunities, what’s the factual position as unemployment in the area is a grave problem? ‘Currently, 3000 are employed. At full capacity, the Industrial Park will generate 20,000 direct employment opportunities and an equal number by way of indirect employment.’
‘Minister Gooneratne personally monitors the progress here’, he noted.
The Seethawaka Industrial Park has been well planned and designed after a Detailed Feasibility Study and an Environmental Inspect Study. In its implementation stage, the social and environmental concerns have been effectively addressed by providing infrastructure facilities and the basic conditions for developing the project in harmony with the propitiation of the neighbouring areas have been created.
‘We have even taken into account the disposal of storm water in the event of incessant rain, Wanigesooria said, pointing at a ‘retention pond’ built for this purpose.
Under a master plan to develop the Avissawella town, lodging will be provided to the workers. Upmarket housing facilities will also be made available to executives on the project, he said.
‘The positive impact of the project is felt on the neighbourhood with hotels and other business units expanding to cater to an influx of 3000 workers’, he added.
The Industrial Park has its own administrative building, security system, environmental monitoring, fire brigade, a 25 MW power grid sub station and a 33 KV distribution line and a road network. Also taking shape is a Vocational Training Centre to train and upgrade the skills of youths for employment in the project. A container yard is also on line.
‘We place heavy emphasis on environmentally sustainable industries’, the Project Director observed.
Sri Lanka’s maiden Industrial Park which boasts of modern facilities on an international scale is a landmark in the sphere of industrial development. Every project everywhere may not turn out to be a spectacular success. Whatever the government in power may be, failures are a reality in life and governance.
But for what they have achieved at Seethawaka, credit must be given sans any political bias or prejudice because this productive Industrial Park nestling among the misty hills has earned all those accolades...........
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