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Central Province Governor against opening road in front of Sri Dalada Maligawa PDF Print E-mail

 

It was reported in the Island of 8/7/2010 that the Central Province Governor Tikiri Kobbekaduwa is totally against the move by a certain section of the public in Kandy to reopen the road in front of the Sri Dalada Maligawa for motor vehicles. According to him this request which comes only from a small section of the people is not a solution to the air pollution in Kandy.

 

This bold reasonable and far-reaching statement by the Governor will not only be hailed by all Buddhists in this country but by all Buddhists world-wide. Kandy is a world heritage city and it is at the Sri Dalada Maligawa that the sacred Tooth Relic is enshrined. The safety and security of this hallowed place should be preserved and protected at any cost.

 

This part of the road opposite the Sri Dalada Maligawa should not be made a part of a highway but reserved for the free movement of the devotees who throng this place from morning to night. It should be noted that rituals "Thevawas" are held daily at the Sri Dalada Maligawa in the morning noon and at night.

 

All Buddhists should know that enclosed in the casket at the Sri Dalada Maligawa is a body component of the Buddha "Sharirika Dhatu" held in high veneration through the world and is always referred as the "Dalada Wahanse". From the time that the sacred Tooth Relic was brought to Sri Lanka the Kings who ruled the country protected guarded and venerated it. Even when our country was handed over to the British under the Kandyan convention of 1815, clause 5 stipulated that the Buddhist religion should be protected and the rituals be carried out without any impediments.

 

The people of Kandy will remember that several year ago when the closure of this stretch of road came up, two proposals came up for discussion. Some suggested that a bridge over the Kandy Lake would solve this problem while the other suggested opening a road across Udawatta Kele. These proposals were not pursued.

 

I am an old retired government servant in the twilight of my life, and have no knowledge of Engineering. I am of opinion that a road tunnel from the Food City end up to the Diyawadana Nilame’s bungalow will solve this long standing problem.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 July 2010 09:43
 
Mlesna opens 15th magnificent tea centre in Kandy PDF Print E-mail

Adding another jewel to their crown, Mlesna Tea - Sri Lanka's premium brand of superior quality teas - ceremoniously opened their 15th Tea Center at the Kandy City Centre. The ceremony was graced by a distinguished gathering including the Governor of the Central Province.

The newest Mlesna Tea Centre comprises of a beautifully designed cozy restaurant where tea connoisseurs can enjoy their favourite cup of tea alongside the tea shop which is merchandised with over 102 varieties of teas including speciality regional teas, exotic flavoured teas and organic teas, dressed in classy and eye catching packaging to cater to the delectable tastes of tea lovers. The well designed interior of the Tea Centre is adorned with carefully hand-picked paintings which, together with the special lighting effects, create an ambience in which visitors can wholly enjoy the tea experience offered by one of the leaders in the tea industry. The symbolic stonewall that adorns the Tea Centre creates synergy and also help customers to easily identify and relate to Mlesna.

The exquisite teas available at the Tea Centre range from flower flavours such as jasmine, rose, earl grey, mint, apple blossom to fruit flavours such as melon, pineapple, strawberry, mango, orange and blueberry. In addition, spiced tea flavours with cardamom, ginger and cinnamon are also available to offer a complete range of teas to the customers.

Mlesna Tea which is packed in porcelain figurines such as elephants, tea pots and other ornamental designs are also available at the Tea Centre and are ideally suitable for gifts.

"Since its inception in 1983, whilst exporting our fine quality teas to the international markets, Mlesna Tea has served our connoisseur tea lovers in Sri Lanka and set up Tea Centres in key destinations around the country serving fine quality Ceylon Teas" said Anselm B. Perera - Chairman and Managing Director of Mlesna (Ceylon) Ltd.

"The opening of the Tea Centre will adorn the splendour of the Kandy City Centre offering the widest range of speciality teas in the most exquisite packaging for the ultimate choice of the most discerning tea connoisseur. We invite our dear guests to savour the flavour of Mlesna Tea in our new superior ambience, our tradition since 1983" he further added.

Mlesna is truly an international company enjoying a growing clientele in over 50 countries including Canada, Russia, UK, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Italy, Holland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Maldives, Australia and the Middle East with a product range exceeding 3500 items. The superior quality of Mlesna products is proven by the over 78 accolades that it has won including 9 World Star Awards for packaging excellence and superior quality products awarded by the World Packaging Organisation.

Mlesna Tea Centres are also located in the Hilton Colombo, Hilton Colombo Residencies, Galadari Hotel, Crescat Boulevard, Majestic City, Liberty Plaza, Colombo International Airport, Katunayake, Taj Airport Garden Hotel, Beruwala, Bandarawela, Tea Fortress, Peradeniya, and Dalada Veediya in Kandy and the Tea Castle in St. Clair, Talawakelle.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 July 2010 09:41
 
Kandy air most polluted PDF Print E-mail

Kandy district tops the list in air pollution in Sri Lanka. Its air is polluted three times more than the air in Colombo, Peradeniya University Chemistry Department Head Prof. O. A. Illeperuma said. Prof Illeperuma who has conducted research said people in the Kandy town continue to suffer as a result of polluted air within the city.

"The gravity of the situation was pointed out over and over again, but still the authorities have not paid attention. I believe this is a critical issue that the President should intermediate," he said.

Kandy town has a population of approximately 120,000 people and in addition over 100,000 people come to the city daily.

Its area is 26 km2, and about 1,00,000 vehicles enter the city daily leading to high traffic congestion.

The smoke released by the vehicles is the main reason for pollution. The extent of pollution is greater in the morning and evening, he said. Prof. Illeperuma suggested to adopt a special traffic program within the city to control the situation.

"Due to traffic congestion, vehicles travel at four kilometres per hour, whereas they could travel 40 kilometres per hour.

Buses racing on first gear at all bus stops for a long time has also contributed to air pollution. Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide, Carbon Monoxide and particles in the air are high and these continue to grow rapidly," he said.

The geography in the Kandy town has resulted in the high rate of air pollution, even though a greater number of vehicles and industries exist in Colombo. Kandy is surrounded mainly by Hantana Hunnasgiriya mountain ranges, and Bahirawa, Kurusa and Darmaraja mountains.

"Therefore the wind coming to the city goes up after striking on the mountains. Kandy town is in a low lying area and its condition is similar to a bottom of a basin. The Colombo city experiences less air pollution, since it has continuous air circulation with sea wind.

Colombo is in a flat ground and the pollutants that contaminate the air goes up without remaining in the city" he said.

"Schoolchildren in the Kandy have become victims of this situation, and as reported, breathing illnesses among them such as asthma have increased. Urgent action should be taken to control this situation without delay," Illeperuma said.
 
HNB expands rapidly: Opens the 190th customer centre at Kandy City Centre PDF Print E-mail

Hatton National Bank is scheduled to open the 190th Customer Centre at the Kandy City Centre on 9th (Friday) July 2010. We spoke to Mr Nirosh Perera, Senior Manager, Kandy Customer Centre

Q1 Why are you opening the 190th customer centre in the Kandy City Centre(Any special Reason)?

Yes lots of people ask me the question why do you want to open a customer centre  in the Kandy City Centre (KCC )when you have the main customer centre adjoining.  The answer to that is we badly felt the need of having an outlet which is open 7 days a week with extended banking hours mainly to cater to the professionals, government and private sector employees who do not have time to come to the bank during normal banking hours and on weekdays.   With the opening of  the HNB customer centre at KCC  we can cater to the financial needs of that customer segment.

In addition to that KCC is becoming very popular shopping mall in the central region and lot of people who are living in the central region patronize KCC now, so we need to have our presence at KCC to cater to the financial needs of our customers who patronize KCC.

Q2 What additional value and benefits will you be able to give customers through this new customer centre?

In addition to the normal services that are provided at other customer centers and extended banking hours/ days, we are going to offer pawning, remittances, and travel related services on all 7 days of the week from 10 AM  to 6 PM . Also this will blend well with the priority banking centre that we hope to open soon at our main Kandy customer centre so that all our priority customers will have access to our network all 7 days of the week. Further this customer centre will definitely accrue a number of benefits to our customer centre network in the central region, because most of the people living in the Central Region come to Kandy for their various needs.

Q3 Can you elaborate on HNB s role in the Central Region and in Kandy over the years.

The roots of Hatton National Bank can be traced back to 1888. A Bank named Hatton Bank commenced business in 1888 in Hatton. Therefore we can proudly say that we are one of the oldest banks in the Central Region. When you take the history of Kandy Customer Centre which is situated at a very prominent place in Kandy ( No 1 Dalada Veediya ) started its operations in the year 1892 as National Bank of India and in the year 1970 it became HNB. So once again you can clearly see that we had our presence over a period of more than a century.

Q4 What are your future plans in serving the people of the Central Region/Kandy

The customer centre at KCC is creating history in the history of HNB as the  first  customer centre which will be open for  7 days of the week. We intend to add all future banking developments to this customer centre as well so that all our customers will have access to all their financial needs under one roof. Also we are planning to roll-out this strategy to other main cities of the region and as the first step we are looking at the possibility of opening our Peradeniya branch   on Saturdays.  Further, we are planning to start a priority banking unit at the Kandy Customer Centre with all facilities such as share trading, insurance, safety lockers, government securities etc.
 
No decision on opening Maligawa road PDF Print E-mail

The Maligawa road in Kandy closed for traffic following an attack on Sri Dalada Maligawa in 1998 will not be opened right now, Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake said.

Addressing officials and journalists on traffic congestion, environmental pollution and unauthorised structures in Kandy city at a meeting at the Passenger Transport Authority, Kandy yesterday, Ekanayake said his personal view is that this road should not be opened.

The Chief Minister said the opening the stretch of road close to Sri Dalada Maligawa will not solve the environmental pollution problem.

“We will have to devise other ways to tackle this problem,” Ekanayake said.

He reiterated that Kandy is not the most polluted city in the country.

He said: “Fuel emissions from diesel and petrol vehicles will be checked by police and action will be taken against motorists.”

The Sri Dalada Maligawa is one of the holiest places in the world. The sanctity of this sanctum must be preserved at any cost. Therefore we cannot permit vehicles to go past this holy place which could give rise to other problems, he said.

Ekanayake confirmed that no decision had been taken on the opening of the road.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 July 2010 12:08
 
CP Governor opposes opening road opposite Dalada Maligawa PDF Print E-mail

The Governor of the Central Province Tikiri Kobbekaduwa yesterday expressed his opposition to the move by the members of the Kandy Municipal Council to open the road in front of the Dalada Maligawa.

Speaking at a hurriedly called press conference  held at the Governor’ s office he said no one can vouch that the Tiger network is no more and he did not agree to the reopening of the road in front of the Temple of the Tooth Relic.

“By opening up the road in front of the temple of the Tooth Relic, if any untoward incident takes place who will take the responsibility for opening the road?” he queried.

He added that the international Tiger network was still active and we must be more concerned about the security situation.

The Governor also said that while the road in dispute was still closed, the Asian Development Bank gave a loan of 880 million rupees to the Kandy Municipal Council to construct a vehicle park as a solution to the heavy vehicular traffic in the city.

The closure of the road in front of the sacred place is not a reason for the air pollution and traffic congestion in the Kandy town and I will not agree to any proposal that would bring discredit to the sacred temple and discredit to the entire Buddhist Community, Governor Kobbekaduwa stressed.

He further said that instead of opening up the closed road it was appropriate to use alternative roads. The Governor said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not try to take credit at the Presidential election by opening the road.
 
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