says President when he was PM back in 2018 tried to sell Kandy Post office bldg.

BY CYRIL WIMALASURENDRE

KANDY –The Most Venerable Mahanayaka of Malwatta Tibbatuwawe Sri Sumangala Thero expressed his dissatisfaction with the arbitrary actions of the country’s political leaders, which he believes have led to chaos within the nation. His remarks came during a meeting with a delegation from the postal trade unions who had gathered to protest the government’s attempt to dispose of the historic Nuwara Eliya and Kandy Post office buildings of the colonial era.

In a meeting held on Wednesday (8), representatives from various trade unions presented a petition voicing their concerns about the government’s plan to sell these historic structures. Most Venerable Si Sumangala Mahanayaka highlighted that this was not the first time such an attempt had been made to sell Kandy Post Office building, recalling a similar effort by President Ranil Wickremasinghe when he was Prime Minister back in 2018.

The Mahanayaka Thero emphasized that selling these invaluable tourist attractions was not the solution to any pressing issues. Instead, he suggested that if the government had a genuine need to generate revenue, they could consider constructing similar structures and selling those, preserving the historical significance of the existing buildings.

Sampath Sri Liyanage, representing the joint trade unions, shared the postal workers’ perspective on the sale of the two Post Offices, expressing their concerns about the potential loss of these iconic structures and their historical significance.

The delegation’s meeting with the Most Venerable Mahanayaka serves as a prominent moment in the ongoing debate over the fate of these colonial-era Post office buildings, as various stakeholders continue to voice their opinions on the matter.