Towards a sober Sri Lanka

by Dr Anula Wijesundere
Vice President, Sri Lanka
Temperance Association

The Sri Lanka Temperance Association celebrates the 111th anniversary on the 21st of October in the auditorium of the YMBA, commencing at 9 am. President of the Sri Lanka Temperance Association, the most Venerable Dr Ittapane Dharmalankara will preside at the meeting. The Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest.

On an important occasion like this, it is appropriate to remember with gratitude the role of the pioneers who founded the Temperance Movement on 14 July, 1912 at Ananda College. It was held under the patronage of Mudaliyar Don Spater Senanayake. The meeting was attended by Arthur de Silva, Arthur Dias, Sir D B Jayatilleke and Priyadasa Sirisena. W H W Perera, my grandfather, was appointed as the first General Secretary.

An important project carried out this year by our association was the introduction of Buddhist Psychology to the program to control alcohol and drug dependence and rehabilitation. This was an eight-month course, conducted with the help of the Divisional Secretary of Kaduwela and the “Healthy Lanka “organisation. The course concluded with written and practical examinations in which 23 were successful and were awarded certificates.

Awareness programmes of dangers of alcohol, tobacco and drug dependence were carried out to educate children of ‘daham schools’ in Kotte, Nawala and Thalawathugoda areas. A programme of alcohol prevention was also carried out for 160 ‘daham school’ teachers of the Galle District. Subsequently 150 houses were selected as model examples of alcohol-free homes in Galle.

Audio visual presentations of the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and drugs were conducted at free medical clinics carried out in Vavuniya town, Bogaswewa, Weli Oya and Gallewela

The dangers of using cannabis as a recreational drug has been impressed on the public of Sri Lanka through numerous presentations in the print and electronic media and through seminars, conferences and workshops. All the members of the parliament of Sri Lanka have been provided with individual booklets which clearly depict the myths and fallacies about cannabis promotion. The futility of growing cannabis in Sri Lanka to promote foreign exchange in the light of decreasing global demand for cannabis which is now supported by the tobacco industry is clearly shown.

The construction of a building for the Temperance Association commenced in Sri Jayewardenepura, Kotte in 2021, on a block of land donated by President Sirisena in 2019. However, progress of the construction has been slow due to lack of finances and the escalating costs of construction. We sincerely thank all our donors for their generosity. We fervently hope that we could complete the ground floor at least by 2024 and hold our next annual general meeting in our own headquarters.