Prez. justifies using historical post office buildings for tourism

13 November 2023 01:54 pm Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 15 Bookmark

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President Ranil Wickremesinghe today justified the allocation of the Nuwara Eliya Post Office to the tourism industry.

During the Budget 2024 reading, Wickremesinghe said the decision is not an isolated move but part of the broader Nuwara Eliya development plan.

The proposal to hand over the 130-year-old Nuwara Eliya Post Office building and the Kandy Post Office to the private sector for development sparked major outrage last week among diverse stakeholders, including foreign tourists.

The proposal was to transform the buildings into hotels.

Reading the proposals, President Wickremesinghe stressed the importance of utilizing historic buildings for foreign exchange earning purposes.

He cautioned that if timely action is not taken, which is to renovate and restore, the buildings would deteriorate, similar to that of the Galle Post Office.

Comments - 15

Nimal Monday, 13 November 2023 03:32 PM

This pin president has no right to sell national monuments like these. They are not his personal property. He behaved like a Hitler at the DCC meeting at Nuwara Eliya, stooping to such a low level as to threaten that he would remove the Post Master General from that post if the Postal Department will not acquiesce to his request. What democracy is this?

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Hodahitha Monday, 13 November 2023 03:55 PM

Pin Nimal, what’s your alternative plans for these post office. Decision makers will surely consider your views.

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We r good 4 talking but nothing to achieve. Monday, 13 November 2023 06:15 PM

We talk big but not achieve anything until it become a bare land good for anything. May be to store tea leaves

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B P Monday, 13 November 2023 04:05 PM

The historical value/tourist attraction of this building is because it is the Post Office, otherwise it would be only one of the hundred's of common hotels.

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fact Monday, 13 November 2023 04:12 PM

President is correct , with current condition it will last few more years ,however if it was given someone to maintain and manage .it will be taken cared for generations to come. just beacuse its managed by private org they cant take that to their own country .it will remain in the same please but with a fresh renwed look that give add more charm to development of the city

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sam Monday, 13 November 2023 04:16 PM

This president and the first lady had their education in the same school. That is a better location for hotel as there is also land adjoining.

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sam Monday, 13 November 2023 04:18 PM

Presiden wants history knocked off and then he becomes history

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Sam Panditha Monday, 13 November 2023 05:55 PM

The issue is how TAJ HOTEL group was selected to hand over the Post offices as reported in the media. How were they chosen? Show us the tender invitations published. Otherwise it is the same as Gotabaya giving free the old Army complex to Shangri La.

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Indika Monday, 13 November 2023 06:30 PM

The postal service today is not the same as it was a 70 years ago. Technology has changed the game over the few decades. Much fewer letters, no telegrams or reflexes, wired phones are so scarce, instant messaging, VOIP so common as is emailing. Parcel post has picked up with the advent and growth of e-commerce. So the physical buildings of yesterday are no longer fit or optimum for purpose today. It is a good move to repurpose those historic buildings rather than letting it reduce to a dilapidated and worthless state.

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Jude Fernando Monday, 13 November 2023 08:53 PM

The services offered by the Postal Department are becoming irrelevant day by day. Hence revenue continues to decline. Losses are mounting and we the tax payers bear these losses. Large numbers of useless staff add to the problem. Looking at alternate sources of revenue through radical business ideas is one way of solving this burning issue.

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Waco Tuesday, 14 November 2023 03:41 AM

Rankled has no children to think of the future of the country. He wants to remain seated in that chair until his death. Hungry for power.

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Dunusingam Balunathan Tuesday, 14 November 2023 04:14 AM

Historical Failure using history to justify his existence! WUNDERPUL!! Do not destroy our country any more - Go Home with Myna!!

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Ashad Dole Tuesday, 14 November 2023 07:42 AM

Whenever a radical change is suggested and planned to be implemented there are many in our society who look at it with myopic eyes. This has been the case since SWRD brought the SINHALA ONLY Bill. Coupled with the scrapping of the English Language in our schools by his wife SIRIMA has produced ample young adults to toil and slave in the homes of the Middle East as housemaids and laborers. Take for instance the opening of Private Medical Colleges, there a major hue and cry especially by the GMOA and that idea was scrapped. Today the same doctors from the GMOA are leaving the country in hordes and the poor are suffering without adequate medical care. Now the issue of the colonial Post Offices, the best way to protect these historical buildings would be to divest these to the Private Sector, which can generate some income and be preserved. if not one day these will decay and collapse on the heads of the same protesters. SriLankans MUST shed these warped up ideas and see the BIG PICTURE

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Mawanelle Piyawathie Tuesday, 14 November 2023 02:53 PM

Use all OLD house in Colombo including your one for tourists - you do not need any without any children! Call for tenders now!!

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musthaq Tuesday, 14 November 2023 04:30 PM

cant understand why u insult a childless person to this extent do u think this is ethical, what a poor state of mindset u have

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