Environmental damage during rally

By Ranjith Rajapakse

Employees of the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council expressed concern about the extensive damage caused to the environmental beauty of Nuwara Eliya town by the participants in a propaganda rally organized by the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) to support the candidacy of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.  

They said the participants at the rally had tread on the flower beds and plants maintained with much love and care to enhance the environmental beauty of the town. They pointed out that the rally could have been held in a playground or a meeting hall and not in the heart of the town.   

They said it was a matter of serious concern that the police and the security personnel on duty at the rally had turned a blind eye to the wanton destruction of the flower beds, plants and trees.   

However, Municipal Commissioner Ishan Wijeyatilaka when inquired regarding the issue said the damage was being estimated and that action would be taken to recover the cost to restore it from the organizers of the rally regardless of their status.