Colombo to retain its beauty
By Dhaneshi Yatawara
As the Urban Development Authority based on the observations of the
present urbanisation trends suggests that around 60 percent of the
population would be living in urban areas by 2020. Accordingly the
average rate of urbanisation in the country during the period 2010 to
2020 would be in the range of 3–4 percent per annum.
Yet, the story before 2009 was totally contradicting. Before a
permanent peaceful condition prevailed in the country, the City of
Colombo and all other provincial urban centres lost many opportunities
to achieve sustainable urban development during the recent past. Threats
from terrorism was a huge drawback for many development activities not
only in the North and the East but for the entire country. Following
geo-political changes that took place in the country in May 2009, more
attention was paid to the overall development of the country by the
Government. Out of which developing the country's commercial hub the
Colombo city became a priority. The City of Colombo continued to grow as
the prime Commercial Capital of Sri Lanka. If not for the drawbacks we
experienced before 2009, the strategic location of Sri Lanka in general
and the City of Colombo in particular, located in close proximity to
vital international marine transportation routes, would have grown
dramatically as the key commercial hub of Asia.
Commercial hub
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| Architectural
illustration of the new gold centre |
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| UDA and Navy
officials inspecting renovation works inside the Gaffoor
building |
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| The St. John's
fish market which will be turned to a gold centre |
The present government’s policy framework the Mahinda Chinthana:
Vision for Future has correctly recognized these development trends and
strengthened the institutional frame work which directly involved the
Urban Development Sector and adopted clear strategies to develop Colombo
and other important and regional centres of Sri Lanka.
A number of projects were implemented to upgrade the physical
condition of the Colombo city based on the garden city concept. A lot of
leisure activities for the public have been created providing
opportunities to witness real freedom.
The regeneration of the city from its present state to face the new
development demands would transform the entire city profile into a
different scenario with a huge value addition to the properties while
addressing sustainability issues of development. With the limited space
being the biggest challenge raising new buildings would be a rare
opportunity for development planners. And simultaneously the city icons
and its characteristics need to be preserved while the demands of a
commercial hub are met.
Under the current Urban Regeneration Program of the Urban Development
Authority two iconic buildings of the Colombo city will be renovated and
refurbished.
According to a spokesperson from the UDA media unit the former St.
John's fish market building and Gaffoor building in Colombo Fort area
will be renovated and refurbished making them high tech economic centres
of the Colombo Metropolitan area.
Gold centre
The former St. John's Fish market will be upgraded to a gem and
jewellery trading centre with 83 shops, banks, restaurants and many
other modern facilities. The renovation program already started and the
UDA plans to complete the project by mid May of this year.
“At present there is no specific place where a customer or a
foreigner can find a collection of gem and jewellery shops. People have
to travel to different places in Colombo looking for a good bargain in
buying gems and jewelery,” said Assistant Director (Architect), UDA,
Avanthi Jayasinghe, who is in charge of the project.
The previous fish market place now turning in to a gold market will
be fully equipped with all the related necessary accessories. The
building will also include a branch of the Gem and Jewellery Authority
for the benefit of the businessmen to certify the quality of the goods
they buy. “Money exchangers, banks will also be a part of the complex,”
said Avanthi. It will be a modern hitech shopping mall with escalators,
public addressing systems, lobby exhibition areas, food courts etc. “The
target groups would be couples getting ready to get married and tourists
looking for Sri Lankan gems - other than a normal jewelery buyer,”
explained Avanthi. Thus the shopping mall will also have branded
clothing shops as well for the benefit of the engaged couples.
Sri Lanka Army's Fourth Engineering battalion will take over the
construction work under the guidance of the Urban Development Authority.
Gaffoor building
The Gaffoor building, an icon of the Colombo Fort area which was
constructed during the colonial era, will be renovated to accommodate
several super markets and a hotel. The ground floor will be
reconstructed to accommodate six supermarkets.
A hotel with sixty rooms will be built which will belong to the City
Hotels Group and the area would be from the first floor to the third.
“The initial refurbishing work have already started. But we cannot do it
in a rush as we have to keep the old colonial architectural designs in
tact. That would be the uniqueness of the building,” said Deputy
Director (projects) of the UDA, Lavanya Weerasuriya. who is in charge of
the construction work.
“We believe that this building which is more than 100-years-old will
be a great tourist attraction considering its architectural value and
location,” she said. Plastering and other construction works to hold up
the exterior of the building is taking place and around 200–250 persons
are involved in the project.“The interior would be modified to
accommodate the super markets and the hotel requirements,” she said.
Reconstruction works of the Gaffoor building is being taken over by the
Navy under the instructions of the UDA. |
