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| Sunday, 16 March 2003 |
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Dispute with the RDA over after nearly nine years by ANTON NONIS and ANJANA GAMAGE The dispute between the Muslim Ladies College (MLC) and the Road Development Authority (RDA) which prevented the construction of the final phase of Duplication Road for about nine years, ended last Thursday with the RDA paying Rs. 29 million as compensation for MLC authorities. The RDA has pledged to make the entire stretch of the road available for traffic within one month. The cheque for Rs. 29 million was handed over by the Colombo Deputy Mayor Azath Salley to MLC Principal on Thursday. Mr. Salley was accompanied by RDA's Land and Land Acquisition Director, K.A Thilekeratne, and Highways Secretary, Mahinda Samarasekera. The event was witnessed by hundreds of schoolchildren and parents who at that time had planned to stage a mass demonstration near the school against the RDA for initiating legal action on school authorities over the road issue. According to MLC principal Mrs. F.B Jurampathy, they were to be supported by schools in Batticaloa who also planned to arrive in Colombo by buses. Mrs. Jurampathy said that the school has a student population of 3,400. The compensation money would be used to purchase a 40-perch land in the vicinity of the school, situated along Kensington Gardens. However, as the price of this plot of land is Rs. 32 million, the school expects to obtain the balance amount from the Education Ministry. The school authorities have planned to construct a hostel and auditorium complex on the new plot of land. According to Mrs. Jurampathy, the long delay on the construction work of the road was due to matters pertaining to compensation. The school would lose 55 perches when the road came up. "We would still agree to settle it for a land even with a lesser extent," she said. A building block comprising 18 classrooms had to be demolished for this purpose. The RDA, according to Director Thilekeratne, had compensated for the 18 classrooms by constructing a block with the same number of classrooms at a cost of Rs. 20 million on an earlier occasion. Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic), Alfred Wijewardene said that daily over 350,000 vehicles plied to Colombo from various parts of the country and the existing road network was inadequate to cope with the large number of vehicles plying the city roads. It has been analysed that a traffic block of a few seconds is sufficient to create a congestion of nearly a kilometre. However, motorists expect vehicular traffic on city roads would improve with the completion of the construction of the Duplication road. Members of the School Development Society who had gathered for thursday's protest demonstration, expressed relief at the turn of events. A.H.M. Riyaz President of the Action Committee said: "This is a national school established in 1946 with classes up to G.C.E (A\L) in Sinhala, Tamil and English. At present 3,400 students from all over the country study here. The school is situated on a 100-perch land. But after the RDA acquired a portion of the land, only 45 perches were left for the school. The land belonged to Sir. Razeek Fareed and it was later vested with the government. Now, the children have lost their playing area. When the road is constructed, the primary section of the school will be on the left side and the upper school on the right side. The road will run through the school, he said. Riyaz said the school was not against giving the land to construct the road. "What we sought from the RDA was compensation for an alternative land", he said, adding that the school planned to purchase a land adjoining the school and convert it into a playground. He said that the SDS had planned a mass protest campaign next week with the participation of about 30,000 supporters, mainly parents. U.K. Zahid, former Secretary of the Past Pupils' Association, said that past students had enjoyed certain privileges for a long time. "We want to protect them," she said, explaining that neither the parents nor the past pupils were against the road being constructed, but their concern was a playground." The overhead bridge which connects the two buildings is also not safe for students. There will be environmental pollution in the area with the construction of the road as well. The toxic fumes which emerge from belching vehicles will also affect students. This is the only national school for Muslim students in Colombo and it is our duty to safeguard it," she said. |
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