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| Sunday, 25 December 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Hampton Village - Gift from British tiny tots by Jayampathy Jayasinghe Hampton Village Sri Lanka, is where fifty houses has been built at Ahangama from donations from the British public for victims of the Tsumani disaster. The donations were from six-year-old school children, a 96-year-old pensioner and a few firms in the Hampton area.
The project was the brainchild of Dr. Upali Wickremasekera, a Sri Lankan medical doctor domiciled in Hampton in the United Kingdom, since 1959, has been working as a management professional. He has several feathers in his cap being a director of seven blue chip companies in the United Kingdom. The Tsunami tragedy has had a terrible impact on his life. He felt a deep sense of feeling for the poor who had lost every thing including family members. Dr. Wickremasekera had a dream, a vision to build houses for those affected by the Tsunami disaster. His dream was to contribute some thing to the natives of the land of his birth, not just houses but a village with 50 houses. "I have been living in Hampton for 35 years. So what I am trying to do now was to build a similar Hampton England in Sri Lanka. It is no longer a dream. The dream has now become a reality. The houses are for lower middle class people like teachers, nurses, government officers, police officers who cannot beg, borrow to eke out a living. These people also have to provide education to their children but at the same time struggling to live without a proper roof over their heads", he said. He said that each house consisting of two bed rooms with a ground area of 580 square feet with and an attached bathrooms water and electricity, were put up at a cost of Rs. 660,000 each. A 'community centre' to accommodate 250 which can also be used as a pre-school has been built. "Already two retired teachers have agreed to offer their services free, who will live in the village for two years." He said deserving people from the lower middle class groups have been allocated these houses. The occupants have undertaken to manage the entire village and have appointed a council with a president, secretary and the treasurer for the governance of the estate. "We have also allocated one house for the donors to come down here and spend a week here to see the village." Dr. Wickremasekera said that they will monitor their performance and ensure that it is being properly maintained. "We will ensure that cultural ties are established when children from top schools in England visit the village for short periods. Our second dream is to see that children from this village attend British schools and enter Oxford or Cambridge University. We have also plans to set up a foster parents scheme". Meanwhile the world's first monument in the shape of a gigantic wave has been built to commemorate the 300,000 plus persons in South East Asia who lost their lives in the Tsunami tragedy. The housing project was started by Dr. Wijesekera with a Sri Lankan along with a group of friends residing in the Hampton area immediately after the Tsunami hit Sri Lanka on 26 December 2004, Although ten houses were initially earmarked to be built, the project developed into a major undertaking with a plan to build a new unique model village to be named Hampton village -Sri Lanka. The land for the construction of houses was initially promised by the government of Sri Lanka in January 2005 but due to certain snags the land was not forthcoming. Dr. Wickremasekera visited Sri Lanka on two separate occasions in February and April 2005 to take possession of the promised land. Finally the committee was compelled to utilize the major part of the contributions to purchase a plot of land without waiting in patience for a free land from the government. On 1 May 2005 the committee purchased a five acre site in Ahangama. After his retirement two years ago Dr. Wickramasekera hopes to spend his time shuttling between Sri Lanka and Britain in the coming years.
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| Produced by Lake House |
The village estimated at Rs. 100 million, will be ceremonially opened on
December 27. Several dignitaries including Dr. Vincent Cable, the Member of
Parliament for Twickenham and Hampton and the patron of the project, the
Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayake, Ministers Amarasiri Dodangoda and
Dinesh Gunewardena are scheduled to participate at the ceremony. 
