Restoration project for Galle Fort

We have featured the Galle Fort in our Landmarks page, and you may already know about this complex. Some of you may have even visited this well-known fort.

Now, there is news that this World Heritage Site will go through a restoration programme with the assistance of the Netherlands' Government.

The project aims to preserve the ancient houses and buildings of the Fort, which have been altered, and which are now in a ruined state. The owners of these buildings will be supported to restore them to their original appearance in view of safeguarding the old charm of the Galle Fort, according to the Culture and National Heritage Ministry.

The Galle Heritage Foundation, which comes under the Ministry, has already done the preparatory work with regard to restoring the selected ancient sites. It has also planned to initiate cultural and educational programmes and exhibitions to protect and maintain the Galle Fort as a World Heritage Site and to attract more local and foreign tourists.

The Galle Fort was built in 1640. The Dutch established it as a complete town with houses and networks of streets and gutters. The British who succeeded the Dutch also made additions to the Fort, which resulted in its transformation from a security establishment to an administrative structure. Some of the structures built during these various periods still remain.

It was recognised as a World Heritage Site in 1988, when the Galle Heritage Foundation was also established by a Parliamentary Act to carry out maintenance work of the Fort. This Foundation contains a board of management which comprises establishments such as the Archaeological Department, Central Cultural Fund, Municipal Council and Urban Development Authority.

Arrangements to distribute textbooks

The necessary arrangements have now been made to issue school textbooks to children, for 2007, by the end of December this year, Educational Publications Commissioner General, N. Dharmasena said.

Some problems cropped up in the distribution of free textbooks among schoolchildren during the year 2006, and they have now been rectified, he said.

The delays in previous years had occurred due to the non-availability of accurate statistics, transfer of students mid-year, resulting in excess students in some schools and the increase of student intake from 40 to 45 in classes above Grade 6. These problems have now been resolved and after 12 years, students will receive their free textbooks for the next year before this year's December vacation.

The Educational Publications Department was expected to commence this task this month; it will continue till December 1. The distribution of books will be completed before the December school vacation, and any shortcomings will be looked into during the month of December, he said.

Activities for Children's Day

The day designated for you, Children's Day, is coming closer and closer, and you may be wondering what activities may have been organised this year to celebrate the event which falls on October 1. The Children's Development Ministry in association with Probation and Childcare Services Development has organised a special week's programme to mark the day, said Probation and Childcare Development Commissioner, S. Abeygunawardena.

A highlight of the programme, to be carried out from October 1 to 7, will be the sale of an especially designed Children's Day flag at Divisional Secretariat level.

The programme will also include the setting up of 150 children's libraries around the island; one library has been earmarked for a selected children's society from each Divisional Secretariat division.

Among the other features will be children's skills development workshops and awareness programmes for school van drivers and rural child protection committee members, Abeygunawardena said.

Electricity from garbage

The garbage problem is a serious issue, especially in the Colombo city and suburbs. People don't have a proper place to dispose their garbage, and so dump them on roadsides. This has created health hazards, apart from such dumps being an eyesore.

A novel idea has now been found as a solution to this problem, in the City of Colombo. The government plans to launch a programme to generate electricity, using garbage as the basic raw material.

The project has received Cabinet approval, while a 50 acre plot of land has been identified at Muthurajawela. A German investor too has been identified to carry it out.

This project is expected to have the capability to produce 32 mega watts of power. The government is also considering the construction of similar power generating plants in Kandy and Galle, cities where there is a severe garbage problem.

The power generated from these projects would be added to the national grid, thereby helping to bring down the cost of electricity, which is rather high, at the moment.

The technology of generating electricity from garbage as well as from human waste is already utilised in Germany. The German Government has similar projects in operation at the Frankfurt harbour and in many other areas too.

This project, if carried out successfully, could introduce solutions for both the power crisis as well as the garbage problem in our country.

Solar system to include three more planets?

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has proposed enlarging the world's understanding of the solar system to encompass 12 planets, instead of the traditional nine, changing what billions of schoolchildren have been taught for generations. But experts said that by the end of 2007, there could be dozens more.

"There's a whole list of candidates knocking at the door," said Owen Gingerich, who chairs the planetary definition committee of the IAU, the arbiter of what is and isn't a planet.

"Don't get stuck on this number 12, because that won't last the whole of next year," he told reporters in Prague in the Czech Republic, where 2,500 of the world's leading astronomers are considering a new definition for planets. "By the end of next year, there's going to be more."

The IAU says it has a "watchlist" of about a dozen potential candidates for planethood. Most would be known as "plutons" under a proposed new definition that would distinguish between eight classical planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - and Pluto, along with objects like it in the far reaches of the solar system beyond Neptune.

Associated Press

UNICEF-supported school building opened

The first school building completed under the UNICEF-supported Schools Infrastructure Reconstruction Programme was opened at Balapitiya Siddhartha Primary School in Galle, recently.

Over 300 children of the school, teachers and parents participated in this event.

The aim of the programme is to rebuild 35 schools destroyed or badly damaged by the 2004 tsunami.

The project is expected to benefit more than 20,000 children and teachers. UNICEF support is extended in cooperation with the Education Ministry, while the United Nations Office for Project Services managed the construction.

Among the facilities provided through the project at the Balapitiya school are, 14 new classrooms, play room, activity room, new water and sanitation facilities, canteen, administration block and assembly hall. These facilities were designed to create a child-friendly learning environment where interactive teaching and child participation will help the over 300 student population of the school, to fully develop their potential.

This child-friendly approach will be applied at all the schools to be reconstructed under this programme.