
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.

A museum at the Fort complex |
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.

Pic:AFP
|
"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. |