Sunday Observer EXTRA

‘Little England’ poised for major development

By Shirajiv SIRIMANE

History states that the city was founded by Samuel Baker, the ‘discoverer’ of Lake Albert and the explorer of the Nile in 1846. Nuwara Eliya’s climate lent itself to becoming the prime sanctuary of the British civil servants and planters in Ceylon. Nuwara Eliya, called Little England then, was also a hill country retreat where the British colonialists could immerse in their pastimes such as fox hunting, deer hunting,elephant hunting, polo, golf and cricket.

Wikipedia adds that although the town was founded in the 19th century by the British, the whole district is today visited by native travellers, specially during the month of April, the season of flowers, pony races, go cart races and auto rally.

Many of the buildings retain features from the colonial period such as the Queen’s Cottage, General’s House, Grand Hotel, Hill Club, Town Post Office and even new hotels are often built and furnished in the colonial style. Anyone who visits the city can wallow in its nostalgia of bygone days by visiting these landmark buildings. Many private homes still maintain their old English-style lawns and gardens.

However, after the independence the ‘little England’ though remained a seasonal holiday paradise underwent severe problems in the past two decades. The main reason for this is the number of tourists both local and foreign that thronged the areas for the holiday season.

While residents converted their homes to holiday bungalows and earned an extra income during the season new hotels too came up solving this accommodation issue.

Hotels

However lack of drinking water was a major issue along with garbage disposal. During the past few years these problems were addressed and lasting solutions have been brought about.

The Government has spent a total sum of Rs. 35 million during the past five years on water supply schemes in the Nuwara Eliya district. Over 115 projects were implemented. Work on the Nuwara Eliya Town Development Project estimated to cost Rs. 525 million and the Nuwara-Badulla Highway costing Rs. 500 million were commenced and are nearing completion.Town beautification too was a key element that came in to implementation from last year and developing Lake Gregory was one of the priorities.

The Ministry of Environment was one of the first institutions to come forward and put a halt to all unauthorized constructions in the area setting a bench mark. They also allowed a boat service to operate much to the relief of the holiday makers.

The Ministry of Tourism along with the Municipal Council of Nuwara Eliya launched the Lake Gregory improvement and landscaping project. This Rs. 120 million project that commenced in 2009 is to be completed in July by the contractor Sierea Constructions who are doing a praise worthy job.

The funding is coming from Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The area around the Lake is landscaped to international standard and path ways, lighting and benches are being built. The architecture is alluring and is bound to be centre of attraction.

Airport

It takes around two to three hours to get to Nuwara Eliya from the closest city and a solution for this is now on the way to cut down the travel time.

Minister of Aviation, Priyankara Jayaratne said that plans are underway to build a domestic airport for Nuwara Eliya. “President Mahinda Rajapaksa is very keen on this project”.

Minister said that they are on the look-out for a suitable land to build the airport.

He said that several private sector companies too have expressed interest to operate domestic flights not only to Nuwara Eliya but to other destinations as well.

He added that the sea planes operations to Nuwara Eliya would start in a few weeks. “Lake Gregory would be the venue for this,” he said.

Initially SriLankan air taxies would operate services on demand.

The Minister also disclosed plans to redevelop the air control tower in Nuwara Eliya to meet the modern day requirements.

Many athletes all over the world spend millions for altitude training prior to an international event.

For this reason teams travel to other countries where altitude training is available and spend weeks training.

Sports development

The Ministry of Sports is trying to woo international teams for altitude training and Nuwara Eliya has been earmarked for this purpose for its ideal setting.

A new stadium and hotels are being planned for this purpose which would undoubtedly be a high income generating venture.

In addition one of the main attractions during the season is Horse racing and the selected grounds is being redone to international standard to provide more facilities.

Managing Director of Sunhill Hotel in Nuwara Eliya Wasantha Perera which won a globe award (Best Economy Hotel) last week said that more hotels are needed in the future as the area would bring more local and foreign tourists.

Currently there are around 2000 rooms in the Grand Hotel offering 125, St. Andrews 50, Tea Factory 50, Windsor 48 and their group of hotels offering 110.

He said that in addition there are many houses that also provide around 1,500 rooms for the season. “The Government’s development drive in Nuwara Eliya will add more value to the scenic beauty of the area and we are looking at better times in the future,” he said.