Bamboo marvels

by Ananda KANNANGARA

Gamini Pinnalawatte

It is rarely we meet educated people who hold responsible and higher positions in the public or private sector who are engaged in different fields such as carpentry, fishing, tailoring, food making, or handicraft making after their retirement.

Fit for a ground voyage.

During my recent official visit to Avissawella to cover an important event, organised by a State institution, I got an opportunity to meet a person, who makes replicas of ancient ships by using waste items of bamboo trees and the covers of bamboo shoots. According to history this kind of ancient ships were used by Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese sailors for navigation purposes over 600 years ago. Ruwal Neva is the Sinhala name for these ships.

During my brief interview, the former Director of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society(SLRCS) and also the former Country Director of the CCF Sri Lanka, Gamini Pinnalawatta said the dry covers of bamboo shoots could be obtained in plenty from bamboo bushes and the replicas of the ships are made out of these bamboo covers and the waste items of bamboo trees.

Gamini, who had a premature retirement from the CCF Sri Lanka to develop his ship making hobby, said in addition, he held responsible executive capacities at the SLRC, Sanasa and the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka for several years.

"Although, at present I am engaged in advisory work for the SLRC, I devote much time on making the replicas of ancient ships," he said.

He said one day he would give up all employment positions and focus his attention to expand this ship making hobby.

"It was my dream to make use of natural resources and make handicrafts, although my field was General Management and Administration," he said.Educated at St. Sebestian College, Moratuwa and later at the Xavier University, Philippines, Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand and the Management Development Foundation in Netherlands, Gamini had travelled to nearly 40 countries during his tenure at the SLRC and the CCF (SL).

He also has a diploma and higher diploma certificates, obtained from various countries. He said he could not engage in making the replicas of ancient ships for the past three decades due to his official commitments and since he is retired he could further improve his skills and make different shapes of ship replicas. Gamini's next aim is to ensure that these ships are made available in the local and international market to obtain foreign exchange for our country.

"I fully endorse what President Mahinda Rajapaksa has always been saying that citizens in the country must do something for the benefit of their motherland as he always insists to make use of every inch of our land and every part of our natural resources,".

"Therefore, his concept of `Be Lankan By Lankan' is an ideal statement for the present context and I am prepared to support these concepts in whatever possible way that I could contribute,"

He also thanked the management of Laksala for giving him an order to sell his products.

Gamini further said he would like to see that these products will be available in the North and East also, which will become another major tourist attraction location in the near future.

Gamini said he would be the first person who has found this material to make these replicas out of covers of bamboo shoots and in order to confirm this he has already applied for patent rights.