A move to 'carpet' the 4.1 kilometre stretch of road along which the Kandy Esala Perahera will travel is drawing criticism from opposition quarters.
The decision to carpet the road at a tremendous cost was taken on a directive from President Mahinda Rajapaksa after Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Dela made a request to him.Following the presidential directive, Kandy Mayor L.B.Aluvihare obtained the services of the Road Development Authority to ' carpet the entire route of the Kandy Esala Perahera before the historic event begins on August 19.
Queen Maya, the mother of Lord Buddha, while giving birth to Him is said to have held onto a branch of a blossoming 'Sal tree'. Since then the 'Sal tree' has been revered by Buddhists. In Sri Lanka, people have planted trees in most Buddhist temples under the mistaken belief that they were planting 'Sal' trees.
Negotiations are underway by Cadbury-India to purchase Cocoa from Sri Lanka through a tie-up with a local chocolate manufacturer, according to the Director of Export Agriculture Dr.M. Illangasinghe.
He said there was a good future for Cocoa provided quality seeds could be produced by growers, in keeping with international market trends. But, according to experts, the production of Cocoa in 2005 was insufficient even to meet the demands of the indigenous confectionary industry if one looks at the figures compiled by the Spice ....... 
If one wants to know about the persent, then look into the past. Kandy SC was formed in 1874 by the expatriates (Planters) for their weekend leisure sports at historic Bogambara. It remained there until the Second World War which broke out in 1939. 