A former rice granary in the Galle area that was renovated five years ago at great expense and with much fanfare to serve as an economic centre is now an abandoned and derelict structure, home to stray cattle and undesirables.
The idea of setting up an economic centre in Galle – the Boossa Economic Centre – was mooted during a previous government under former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the foundation stone for the centre was laid in July 2003. The person entrusted with the job of implementing the project was the then Deputy Finance Minister, Bandula Gunewardena, who is the present Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister.
However, with all the planning and preparation and costly construction work involved, the centre never came into being as planned, and the building has fallen into a state of disrepair.
Meanwhile, the premises have been vandalised and ransacked, with electric wiring and water pipes ripped out and other valuable property stolen. | 
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