Moratuwa Sports Club in a quandary
Moratuwa Sports Club has been asked to vacate the De Soysa Cricket Stadium premises within seven days by the Moratuwa Municipal Council as they have occupied the premises owned by the council without paying rent for over seven decades.
The council’s decision was intimated to the club in August this year, giving them two week’s notice to vacate and a further reminder has been sent three months later. However, the club continues to occupy the place disregarding the directive issued by the council.
“We have been occupying this place for 78 years, a few months after the ground was donated by the De Soysa family. So it’s really unfair for the Moratuwa Municipal Council to ask us to leave the premises now,” said senior club member Daya Sirisena.
The Moratuwa Sports Club has produced a number of cricketing greats like H.I. Fernando, Stanley Fonseka, D.D. Jayasinghe, Nisal Senaratne, Norton Frederick, Sylvester Dias, D.S. and D.P. de Silva, Sarath Fernando, S. Illangaratnam, Tudor Meegoda, Lanthra Fernando, Daya Sirisena, Wirantha Fernando, Priyantha Jayasekera and Hemal Mendis to name a few, who had made a name in national and international cricket.
Following a discussion held on August 27 between club officials and municipal council officials, the club was given seven days notice to vacate the premises. The meeting was attended by club president Ranjith Gunawardene and senior representative Daya Sirisena.
Former Nalanda and Moratuwa Sports Club cricketer Sirisena said the cricket crazy crowd of Moratuwa got the opportunity to see cricket greats like Sir Richard Hadlee, Sir Vivian Richards, Brian Lara in action at the Moratuwa stadium.
“If the aim of the council is to earn more revenue at the expense of the game of cricket, then it’s totally unacceptable. This place has made a huge contribution for the development of cricket and it remains in the hearts of the people of Moratuwa and around the island,” he added.
When Sunday Times contacted Samanlal Fernando, the Mayor of the Moratuwa Municipal Council, he said that the land was a gift by the philanthropist A.H.T. de Soysa in 1941 and was owned by the municipality since then.
“It is true that the Moratuwa Sports Club was housed at the grounds from the time it was inaugurated. They have no proof of ownership of the land. We have no issues of them occupying the place as long as they pay a rent to the council. After all they make money,” the mayor said.
He also added that the Land Settlement Department will issue a gazette notification shortly which accordingly gifts the land to the people of Moratuwa with the sole authority to the Municipal Council.
Moratuwa had long been noted for its philanthropists, mainly from the De Soysa family. A gift to the people of Moratuwa for sport was made in 1941 by a member of the De Soysa family, A.H.T. de Soysa. This noble son of Moratuwa made a gift of six acres of land in the heart of the town to the local authority, an Urban Council then, for the development of a cricket ground.
The gift of the ground also marked the birth of Moratuwa Sports Club on 5th July 1941 with Sir Wilfred De Soysa (son of C.H. De Soysa) as patron. The donor A.H.T. de Soysa noted that the land he donated is in a neglect state and wrote to council to hand it back to de Soysa. But it was soon cleared after the protest.
Moratuwa Sports Club sought permission to have the club at the ground in 1941. Again A.H.T. de Soysa stepped in and gifted a small pavilion in memory of his late father S. Peter de Soysa. Moratuwa Sports Club maintained the grounds till 1977.
Then Tyronne Fernando, a member of parliament of Moratuwa and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, renovated the grounds with all the facilities to accommodate 10,000 spectators with a new pavilion to suit international standards. In 1979 the first international match was played between the West Indies and Sri Lanka in front of a packed stadium.
It is understood the main idea of the local body is to develop the De Soysa Park into a recreation ground for the public of Moratuwa accommodating indoor and outdoor sporting activities, improving the infrastructure by laying walkways and shopping areas for the benefit of the people of Moratuwa, instead of confining the area for international cricket and depriving the citizens of Moratuwa access to the park.
The council expects to receive an additional income by opening the doors of the stadium to public whereas at present Moratuwa Sports Club pays Rs. 35,000/- per day for a match and Rs. 50,000/- by a visiting team for a match per day.
The Association of C.H. De Soysa Family Descendants had sent a protest letter to the Municipal Council of Moratuwa, dated 16th September, 2019 stating that the association objects vehemently to any proposals by the Moratuwa MC to deviate from the terms and conditions specified in the Gift Deed under the De Soysa Park’s gift to the People of Moratuwa.
Schools around Moratuwa who make use of the grounds to play their ‘Big Matches’, inter-school matches and to stage other sports activities will be affected at the loss of the grounds.