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| Col.
Olcott's first vision house gone for dried fish The one-time majestic building in the heart of city was one of the places from where Colonel Henry Steel Olcott, who arrived in Sri Lanka on May 17, 1880, carried out his campaign for Buddhist revivalism in Sri Lanka when the country was under the yoke of foreign colonization. But today it has become a dried fish outlet with no trace of history to be found. More than 100 years ago, Col. Olcott, one of the pioneers of the Buddhist Theosophical Movement in Sri Lanka in the early 20th century, used this building at Pettah off Olcott Mawatha to give a sound education to Sinhala students in a Buddhist environment and also to teach them English. Indeed it was the precursor to Ananda College in Maradana. The significance of the two-storeyed building is such that it was from here that the Parama Vignanarthe Buddhist Society (Buddhist Theosophical Society) operated when it was established on June 17, 1880. Col. Olcott occupied one of the four rooms of the building, starting his mission of Buddhist revivalism through education, till he left the island in 1906. Within a short period, the education activities of the Theosophical Society had to be shifted to Maradana because the building was inadequate to house the increasing number of students. The new place they shifted to is today known as Ananda College. Soon the Theosophical Society expanded its activities with the setting up of more Buddhist schools. Nalanda College in Colombo, Dharmapala in Pannipititya, Dharmaraja in Kandy, the number rose to more than 460 within a short span. Besides Buddhsit schools, the society also introduced the concept of Sunday schools or Daham Paselas. Despite the increasing workload, the society maintained its office in this building, handling much of its education-related activities, till the government took over schools in 1962. With the government takeover of schools, the society left this building, allowing the only tenant in the building to continue his business. After the death of this businessman, his relatives occupied the building, paying a monthly rental to the Society. In 1999, under the Archaeological Act clause 18, the dilapidated building was earmarked as a building of archaeological value. But little or no measures have been taken to preserve the building which is being used as a dried fish outlet, with hardly naty trace of its past glory evident. Part of the roof and doors and windows of the upper floor are missing. Archaeological Department officials say they are unable to proceed with necessary measures to secure and protect the building, because the present occupants are refusing to vacate it. They say legal action has been taken against the occupants. Buddhist Theosophical Society President S.P. Weerasekera said that they had lodged a complaint with the police and the Archaeological Department when they were informed about moves by the occupants to renovate the building. "Archaeological Department officers inspected the scene. One person was produced in Court and given bail. The matter is now before courts," he said. An Archaeological official said the case was taken up on Tuesday, but due to the heavy rains experienced on that day, the department's lawyer got late to get to courts and the occupant managed to obtain bail for an offence which the department lawyer described as a non-bailable offence.
According to family members of Yamuna Sridharan of Chavakachcheri, she was admitted to the Jaffna hospital suffering when she had high fever. But she was transferred to the intensive care unit on suspicion that she was suffering from SARS. The family members alleged that the hospital staff was reluctant to attend to her when they heard that she was a suspected case of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, that has hit South East Asia). As a result, Yamuna did not receive proper attention at the ICU, the family members claimed. The post-mortem report revealed that the patient died of pneumonia. The family members said that Yamuna's death was purely due to failure on the part of the hospital to properly diagnose her illness and the lack of medical attention. The family
members also complained that the neighbours were unwilling to associate
with them or to visit their house due to the false news alarm raised
by the hospital. Jaffna Teaching
Hospital Director Dr. S. Sadharmuham ruled out that she has had
SARS but declined to comment on the allegations levelled against
the hospital. Last month, the Kurunegala Hospital was on the spotlight for allegedly misdiagnosing a woman as a SARS patient and transferring her to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Angoda. The death of the woman stirred a national outcry against health authorities. SARS usually begins with a fever, sometimes associated with chills or other symptoms, including headache, general feeling of discomfort and body aches. Some people also experience mild respiratory symptoms at the outset. After 2 to 7 days, SARS patients may develop a dry, nonproductive cough that might be accompanied by or progress to the point where insufficient oxygen is getting to the blood. Go
to Supreme Court, says CP "Interpreting of the powers and functions vested under the Constitution cannot be achieved by thuggery or shouting in streets," the party said in a statement. The party said if the UNF Government was not in a position to accept the President's decision, it should have gone to the Supreme Court without opting for hooliganism. Wreath
for wrath In the latest case, a three-wheeler driver who delivered the wreath was arrested but the police could not trace the woman. Florists have been told not to send any more wreaths to the doctor. |
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