The controversy surrounding the ownership of Kandy’s famous Asgiriya International Cricket Stadium has prompted a meeting tomorrow between representatives of the Asgiriya Mahanayaka Thera and Trinity College, Kandy.
The meeting has been convened by the Asgiriya Mahanayaka Thera.
Last week, Trinity College produced documents to support the school’s claim that Trinity owned the grounds.
The documents include a deed of an outright purchase of the land.
Two weeks ago, the Asgiriya grounds were formally handed over by the Asgiriya Chapter Mahanayaka, the Ven. Udugama Sri Buddharakkhitha Thera, to the Palipane Shri Chandananda International School principal, Dr. Godagama Mangala Thera, at an official ceremony held in Kandy.
Dr. Mangala Thera told The Sunday Times that the Asgiriya temple had documents to prove its ownership of the disputed property.
According to the Trinity College principal, Brigadier (Retired) W. G. K. Aryaratne, the school leased the land from the state in 1911, and a document to that effect was signed by the then Governor of Ceylon. A gazette notification was issued later, granting the school a further lease on the land.
In 1985, more land was annexed to the grounds under a lease agreement that was signed by former President J. R. Jayewardene. The transaction was done under the Crown Land ordinance.
In 2005, the school made an outright purchase of the grounds, and documents to that effect were signed by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.
“We have all the relevant deeds and documents, and the school has been paying taxes to the government,” Principal Aryaratne told The Sunday Times.
He said Trinity College did not have a copy of the 1909 deed that the Asgiriya Temple authorities say proves the temple’s ownership of the grounds.
Principal Aryaratne said the school had received a letter from the Asgiriya Temple, asking the school to vacate the grounds and pavilion by May 31.
Earlier, the Ven. Udugama Sri Buddharakkitha Thera, the Asgiriya Mahanayaka, told The Sunday Times that the Trinity College lease on the grounds had expired last year.
The Asgiriya grounds have been closely associated with Trinity College for almost 100 years. In the 1980s, the grounds were upgraded to international standard when the Sri Lanka cricket team earned Test status.
The move was initiated by the then Sri Lanka Cricket Board chairman, the late Gamini Dissanayake, an old boy of Trinity.
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Trinity College says it has documents to prove the school owns the Asgiriya grounds. |
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