News
Pressure mounts to protect iconic post office
View(s):Pix and Text by Shelton Hettiaarachchi
A proposal to hand over the 130-year-old Nuwara Eliya Post Office building and the Kandy Post Office to the private sector has drawn a string of protests from people, trade unions, and other organisations demanding that the government reverse its plans.
Among the protestors around the Nuwara Eliya post office were foreigners.
More than 1,500 people braved adverse weather conditions in Nuwara Eliya to take part in the protest against a proposal to turn the historic building into a hotel.
Similar plans were floated to privatise the historic building in 2017 and 2018, but the proposal was shelved following protests.
Meanwhile, a two-day strike by postal workers crippled postal services across the country on Wednesday and Thursday.
Postal service workers, who stamped their protest over the proposal by launching a strike, returned to work yesterday. They were seen clearing the backlog, and services are expected to be fully restored by tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Media State Minister Shantha Bandara told a news conference that the Postal Department would ensure that the investor would protect the historical building and allow the post office to operate from the same location.
He said the unions too were demanding that the identity of the heritage building be protected, and they hoped to discuss the matter with the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and resolve the issue.
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- Colombo: The strike in progress. Pix by Priyanka Samaraweera
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- Nuwra Eliya: A sea of heads in front of the iconic post office
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