 What
of the old, the sick, the feeble?
Kandy is so blamed proud of its under- pass!
The city's hole in the heart, as one wag said...and it's doing no good
to those with weak tickers! The point is, the Municipality has made no
provision whatsoever for the old, the weak, the feeble, who, because of
any number of circumstances, are obliged to use the roads.
Because of the underpass (which is fast becoming a mini under-world,
the pavements have been fenced in. No breaking out to cross the road willy-nilly.
You take this funnel flanked by a chorus line of hawkers and the white
painted metal fence (this was painted white to delight the eyes of Prince
Charles but is now turning streetgrey rapidly). The funnel takes you to
the hole. One must plunge down a flight of narrow steps, then enter this
under-world of trip-along schoolgirls, salivating school boys, the aimless
and the shameless and knots of sweep ticket sellers for whom any port will
do nicely. Thank you. Twenty steps down and another twenty up to street
level.
Saw this old lady wheezing at the bottom of the steps. She had taken
her time coming down, grimly holding onto the stair rail, descending most
painfully. She had shuffled tiredly to the other side and dreaded the thought
of the climb to street level. People seemed to descend upon her in waves.
She was panting, and even with my help took a long time to make the climb.
Said she had a bad heart. The Municipality is not worrying, or is it? One
old man I know prefers to walk all the way round to the Kandy market, then
cross in the face of a traffic swarm rather than use the underpass. He
dreads it. He has vertigo. The very thought of descending those steps makes
him sweat.
Are these the newest victims of dimwit authority that fences off pavements
for pedestrian use and then allows even this walking space to become the
unauthorised preserve of hawkers and beggars?
CIS' Kandy section
 Met
David Sanders recently: the Principal of Colombo International School -
the school that delivers a British-style curriculum relevant to Sri Lanka.
The school's Kandy section, in a fine building close to the Mahaweli River
and the Polgolla dam is now ready for business and will open in August.
The address - 175, Parmagantota Road, Mavilmada, Kandy.
The decision to open in Kandy was taken early this year and the first
step will be an infant and junior section (Playgroup to Primary 5). By
1999 the school will extend to Year 9 (Secondary) and will take in O' Level
and A' Level students by years 2000 and 2001. Sanders says that the infant
section will have no more than 18 per class, each class with two teachers.
From Junior level, all pupils will follow a modern course in Computing
as well.
The Kandy section aims at a maximum of 300 pupils. That is one assurance
of the quality it aims to give.
The brighter side of cooperation
On the Hantane Road, by the General Hospital and just below the Cancer
Home, a new building is coming up, and rapidly at that. Three storeys and
the roof are already in place, and the foundation stone was only laid on
January 6 this year. This is the materialisation of a dream — a project
envisioned by Kandy General Hospital Director, Dr Beligaswatte, who is
known here as a man who can make mountains move! The building? A 200-bed
hospital for the Security Forces and the Police, a 100-bed surgical ward
for children as well as a 100-bed Renal unit.
Speaking with Dr. Nihal Karunaratne, I learned that at present there
is no special surgical ward for children. "The new ward will take
in all children who have undergone neuro- cardiac, orthopaedic and pediatric
surgery," Dr. Nihal said.
The cost? About Rs 125 million. What is of great significance is the
enthusiastic co-operation the project has received from so many. I learn
that Maliban have donated Rs 1 million and Swarna Mahal Jewellers 5 lakhs.
It has the assistance of the Peradeniya University, the Central Provincial
Council, all engineers and architects of the UDA and Government engineers.
Site clearance was done at no cost by the Central Province Ministry of
Highways & Construction and the RDA. A Technical Advisory Committee
is giving all services free. Members include K A.T. Nikapitiya, Secretary,
Ministry of Construction & Highways, Central Provincial Council; M
A Sirisena, Deputy Secretary of the Central Engineering Division, Professor
N. Seneviratne, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, and many other professional
men including architects, surveyors and structural and design engineers
''Architect Gamini Dissanayake is giving his services absolutely free,"
Dr Nihal said. Everything helps, and money too! But it speaks so much for
Kandy and the Central Province that the cooperation has swelled like a
bright chord. Let the music flow
Tilak's seventh exhibition
 From
Digana, Kandy, artist Tilak Palliyaguru treats Colomho's art lovers to
his seventh exhibition of recent paintings.
Tilak has this particular genius of putting on canvas the manner of
his mind, each work an interpretation of his own conscious (and oftimes
subconscious) reaction to the things he sees and feels with a rare sensitivity.
The exhibition will be at the Lionel Wendt from July 3 to 7. It was
declared open at 6 p.m. on July 3 by the Chairman, Malibans. Tilak tells
me that Malibans have sponsored the exhibition. He will be hanging many
pieces of his Avurudu collection as well as a lot of his sketches in pencil,
charcoal and colourstick.
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