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Lankagama to get all-new school

by Ananda Kannangara

Heavy rains and bad weather that prevailed in the Southern Province on Saturday curtailed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to the rural hamlet of Lankagama in Deniyaya where he was to attend to a stone- laying ceremony for the reconstruction of Lankagama Junior School, devastated by the recent floods.

The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. (Lake House) has donated Rs. 10 million towards the re-construction of the school building. The Premier was to arrive there with several other Parliamentarians including Ministers Vajira Abeyawardana, Ravindra Samaraweera, Deputy Minister Sagala Ratnayake and Southern Province Chief Minister H.G. Sirisena. He was also scheduled to attend a ceremony at the Mediripitiya rural village in Poddana. The Premier visited the village a couple of months ago and talked freely with the villagers.

Although the gravel roads and several other foot paths lead to the Lankagama village were soggy due to continuous showers, hundreds of villagers including schoolchildren arrived at the school premises to welcome the Prime Minister and also to see the pathetic situation of the school caused by the floods. Lankagama Junior school, Principal M.K. Piyasiri said that even the used materials of the devastated school building such as timber and tiles cannot be utilised for any purpose and new building materials will have to be used for reconstruction.

"Although the Prime Minister could not attend the stone- laying ceremony we have been instructed to go ahead with the reconstruction work since the children who studied in this school continue with their educational activities in temporally built huts roofed with canvas sheets and cadjans. These huts were erected in a temple at Lankagama. Divisional Secretary, Lankagama D.M. Dharmasena said that villagers face immense hardships since the gravel roads and foot paths leading to the village are in a dilapidated condition and steps will be taken to repair them before starting the reconstruction of the school.

Lankagama Gramaseva Niladhari L.G. Somaratna related a number of stories of poor families who lost their kith and kin and also their houses along with other belongings in the earthslips.

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