Night street motor races to infuse new life in to Kandy city

S.M.Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy South Group Corr

The staging of the night street motor races in the heart of the Kandy city would infuse new life in to the city and make it active said the Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake.

He said that last year this race was conducted for the first time in a very successful manner due to the efforts of the officials of the Kandy Off Road Adventure Club and others who spared no pains to make this a success and a very large crowd thronged to witness it despite the fact that the races went through the night in to the early hours of the following morning. This time, a bigger crowd is expected.

During the dark era in the late eighties, people were compelled to rush home before dark and the shops put up their shutters and public transport came to a standstill.

Now, that era is a thing of the past and the fear psychosis which prevailed has been eliminated following the annihilation of the terrorists. There was a time when there were late night shows in Kandy and its' suburbs and there were transport services to take cinema goers back home. “We must bring back those days without making Kandy a sleepy town,” the Chief Minister said.

He said, that with this in view, they have been organizing a Night Bazaar in the streets of Kandy where food and other goods are available at bargain prices. There is also entertainment on the roads with baby train rides and mini merry go rounds. “Then we can organize fashion shows and education related activities which will be held far in to the night,” the Chief Minister said.

All this was done to keep Kandy town active and there will be movement of people. If the crowds are there, the shop keepers will keep their shops open. At present, there is very little activity in Kandy town and tourists will not be happy about this state of affairs as they will be confined to their hotel rooms without any night life.

Thereore, the Chief Minister appealed to all concerned to make Kandy active after dusk and have plenty of entertainment activities for the people. “We must do this in view of the tourist boo which is expected soon,” the Chief Minister said.