Kinniya bridge opening in the Eastern province

Text and photos by Mohammed RASOOLDEEN

The opening of the Kinniya bridge by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 is an important landmark in the annals of the people in the Eastern province.

The 396 meter-long bridge, the longest overpass in the island was constructed with the financial aid of SR 440 million from the Saudi Government. The new facility will trigger the economic and cultural development envisaged by the government following its defeat of terror in the island.

Trincomalee is one of the main cities in the Eastern province. More than 10,000 people cross the Kinniya lagoon daily between Kinniya and Trincomalee.

The new bridge is ten metres wide and there are two pavements, each 1.5 metres wide, for pedestrians. The bridge was constructed by a Chinese firm under the supervision of the Road Development Authority.

"The bridge will connect Kinniya and Trincomalee and ease the transport problems of people in the Eastern province and would benefit more than a million people in the Eastern province as well as the others who come to Trincomalee district." Saudi Ambassador in Colombo, Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman Al-Jammaz told Daily News. The envoy explained that these people cross the lagoon by ferry and undergo numerous hardships to transport goods including household equipment and daily needs through the ferry. Both light and heavy vehicles are taken on this ferry which operates from morning till 10 p.m.

"We have a special place in our hearts for the Sri Lankan Muslims who form eight percent of the island's 20 million population. While assisting the other communities, we also would like to help distressed Muslims in all parts of the island," he stressed. Even this year, he said Saudi Arabia sent 120 metric tons of dates to Sri Lanka for the Muslims to enable people on the island to break fast during the month of Ramadan.

"The Kingdom is home to 550,000 Sri Lankans. They have earned a good reputation for their hard work and perseverance, and they have contributed a great deal to the nation's development," he said, adding that the wheels of justice is fair to all living in Saudi Arabia.

From time immemorial, people living in Kinniya and surrounding villages undergo numerous hardships to travel to and from Trincomalee to do their daily work. The hamlets in the vicinity include, Uppar, Gangai, Eralkali, Kilivedy and Thoppur.

Kinniya, has a 400 year old rich history. It has a population of more than 100,000 with 32 schools catering to the children's education within the area. It was well-known for pearl fishing and elephant hunting.

The descendants of the Panicker family-caretakers of elephants could still be seen in the village. It is also the single largest Muslim village in the island. Human occupation included fishing, trading and agriculture. Through traditions, the villagers are well-mannered, hospitable, religious and greet people with their ancestral smile.

Early Saudi influence is conspicuous by a mosque built by Saudi donation in the village. This mosque stands as a unique contribution to this Kinniya by the Saudi Arabian Government.

Besides thanking the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for his magnanimity in providing this facility, majority of Kinniya residents, who are Muslims also expressed their thanks to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Trincomalee District MP and Minister of Cooperatives Najeeb A. Majeed for being instrumental in the construction of the bridge.

"With the support of the Saudi Government our age-old sufferings came to an end. Our future generation is going to use the new bridge for their daily work," Mohammed Sadikeen, a retired banker and community leader from Kinniya said. He recalled that sometimes it took hours to cross the lagoon because of the heavy passenger traffic who used the ferry daily for their private and business purposes." The absence of a road link remained a major obstacle for the progress and development of Kinniya."

In times of emergency at nights, people in Kinniya could not come to the nearest hospital in time since they had to depend on the boatman of the ferry. Last year, three officials from a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) including a woman died in tragic event during a journey in the ferry.

Sri Lanka Consul General in Jeddah, Abdul Lateef Mohamed Lafeer, who hails from Kinniya said that the whole Sri Lankan nation will be ever grateful to the Saudi Government for having funded such a useful project which is going to benefit more than a million people in the Eastern part of the island as well as the others in the country.

"This new development will pave the way for social, cultural and economic development of the Trincomalee district," Lafeer said, adding that he was aware of the difficulties he personally underwent from his childhood to cross the ferry in times of emergency. "We salute the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and President Mahinda Rajapaksa who were mainly responsible for making this facility a reality in the life of Kinniyan villages,"Lafeer said.

Director of the Kinniya Bridge Project, Highways Engineer Nimal Chandrasiri, said that the villagers in Kinniya were overjoyed on hearing that the bridge was almost completed. He pointed out that during the three years the bridge was under construction thousands of people commuted daily between the Kinniya and Trincomalee mainland by ferry that crisscrossed the route from dawn to dusk.

Eng. Abdullah Al Shedokhi, project officer of the The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), said that this was the largest Saudi project completed in Sri Lanka.

The Kingdom is currently building a 2.25 billion rupee worth Epilepsy and Diagnosis Hospital in Colombo, which will be the first of its kind in Sri Lanka.

The Saudi Fund For Development, SFD, had given an additional grant of 330 million rupees for the development of health facilities at the Neuro Trauma Hospital, which was built with Saudi aid of 440 million rupees in Colombo.

SFD had provided the island with project loans on three previous occasions.

It offered SR 99.9 million for the second stage of the Water Supply and Sewage project and gave SR 48.1million for the Mahaweli Ganga Development Project System B in 1981.

Subsequently, Sri Lanka obtained 255 million rupees for the Mahaweli Ganga Development Project System B Left Bank in 1984.