When Parliament was moved to Sri Jayewardenepura
Parliament since 1930 had been functioning in the imposing building (now the Presidential Secretariat) opposite Galle Face constructed by the British. After the Donoughmore Commission recommended establishment of the State Council, two State Councils functioned from 1939 to 1945.
Following the Soulbury Commission recommendation and grant of Independence in 1948, and the creation of the House of Representatives the same year, Parliament functioned in this building fondly remembered as the Parliament by the sea. The original British building accommodated only a limited number of members and in 1948 the House of Representatives consisted of only 101 MPs -- 95 elected and six nominated.
Later it was expanded to 151 members and the original building was just enough to accommodate that number.
In 1977 when J. R. Jayewardene became Prime Minister, he and his Cabinet decided that a new location be found for Parliament and Geoffrey Bawa, a renowned architect at that time, was asked to scour Colombo and its immediate environs for the most suitable site. An area encircled by marsh and surrounded by the Diyawanna Oya was selected.
I vividly recall the day that Anandatissa de Alwis invited me to accompany him to the site which Bawa had selected. We had to wear gumboots to wade through the marsh. In the meantime, President Jayewardene had decided to make Kotte the administrative capital of Sri Lanka and had planned that all important government buildings, Ministries and even a diplomatic enclave be shifted there. The chosen site was Sri Jayewardenepura-Kotte which had been the capital of Ceylon from 1411 to 1568.
Sceptics, however said that the President wanted to perpetuate his own name by locating Parliament there. Soon a Gazette was issued decreeing Sri Jayewardenepura-Kotte as the administrative capital of Sri Lanka and Colombo continued to be recognised as the commercial capital.
Soon after, Bawa produced a model of the proposed building and showed it to the President who was duly impressed. He readily agreed to it and Bawa and his team started drawing the plans. I recall the numerous meetings to which Bawa summoned me and my staff; we had to set out our parliamentary needs and soon after we gave him a comprehensive doc- ument on this matter.
Work started soon after the construction contract was awarded to Mitsui, a well-known Japanese company. The entire marsh of the Diyawanna Oya was dredged by machines and 100-foot Japanese concrete piles driven into the land on which the three-storey structure was going to stand. The task was accomplished and the new Parliament complex built in an amazing two and a half years or so. I remember how Bawa, being most concerned about protecting a grove of mangosteen trees that stood on the site, covered the trees with thick polythene to ensure they survived the construction work. They continue to be an imposing presence at the entrance to the Parliament building to this day.
When the building was nearly completed, President Jayewardene summoned me to discuss the shifting from Galle Face to Sri Jayewardenepura. He reminded me that the task he was entrusting me with was a massive one as all the parliamentary records, files, photographs painting, furniture and the entire library had to be carefully transported to their new home. He assured me that whatever assistance I needed for the job would be made available. True to his word, I had at my disposal a convoy of Army vehicles to complete this gigantic task. It took me a week to 10 days to complete it and thankfully nor a single item or book or chair was lost or misplaced.
The big day for the formal opening of the new Parliament was fixed for April 29, 1982 with President Jayewardene himself making the opening address. He traced the early beginnings from the Legislative Council started in 1833, to the Donoughmore Constitution followed by the Soulbury Constitution, the grant of Independence and the 1972 and 1978 Constitutions. He ended with the historic words “In this temple of Democracy let us conduct ourselves for the welfare of the many that generations yet unborn may say that within this chamber our words and conduct represented our finest hours”.
Speeches were made soon after by Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa, Opposition Leader Appapillai Amirthalingam, Maithripala Senanayake, Sarath Muttetuwegama and Anandatissa de Alwis. All were well prepared and truly befitted the historic occasion. The session ended with the President hosting those who spoke on the occasion to lunch. Thereafter, we resumed sittings in the magnificent new building.