UNTENABLE CONDITIONS IMPOSED
Atense situation arose in Norwood when the residents of the area protested against the decision of the contractor who undertook the project to widen the Keselgamu Oya to abandon the project halfway. The Ministry of Disaster Management had allocated Rs.2.8 million to widen the river to prevent the threat of floods in the Norwood area during heavy rains. The Kehelgamu Oya that originates in the Mahaeliya Forest Reserve in Bagawantalawa and feeds the Castlereigh Hydropower Reservoir often flooded the Norwood area.
The contractor had undertaken the project through a tender for Rs.1.4 million, but failed to complete the work. Meanwhile it was learnt that the National Gem and Jewellery Authority had auctioned off the earth removed from the river bed to a gem merchant for Rs.5.8 million.
Meanwhile Chairman of the Norwood Pradeshiya Sabha Ravi Kolandawel had complained to Nuwara Eliya Govt. Agent and the Asst. Director of Disaster Management that the contractor had felled bamboo bushes along the bank of the river causing extensive environmental damage. As the Disaster Management Unit and the Pradeshiya Sabha had put forward a series of conditions in order to carry out the work on the contract, the contractor had refused to complete work on the project and stopped it midway.
Asst. Director Disaster Management N.P. Bandara said he would not allow the project to be delayed and assured that he would take up the issue with the Government Agent and act on his instructions.