Moratuwa Mayor and others launch death fast

The Moratuwa Municipal Council Mayor, Samanlal Fernando and two other Counsellors Suresh Indika and Kesara Raveendra Fernando and a carpenter Saliya Kumara launched a fast-unto-death from Tuesday (11) at 10.00 a.m. as President Maithripala Sirisena has not responded to their ‘Satyagraha’ campaign. They have launched this fast with a view to getting the gazette notice prohibiting mobile saw mills withdrawn without implementing it to the Moratuwa area and the contradictory statements made from place to place by the President which are not compatible with each other causing inconvenience to the traditional carpentry industry.

Earlier the Mayor, government and opposition Municipal Counsellors had held the Sathyagraha campaign opposite the Moratuwa Municipal Council for two days.

The Mayor said by the time the decision for the prohibition of mobile saw mills comes into force from December 22, 2020 the forests would have already been destroyed. He vowed to protect the traditional carpentry which is the identity of Moratuwa and finds its root far as back as over hundreds of years even by sacrificing his life.