4 Tuesday 2nd June, 2009 The Island More News Page Four !Allocation of houses to Muslims only Thailand donates Golden SC declares thera’s FR violated Buddha Statue by Chitra Weerarathne respect of the right to equality before The Divisional Secret ary The Deputy Solicitor General Mrs. On a request the law, the right to freedom from A m p arai is the first respondent. Bimba J. Tilakaratne appeared for the made by Ven. The Supreme Court yesterday discrimination on ethnic The Court said that the st and State. Prassanthalal de Alwis appeared Saddharma Keerthi declared in judgement that the alloca - grounds and a violation of the taken by the Minister in charge for the Deegavapee Sangarakshana Shree Badulle tion of 500 houses in the vicinity of the right to abide by a religion of of Land Allocation Mrs. Ashroff Sabhava. The judgement was by the Mahanama Thero, Deegavapiya Raja Maha Viharaya to choice. that these houses were allocat - Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva with Thailand has sent Muslims only, was a violation of the fun - The petitioner had com - ed to tsunami victims could Justice N. G. Amaratunga and Justice Kotikawatte damental right s of petitioner , the plained that not a single not be accepted by Court. K. Srip avan agreeing. Nagarukkaramaya Mahanayake Thera of the p articular Buddhist Sinhala family was allo - Manohara de Silva PC appeared Temple a magnifi - Raja Maha Viharaya. cated a house in the selection process, for the petitioner , the Chief Incumbent cent 14f t high beauti - The Court said that the violation is in which he said was mala-fide. Thera of the Raja Maha Viharaya. fully decorated very valuable Buddha Statue with pure intention of propegating Buddhism, p artic- ularly considering the contribution Transport Zone in Nagarukkaramaya has made in this regard. The Buddha Statue belonged to Wat Tarn-En Temple of A yudhya Thailand and Pettah to link bus Ven. Mahanayake Thero - Phrakrasamu Jirayu Athichanto. Also it donated relics to the Nagarukkaramaya. The opening cere- mony of the Golden Buddha Statue is and train services scheduled for 6th Saturday, June 2009 & Relics will be exposed for three days and some from Bastian place. For by Don Asoka Wijewardena st arting from June 7th to 9th. (Poson the benefit of commuters this Poyaday and 2 days following Poson The National Transport decision was taken and this new Poya day) at the Temple. Commission (NTC) will acquire the setup would be extremely usuful The magnificent golden st atue with Bastian Place private bus stand and convenient to thousands of precious and semi precious stone deco - situated in the property belonging people who travel to Colombo ration is p articularly dif ferent to Sri to the Ceylon Government daily. Lankan statues and Thailand s temple mentioned that it is a mix of Ghandharan Railwaya and set up a Minister Alahapperuma said that the present condi- and Thai cultures of Buddha st atue sculp - Transport Zone linking ture. The Statue is 14f t in height and 7f t tions at the Pettah Central Colombo Fort railway station, in wid th and it s cost in invaluable. Pettah Central Bus Stand and Bus Stand left much to be It depict s the image of subduing Bastian Place private bus desired because water stag- mara . Prakrusamu Jirayu aimed to show stand in one place, the nation during rainy days, pot his gratitude to Sri Lanka since Sri Lanka holes, unauthorized struc- is the greatest country from where Transport Ministry said. UNP and Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya, and Transport Minister Dallas tures and prostitutes had Buddhism spread to Thailand. In addition, chief incumbent of Gangaramaya Galaboda Gnanissara thera commences a Bodhi Pooja Alahaperruma told The Island Dallas been tarnished the image of it Buddhism of Ceylon era of Sri Lanka is their role model of Buddhism in Thailand. that the principal aim of the the government owned place. organized by the party to commemorate fallen war heroes and UNP leaders killed by the In the near future the Central Bus LTTE and to invoke blessings on their family members at the Gangaramaya in Colombo yes- As Sri Lanka has helped to make Thai government was to facilitate all people to have a very happy and peace- Stand would be refurbished with transport systems at one place for terday (1). Pic by Sajith Jayasekera. ful life, underst anding the depth of the convenience of commuters and all the required facilities. Buddhism, Wat Tar-En temple decided arrangements would be made to He also said that the modern- that this is a great opportunity for them to commence and end journeys of all ization project of the Bastian place pay gratitude in return to Sri Lanka and long distance buses at this place. bus stand had already commenced Master Plan for expansion they specifically selected He pointed out that at the and better sanitary conditions, Nagarukkaramaya understanding the moment bus commuters were better toilet facilities, systematic service it renders to the development of Buddhism. inconvenienced as some private bus parking areas and a courteous staff would be made available of Beliatte town Nagarukkaramaya has 127 years of buses were start their journeys brilliant History and is located in the heart from the Gunasinghapura stand soon. by S. H. Mitthrapala, the town within 2008-2025 by demolishing of Kotikawatte town. Ven. Badulle Beliatta Corr. unauthorised constructions, relocating public Mahanama Thero reiterated that this buildings adding cert ain features such as donation is significant to Sri Lanka as vehicle p arks, play grounds and other public Master plan of the Beliatt a town expan- Buddhism s central location in the world needs. sion and rehabilit ation was discussed and is Sri Lanka. Nagarukkaramaya is the explained in det ail to the Minister of Port s According to the chairman unauthorised pioneer temple in Kolonnawa area which and Civil A viation Chamal Rajapakse by the constructions are being dismantled inorder does a significant service for Buddhism Of ficer-in-Charge of the Beliatt a Urban to find sp ace for the exp ansion and widening and spiritual development of citizens. Development Authority on 29th May. of the roads and in the heart of the town the Tarn-En temple in Thailand has been Beliatt a PS Chairman Cyril parapet wall of the Peoples Bank, has been built in 1374 A.D. in A yudhaya province, Moonasinghe, PS member and the officials demolished to pave the way for exp ansion. the Buddhist herit age city where more of the Urban Development Authority were Request made to the Tangalle Road than hundred temples are located. The present at the discussion. Development Authority Engineer to prepare temple is now 635 years old. Prakrusamu At the out set Chairman Cyril and send the estimates for replacing the Jirayu is currently the Mahanayake Thero Moonasinghe briefed the urgency of re-plan - demolished p arapet walls have not been of Tarn-En temple. Tarn-En temple is the ning the Beliatt a town on during the last two- received uptodate. Further he sought the center of all villagers for all their medit a - three decades buildings of the government intervention of Minister Chamal Rajap akse to tion and other religious activities. as well as the business community and resi - find the necessary funds. dences had been constructed whenever necessity arose without proper planning. As such according to the Master plan drawn up by the UDA it has bee planned to modernise Journalists’... From Page 1 The assault took place while a delega - tion representing the W orking Journalist s Association, Free Media Movement, Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda hands over a certificate to a policeman during a cere- Editors Guild and the Sri Lanka Press mony to pass out of policemen and police women who had completed a Tamil language Institute, was meeting President Mahinda course conducted by the Milinda Moragoda Foundation in Colombo yesterday. Rajapaksa to express concern about increasing threat s against the media frater - Pic by Siripala Halwala nity, emanating from within the govern - ment, Jayasekera said. The same persons , who were respon- A special musical show was held at the BMICH recently to help enhance the educa- sible for att acking and killing journalist s in From Page 1 Lanka... tional facilities of the children of war heroes. Named “De Viru Gee Sara-2009”. First recent times, were behind the assault on Poddala, he alleged. Sources said that a heavy presence of Recently Sri Lanka appointed Brigadier Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa graced the occasion as the chief guest. Vocational and W e urge the government to bring the the LTTE in Malaysia had been revealed in Udaya Perera as Sri Lanka s Deputy High Technical Training Minister Piyasaena Gamage, Mrs Ramani Gamage, Army an unprecedented FBI investigation which Commissioner to Malaysia to meet a new culprit s to book immediately. If Velupillai Commander General Sarath Fonseka, Mrs Anoma Fonseka and High ranking Army Prabhakaran can be found, there can be targeted an LTTE arms procurement ring threat posed by the LTTE. Perera is the first officials were present. involving Singaporeans and Indonesians. serving army of ficer to receive a diplomatic no excuse for not tracking down the group Sources said that some of the funds for appointment. Sources said that the appoint - that is on a mission to destroy media free - procurement of armaments were to be trans - ment followed af ter Perera impressed for - dom in Sri Lanka. ferred from a Malaysian Bank. eign ministry mandarins at a special meeting Ongoing police investigations have also called to brief top envoys of several coun - Teacher shortage revealed that a Lieutenant Colonel of the Sri tries in the run up to the final battle.