Chief Incumbent of Seruwila Mangala
Maha Vihara Ven Aludeniye Subodhi Thera
President Ranil revived the country to normalcy
– Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana
Perahera Mawatha, of the historical Seruwila Mangala Rajamaha Viharaya, was recently carpeted, renovated and vested with the people by Minister of Transport, Highways and Mass Media, Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana.
This 1,500 meters-long road was restored at the request of Ven. Aludeniye Subodhi Thera, the Chief Incumbent of the historic Seruvila Mangala Rajamaha Viharaya, by the Road Development Authority, under the directions of the State Minister for Rural Road Development Shivanesathurai Chandrakanthan.
The restoration of this road will facilitate better transportation services to a large number of devotees who come to pay homage to the temple on a daily basis.
Ven. Aludeniye Subodhi Thera, who is also the patron of the ‘Shradda’ media network, delivering an anusasana said, “In the east, which was isolated following the invasion by Kalinga Magha 800 years ago, the traditional Thevava for the “Lalata Dhathu (Forehead relics) of the Buddha has once again started.For this, which is the main cultural festival held in the Eastern Province, hundreds of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people come together without any division. But we did not have proper road facilities to conduct this noble event in a proper manner.
Under the guidance and blessings of Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana, the RDA and with the contribution of MP Kapila Nuwan Athukorala, a great charity was done with the development of this road, with dedication and contribution of all these people”.
Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana addressing the event stated; “As the Minister in charge of the subject, I am happy to be able to complete the development of this road which is used by Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim pilgrims coming from all over the island to the historic Seruwila sacred area. In other times, the government had the ability to fulfil such a need as soon as it was pointed out. Especially the Northern and Eastern Provinces faced military conflicts for a long time.
The 5th Executive President Mahinda Rajapaksa ended the war and created freedom for all to live in harmony. After that, rebuilding these devastated areas during 30 year war was a big challenge. For programmes that were implemented for that, we had to take a huge amount of loans. The Ministry of Finance has mentioned in a separate book how much percentage of the foreign debt that the country cannot repay at this time was spent for the development of the North and East.
The loan payments were defaulted due to inability to pay. International financial institutions pointed out to the government that the country is collapsing due to that situation. Day by day the problems got worse. Due to this situation, the people suffered a lot.
In this situation, only Ranil Wickremesinghe, an experienced politician, accepted the challenge of taking over the country, as others refused. As soon as he took over the office of President, he negotiated with the International Monetary Fund and agreed to a comprehensive loan agreement and put the country in a position to breathe again.
Accordingly, our country has got the opportunity to delay loan repayment until 2028. The Sri Lankan people have made a promise in front of the world to pay these debts systematically until 2042. We are now getting fuel without queuing on the basis of a specific arrangement with friendly countries including France, India and China. Gas is available. Medicines are available. Electricity is continuously available. Now we can restart the stopped development projects”.
Maha Sangha, Trincomalee District Coordinating Committee Co-Chairman, MP Kapila Nuvan Athukorala, Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Highways Ranjith Rubasinghe, RDA Chairman Chaminda Ataluwage and RDA Director General Priyantha Suriyabandara were among others who attended the event.
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