Buddhist lobby scuttles Trinco's Ayur hospital

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 March 2000, 09:59 GMT]
The construction work on the first district Siddha Ayurvedhic hospital of the Northeastern province has been blocked by the Government Agent of Trincomalee due pressure from Buddhist organisations Tamil political party sources in the eastern town said today.

The land allocated for the Siddha Ayurveda hospital is likely to be acquired by the Trincomalee Government Agent for the extension of the Sangamitta Buddhist Pilgrims Rest near Samudragama, a state backed settlement of Sinhala encroachers.

The hospital was to be built in two stages by the Northeast Provincial Department of Indigenous Medicine. One and a half acres of land along the Konesar Road between Samudrgama and Sangamitta Buddhist Pilgrims Rest in Trincomalee town was earmarked for the construction of this 'Siddha Ayurveda' hospital.

The Provincial Commissioner of Land by his letter dated 17.9.99 had authorized and directed the Divisional Secretary of the area to hand over the land to the Department of Indigenous Medicine.

The Provincial Commissioner Land said that he had instructed the Divisional Secretary to hand over the land for the hospital in terms of the 13 th Amendment to the Constitution and more particularly in terms of Circular No. 02/233 dated 1.12.1989 issued by the Secretary, Ministry of Lands, Irrigation and Mahaveli Development.

When the first stage of this project commenced in January this year, the Government Agent went to the site and ordered the contractor to stop all construction work at the site forthwith.

Following this the Divisional Secretary, as directed by the Government Agent, instructed the Provincial Director of Indigenous Medicine to stop all building work here until another suitable land was found for the hospital.

But the Superintendent of Surveys for the Trincomalee district has written to the Divisional Secretary and the Provincial Director of Indigenous Medicine that his department is unable to allocate any other suitable land for the construction of the proposed district Siddha Ayurveda hospital in Trincomalee town.

The Provincial Director of Indigenous Medicine Professor Subramaniam Bhavani has now brought this matter to the notice of all Parliamentarians in the North East Province.

Professor Subramaniam Bhavani has requested the north east parliamentarians to take up this matter with the Sri Lankan President and the ministers concerned and to help his department to build the District Ayurveda hospital, the first in the north east province, on the land already allocated for the purpose in Trincomalee town.

A Tamil political party leader reiterated that Buddhist organizations have played a vital role in pressurizing the Government Agent to stop the construction work on the proposed District Siddha Ayurveda hospital project. He charged that the Trincomalee Government Agent has always worked systematically against Tamil interests in the district.