Jaffna Fort Turns into a Tourist Attraction. Sri Lanka's Colonial Era Fort was Fought over during the recent War

04th July 2011, www.lankabusinessonline.com

Sri Lanka plans to convert a colonial-era fort in the north that was also fought over during the recent ethnic war into a tourist attraction, the economic development ministry said in a statement.

"The Fort of Jaffna is to be converted into a tourist centre soon when the phase one of the ongoing renovation projects costing 104 million rupees is completed shortly."

Jaffna Fort was built as a small garrison by the Portuguese in 1618 when the Portuguese invaded the north.

Later, in 1658 the Dutch captured it from the Portuguese and expanded it further. It was taken over by the British in 1795.

The fort's ramparts were damaged and eventually destroyed during the ethnic war by Tamil separatists that ended in 2009, sparking a tourism boom.

"Since the end of the war large numbers of local and foreign tourists flock to Jaffna daily. The government will make this Fort a tourist centre with facilities for tourists," the statement said.

Sri Lanka's Galle Fort to be Renovated to Attract Tourists

13th October 2010, www.dailynews.lk, By Priyanka Kurugala

The National Heritage and Cultural Affairs Ministry will renovate the ancient Galle Fort to attract both local and foreign tourists, Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said.

Plans are underway to renovate the Galle Fort and other places of historical value under this program. "We should introduce this heritage site to the international community," the Minister said.

"Laws are not enough to preserve the country's archaeological sites. Due to this reason the Ministry expects to draft bills to empower laws to preserve archaeological sites," Wanniarachchi said.

The Government and officers alone are unable to preserve national heritage sites of the country. Public support is essential, she said. Under the Galle Fort development project, the Ministry has also planned to preserve Kalukotuwa, an ancient prison of the Dutch period. Tunnels and a deserted building which had been used as a Government Secretariat are also included in the plan.

Cargills Building in Fort to be Made into a Harrods of Sri Lanka

23rd May 2010, www.sundaytimes.lk

The 120 year-old Cargills building in Fort will soon be transformed into a London-based, Harrods-type of building with the company charting new plans for its future.

All the offices in the building will be moved to a new location and the building vacated for this massive development, its Deputy Chairman Ranjit Page said.

He said the there is a huge opportunity following the end of the war and shopping malls is one area the company plans to expand into.

“The Cargills building in Fort is a grand old building and the story goes that the first Governor of Ceylon resided here.

We have been considering re-building it to its old glory. I think the time has come for us to take this opportunity seriously,” he said adding that the company is looking at its entire land base.

New office space is being provided for the Cargills team located in the old Cargills building. “Can the Cargills building be the Harrods of Sri Lanka, a destination for tourists from passenger liners, maybe tourists walking through enjoying the culture of Sri Lanka, wining and dining while purchasing luxury brands?

My team and I are now looking at this new exciting project. We are serious about this project and I believe we can deliver this,” he said.

Galle Literary Festival 2010 with New Features

27th December 2009, sundaytimes.lk, By Adilah Ismail, Pic by Berty Mendis

Meander through the cobbled streets of Galle and drop in for an afternoon of poetry over tea with Scottish poet Jackie Kay and English poet Wendy Cope. Learn how to make your own graphic novel with Sarnath Banerjee and hear iconic writer Sybil Wettasinghe reminiscence about her own childhood in a village near Galle.

The Galle Literary Festival beckons and in its fourth year, comes equipped with a plethora of events to cater to literary lovers of manifold genres. The Festival takes place from January 28 - February 1, 2010 and will for the first time feature genres such as crime fiction, graphic novels and pulp fiction.

Speaking at a news conference held in Colombo last week, Festival Director Sunila Galappatti explained that among its new innovations, the Festival will also feature performances by the Ravibandu Vidyapati Drum Ensemble and the Chitrasena Dance Company in addition to the events by the participating writers. The Chamber Music Society of Colombo also returns by popular demand to perform at the Dutch Reformed Church in Galle, and this will be the world premiere of a new composition by its resident composer Stephen Allen.

Another new feature of the festival is the introduction of discounted tickets for teachers, (in addition to the existing student discount) and the inclusion of more free events at the Festival in order to make it more accessible to the public at large.

Also for the first time, the 2010 festival will run a day of events for 100 students from Galle schools. This is the concluding phase of the outreach programme conducted throughout 2009 among urban and rural schools in Galle and Matara to promote creative reading and writing among students.

Historian Antony Beevor, Novelist Gillian Slovo and South Asian writers Mohammed Hanif, Rana Dasgupta and Amit Varma are among those participating in the festival while Sri Lankan writers Shyam Selvadurai, Michelle de Kretser, Ru Freeman, Shehan Karunatilaka, Lal Medawattegedara, Ameena Hussein and Ashok Ferrey are among the many Sri Lankan writers lined up.

Platinum sponsors for the festival are the British Council, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, the Embassy of Norway and the Jetwing Lighthouse. Gold sponsors are Amangalla, The American Centre, B Sharp, Dilmah, Emirates, ETV, Printcare, The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Times.

The programme for the Festival is online. To findout more about the participants and the upcoming festival visit www.galleliteraryfestival.com