President Anura Kumara Dissanayake chaired a high-level discussion at the Presidential Secretariat on accelerating the Galle City Development Project, with officials directed to identify land for the relocation of the police station, post office, prison and nursing training school currently located in the city centre.
The meeting reviewed progress under the Major Urban Development Programme on transforming Galle — a UNESCO World Heritage city — into a leading cultural and tourist destination, while addressing challenges that have held back implementation. The President stressed the importance of a comprehensive urban development strategy and close coordination among state institutions, highlighting the Urban Development Authority’s key role in delivering the project.
Discussions also focused on attracting investment, securing funding for new initiatives, and establishing a central administrative complex to improve public access to government services. The relocation list signals a long-flagged but rarely actioned redesign of the colonial-era Fort precinct, where heritage protection has long sat awkwardly alongside everyday public-service traffic.
The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary of the Southern Province Chandima C. Muhandiramge, Deputy Minister of Vocational Education Nalin Hewage, and Members of Parliament Nishantha Perera, T. K. Jayasundara and Nishantha Samaraweera, among other officials.
The review builds on the Major Urban Development Programme framework rolled out across the Western and Southern provinces this year and adds to a broader Dissanayake-era urban agenda that has also seen the Cabinet approve a new upper-watershed management authority and a biosafety bill earlier this week.
Sources: President Reviews Implementation of Galle City Development Project — NewsFirst, June 11.
