‘Kingdom Sigiriya’ housing complex gets underway amidst public concern
View(s):A luxury apartment complex ‘Kingdom Sigiriya’ is now being constructed in close proximity to the Sigiriya world heritage site and the pre-historic Potana cave site amidst concerns of residents, environmentalists and archeologists.
This modern hotel and residencies joint development project with Grand Heritance Hotel and Residencies has been launched by Global Housing and Real Estate Ltd in 2018 during the previous regime. The Board of Directors of the company comprises M.D.D.P Wickramarathna (Chairman/Managing Director) and Ms. Priyanthi Abeyweera. Company officials, reached for comment, declined to respond.
The construction work began last year with the clearance from the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and Sri Lanka Air Force Base in Dambulla, sources said while UDA officials were unavailable for comment..
Several tourism and environmental associations have made representations to UDA authorities expressing their concerns on the construction of the modern concrete construction structure with seven stories and 108 apartment units in a visible distance of the historic Sigiriya Rock.
It is located 1.5 km off Inamaluwa junction and just 5 km distance from the historic Sigiriya Fortress and 1.9 km away from the Pothana archaeological site where prehistoric skeletons had been unearthed.
This cave belongs to a complex of 12 caves located about 5 km from the road to Inamaluwa at 70m above sea level, official sources said.
In 1990 the site was declared a prehistoric site. An excavation was conducted between 1990 and 1991 by the Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology, Colombo.
Non-human primate bones were found along with two complete human skeletons have been discovered during excavations.
Several archeologists expressed their dismay as to how this apartment complex had received clearance from the UDA and the Department of Archaeology.
It has also been revealed that at least 36 apartment units of the Sigiriya Kingdom have already been pre-sold. (BS)