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Queens sets sights on Perahera re-opening
Anton Jacob, an interior designer architect, has visions of a very elegant
colonial-style dress for the Queens Hotel. There will be a cobble-stone
entrance forecourt reminiscent of the old horse and trap days, and in the
large entrance hall the centrepiece will also be a Victorian horse carriage
- just the thing, he says, to give the Queens her true colonial character.”I
want to give this old lady a genteel, regal air,” he says, and feels that
any renovation must exploit the 150 years of history the hotel has been
a part of. The floor will also be marbled with an old Victorian design
and, based on the present budget, he is redesigning and decorating the
lobby, forecourt, main restaurant and, initially, 27 bedrooms.
Jacob has spent 20 years in the UK and has successfully carried out
modifications on two important hotels there. His sectional designs are
statements in themselves, telling one that he really knows what he is doing.
In a beat the clock operation, the Queens is priming to re-open for the
Esala Perahera. “We have sixty days,” Jacob says, “and the minutes go like
crazy!”
Managing the project are Confifi Engineering (Pvt)Ltd,, and the Managing
Director of the Confifi Group Anura Lokuhetty, who is confident that everything
will be accomplished in time. The shopping arcade is also being recreated.
Pets, pests and babies
Pets and pests can be a major cause of maternal infection, says Dr.,
Bryan Walker of Kandy’s Birth Defects Research Unit. Pets harbour a wide
range of parasitic and other organisms, some of which pose a special risk
to women during pregnancy. Cats and dogs, I am told, can transmit such
parasitic infections as toxocariasis, toxoplasmosis, dirofilariasis, cutaneous
larva migrans and several of the tape worm infections. He said that recent
outbreaks of plague and leptospirosis in the country had caused many stillbirths
and abortions.
Maternal infection can affect infants,bringing on encephalitis, hydroceophalus,
loss of vision, hepatitis and the enlargement of the lymph glands. Even
children who are apparently normal at birth can develop toxoplasmosis and
affected injuries in later life.
Insect pests, too, carry diseases that affect the development of the
foetus. Of these, mosquitos, fleas, cockroaches, ants, rats and mice are
the major culprits. What is alarming is that pesticides, used to eradicate
such pets can also have adverse effects on pregnant women. Of these, Folidol
gives rise to heart defects, Mackarb 50EC has caused stillbirths and Delsene
75% affected male fertility.
Dr. J. Gajendra Senaratne of the BDRU wishes to encourage the use of
“natural”pesticides in homes or the use of those with the lowest possible
toxicity.
A few tips from the BDRU: Poison rats with one paracetamol tablet, crushed
and mixed with a spoonful of food. Lemon of lime rind repels ants. Sprinkle
boric acid to deter cockroaches; and if you think your dog has given your
rugs and carpets fleas, sprinkle such rugs or carpets with table salt,
leave overnight, and vacuum or beat the next day.‘
One dam road after another
It’s a problem to get to the Kotmale Holiday Resort because of the dam.
Pity indeed. There’s this broad new road just past Gampola town, and it
is such a nice, scenic drive. Now there is a barrier and you are told,
no entry- not without a special police pass. Funnily enough you can proceed
to Tawalantenna and take the other road to the Holiday Resort. Also, you
can go boating and trekking , and if so inclined, reach the dam. Barricading
of the closer, quicker road is for security reasons. After all, people
may wish, in a lighter moment, to blow up the dam. Of course they could
do so after taking the circuitous road from Tawalantenne as well. Or is
all this a show of security that is more an inconvenience than anything
else?
A posher Pussellawa
Pussellawa’s Rest House has done itself proud with a new, impressive
dining hall, all tiled and glass fronted and giving its guests a refreshing
view of the valley. Time was when there was this tiny rear garden with
its straw-roofed circular summer house to which waiters would bring you
the beer; and the breeze from the green slopes stirred your hair. Pity
the little garden had to go, for this is where the new dining hall now
stands. With it, I am told, the Rest House has become a favourite stop
for travellers to and from N’ Eliya. In fact the resthouse concentrates
on its restaurant bar and kitchen and the new hall accommodates upto 75.
“We have our heaviest traffic at lunch time,” the Assistant Manager says.
PC is no policemen’s choice
This business of security has its lighter moments. Recently in Kandy,
a smart young lawyer in his flash car decided to drive in to the courts
complex, certain that his right of entry would not be questioned. Of course,
the Maligawa road is under a tight security cordon but our lawyer was most
confident. At the barrier, he told the guards: “Janadhipathige Neethignaya”
and he was waved on. Of course, he WAS a President’s Counsel, and this
impressed the guards no end. Came another President’s Counsel. His car
was not so flashy and at the barrier he leaned out and said: ‘PC. I am
a PC, have to go to the courts”. The police would have none of it. PC I
am an IP” said an officer, “and I cannot take a car on that road! Get down
and walk!” Which goes to show the value of the vernacular!.
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