Police had to escort the Minister of Land, Tourism and
Christian Religious Affairs, John Amaratunga, when the people of the area
hooted him on Saturday when he arrived to lay the foundation stone for a Tamil
school at Olyyamulla in Wattala. People showed their disapproval of the plan to
put up a building for a Tamil school on a block of land that had earlier been
reserved for a sports ground. A large number of residents and several Buddhist
monks demonstrated with placards at Oliyamulla Junction. Police stopped the
protesters from entering the building site. However, while the minister was
speaking at the ceremony, protesters forced their way into the premises and
interrupted his speech by hooting. The minister said the building of a school
was a government decision and legal. Therefore he told the protesters not to
disrupt the activities as legal action could be taken against them. The
protesters burned an effigy of the minister on the road and also caused damage
to a vehicle belonging to WP provincial councillor Dalton Janaka Suriyabandara
who was present at the ceremony .