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Postal workers’ leave, cancelled ; N’Eliya post office to Taj Samudra?
The Department of Posts has taken steps to cancel all the leave of its employees, ahead of a planned strike by postal workers.
Postmaster General Ruwan Sathkumara stated that the leave of all postal staff will be cancelled on November 08, 09 and 10 with immediate effect.
It was earlier reported that postal workers had decided to resort to a 48-hour strike, as a mark of protest against the government’s decision to convert the Nuwara Eliya Post Office into a hotel.
N’Eliya post office to Taj Samudra?
Speaking at the weekly cabinet briefing held earlier today (07), Cabinet spokesman – Minister Bandula Gunawardena stated that as the subject minister, he completely agreed with the President over the conversion of the building.
The Minister pointed out that the Nuwara Eliya post office was in a very dilapidated state and the Government is unable to afford renovations or maintenance and a proposal has been handed over to the President to convert this ‘underutilized asset’ to a more effective one.
If you go now to visit the Nuwara Eliya post office, buckets have been placed in places where water leaks in, the minister said.
Mentioning the Taj Samudra Hotel chain, the minister said that a proposal in this regard had been submitted to President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Especially Indians are drawn to the area through ‘Sita Eliya’ and by constructing one of their hotels, it could elevate the living conditions of the resident locals while increasing their income and job opportunities, the minister said.
Therefore, as the subject minister, I fully agree to move the post office elsewhere and provide the location to this project, he added.
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