A massive wall of the historic building in which Galle- Fort Post Office was located completely collapsed down on Saturday night. This edifice with much historical and archeological value is situated on the Church Street near the Galle Fort which is a very busy motorway during day time.
“Had the wall collapse taken place during day time, it would have resulted in a major disaster,” residents said.
“This edifice is a conserved construction in the Galle-Fort World heritage Site and had been restored on several occasions. However, this remarkable and prized historical building had gradually been ruined owing to the lack of attention of the relevant authorities,” residents further alleged.
“The avalanche of debris from the wall that crashed down has blocked the Church Cross Street which is mainly used by school children attending Southlands College and All Saints College. This post office building which is one of the oldest edifices in the UNESCO World Heritage Site was first constructed during the Dutch Period of Sri Lanka for the use of the Chief Administrator under their rule. Subsequently, during the British era, the Galle Post Office was established in this building and it is regarded as the first post office of Sri Lanka.
Parts of this ancient building and its roof had been broken down on several previous occasions. On all such occasions provisional measures were taken to restore the ruined portions of the building. Due to the extremely dilapidated state of the building the Galle Fort Post Office located in it was shifted to another location recently.
Galle District Assistant Archeological Commissioner Wasantha Alahakoon said that the roof of the edifice was in a severe state of dilapidation as the rain water had seeped into the huge walls of the building.
“We made arrangements to cover the roof with polythene covers in order to protect the building walls.The Galle Heritage Foundation provided materials for the restoration work and our department supplied the needed labour for it,” Alahakoon said.
However, on inquiry, Secretary to the Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Ministry M.K.Bandula Harischandra assured that he would send a special team of respective officials to look into the matter and that swift actions would be taken to rectify the issue.
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