Protest in Galle over failure to rebuild tsunami hit school

Failure to rebuild a tsunami hit school resulted in chaos in Galle yesterday as over 2,000 student and parents of Gintotta Maha Vidyalaya picketed in protest on the Gintotta Bridge.
The protesters burnt tyres on the Galle Road disrupting the movement of traffic and shouted slogans demanding their school be rebuilt soon. Police arrived on the scene and cleared the road for vehicular traffic, but that too for only a short time.
Students and parents said that it was three years since the tsunami destroyed the school but so far no action had been taken to rebuild the school.
Southern Provincial Council Minister of Cooperatives U. G. D. Aryatillake arrived on the scene and held talks with the students and parents. But they were not satisfied with the assurances given by him and returned to continue with their protest.
Unable to persuade the crowd to disperse, Police were forced to divert vehicular traffic along alternate routes. Traffic was held up for nearly two hours.
Southern Province Chief Minister Shan Wijelal de Silva arrived at the scene and assured the children and their parents that work on rebuilding the school would commence this week. Only after his assurance did the crowd disperse.