“If we can put a stop to the pressures, stress, problems and conflicts encountered by us everyday and bring relief at least for our children it will be a fulfillment of our wishes” Minister for Economic Reform, Science & Technology, Milinda Moragoda said.

“It is our duty to bear our responsibilities and do the needful. That is to lay the foundations for the future of our children.”

The Minister made this speech at the occasion of the re-opening of children’s parks in the Colombo-East and Colombo-West electorate which had been renovated under the Sanasilla project. The Gajaba Road Children’s Park on Robert Gunawardena Mawatha, Poorwarama Children’s Park on Poorwarama Mawatha and Dabare Mawatha Children’s Park in Narahenpita have all been renovated and reopened to children while five other children’s parks are also undergoing renovation.

The minister said, “I visited these areas during the last General Election. During these visits I saw that these children’s parks were neglected and abandoned. During the election days I organized a shramadhana in order to renovate a park. The main idea behind it had been to make people understand, that even through a simple task like this, we could take the first step in laying the foundation for the future of our children”.

The renovation was funded by the Development Lotteries Board, National Lotteries Board, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation and Dialog GSM. The second objective of this programme is to develop links and nurture a strong co-existence and a social responsibility by establishing inter-relations among the public sector, private sector and society.

A number of public and private sector organizations have come forward to sponsor this Sansilla project. The project has set up a fund in order to achieve the financial stability needed to renovate other children’s parks in Colombo and in other areas of the island on public request.