President commissions the Kokavil Tower, a symbol of mutual relations between communities
President Rajapakse has said that that the Kokavil transmission tower is a symbol of mutual relations between communities.
The nation had the right to be aware of what was happening in the world as well as the country. Such a Tower has been installed mainly for communication. It will expand the friendly and mutual relations as well as awareness. The aim of the terrorists by devastating the tower was to ingrain in the minds of the people their programmes. The time has come to eliminate this gap. He noted that freedom of expression has been achieved through this tower.
The President expressed these views commissioning the Kokavil Tower in the Northern sector today. It is the highest multipurpose Tower in South Asia. The President commissioned the Historic, a priceless gift to the Northern people who were deprived of effective communication within themselves and the South by LTTE terror acts in the past. The North turned a new leaf in life with the commissioning of the Tower today. LTTE terrorists attacked the Kokavil tower on the 11th of July 1990 and Officer in Charge of the Camp Captain Saliya Upul Aladeniya and many war heroes sacrificed their lives to ensure the safety of the tower. With the forward march of the troops from the East to the North with the launch of the humanitarian operations, the massive campaign to develop areas liberated from the terrorists was launched in parallel to this operation. This historic multipurpose Tower could be identified as another significant step in the North East mega drive. Work on this tower was launched in March 2009, under the supervision of the then Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and the guidance of Minister Basil Rajapaksa at the behest of the President. It was possible to commission the tower today under the supervision of Minister Keheliya Rambukwella. Work on the Tower was successfully carried out with the mediation of Media Secretary W.B. Ganegala and under the sponsorship of the Independent Television Network, the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation and the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. The expenditure incurred on the Tower was 450 million rupees. It also received the full sponsorship of the Defence Ministry. The height of this multipurpose tower is 171 metres. Telecommunication activities could be further expanded to Public as well as Private Sector Institutions. Addressing the Northern polity gathered on this occasion, the President said that initiatives would be taken to upgrade their lives in the manner the Tower was built. The President said without doing what the tigers did, the Government would initiate action to find a political solution based on the aspirations of the people. He emphasized that the tigers will not be able to realize their goals, whatever pressure was exerted on the country.
Speaking further the President revealed information on the programmes planned in the future to improve education in the North.
In his address, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella recalled how the terrorist used this Tower for their activities in the past
