The employees of the Kurunegala Municipal Council today refrained from reporting to work in protest of the arrest warrants issued on the Mayor of Kurunegala Thushara Sanjeewa Witharane and 4 others over the demolition of a historical building in the area.
The Kurunegala Magistrate’s Court yesterday re-issued warrants on the 05 suspects after the Mayor of Kurunegala together with officials from the Urban Development Authority (UDA) were charged with bulldozing the 13th Century King’s Court of King Bhuvanaikabahu II, dating back to the Kurunegala / Yapahuwa Kingdom Era, for a road development project.
Employees of the Kurunegala Municipal Council, from high ranking officials to the ground staff, had applied for leave and refrained from reporting to work.
All services provided by the Municipal Council, including garbage collection, dumping of wastes, and the fire brigade, were halted due to the protest.
The luxury shopping mall and library in the Kurunegala Town were also closed but reopened at 11.00 a.m. on the request of businessmen and vendors.
Meanwhile Kurunegala Mayor Thushara Sanjeewa filed a writ petition in the Court of Appeal seeking a stay order on the warrant for his arrest issued by Kurunegala Magistrate.
Police have deployed 6 teams to arrest the mayor but so far have failed to arrest him.(Newswire)