Responding to the reports of Speaker’s helicopter obstructing Avurudu Celebrations organised by the Matale International School at the Edward Silva Grounds, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya’s Media Division today said the police should have provided another location to land the helicopter if the ground was already booked.
In a statement, the Media Division said the Speaker arrived in Matale in Helicopter on Saturday to declare open the Weera Madugalle statute as the Chief Guest.
“The decision where the helicopter should be landed, should be taken by the police in the area. If the Edward Silva Grounds has been already booked for some other function, the police should have provided another location to land the helicopter. However, upon witnessing that the ground had been decorated for a function, the Speaker was informed that an Avurudu Festival has been scheduled to be held at 1 pm. Therefore, Speaker instructed the organisers to speed up the opening of the Madugalle Statute and came back to Colombo at 11.45 am to allow the Avurudu Festival to kick off,” it said.
However, it said Speaker expressed his regret if any inconvenience was caused to the Matale International School’s students, parents and the teachers because of the landing of the helicopter at the Edward Silva Grounds.