da mrbet： Anura Tennekoon, the Chief Executive of the Sri Lankan cricket board, willtravel to the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Sunday toinvestigate the current rumpus over ground access and ascertain the currentstate of the stadium, which has
CricInfo28-Apr-2001Anura Tennekoon, the Chief Executive of the Sri Lankan cricket board, willtravel to the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Sunday toinvestigate the current rumpus over ground access and ascertain the currentstate of the stadium, which has been largely neglected since it staged it’sinaugural One-Day International against England.Sierra International, the main construction company, has reputedly sealedoff the ground, refusing access even to the 40 workers from SugathadasaStadium in Colombo, who have been appointed to manage the controversialvenue.The decision to seal off the ground has been made in response to a defaultin the payments by the cricket board. The Interim Committee has halted allpayments relating to the stadium, as it investigates why the project hascost Rs100 million more than the approved budget. Sierra International haveregistered a complaint with the Dambulla police.Tennekoon’s will also have to placate a disgruntled Inamaluwe Sumangala, whois Chief Priest of the Rangiri Dambulla temple, which owns the land on whichthe stadium has been built. Sumangala has warned the cricket board that the99-year lease is dependent upon strict conditions being met.One of these conditions is that local residents are directly employed in theconstruction and management of the stadium. Sumangala is unhappy that, sofar, local employment has been largely symbolic and thus feels the people ofDambulla are not benefiting from the project. Moreover, the decision to handover the ground’s management to a Colombo based ground authority will meaneven less local jobs.