Sir John Kotalawela, reminds us of several development projects he successfully completed with great vision. The Colombo Port Development scheme - the Queen Elizabeth Quay, a new Light House for the Port, the Dry Docks, widening of Galle Road, Norton Bride and Laxapana hydro electric schemes, the Peradeniya University buildings, the Kotalawalapura housing scheme for Railway workers and several bridges were completed under his close supervision.
Sir John was a flamboyant fun loving man, a soldier and gentleman. When the Ceylon Scout contingent attended the Jubilee World Jamboree in 1957 at Birmingham they planned to visit Sir John as he was in Kent but a tight schedule made the visit impossible. The contingent then wrote to Sir John asking that they be excused. To their surprise, the hospitable Sir John who never forgot his countrymen, promptly sent in his Rolls Royce car direct to the Jamboree site some 400 miles away, an extra large carton containing 100 luscious apples from his farm at Briddenden, Kent.
It was known that this man Kotalawela, loved to wine and dance at his barbecue parties but he never lost the common touch. His workers at the Kahatagaha plumbago mines were the best paid in that trade, and when a senior worker's daughter got married, he gave the bride not only a handsome dowry but her trousseau as well. He was present at all functions at Dodangaslanda, despite ministerial duties.
Sir John Kotalawela
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