General Kamal Gunaratne, the Defence Secretary as the Author of the Deegawapiya Aruna Trust and First Trustee of Deegawapiya Stupa Restoration Board of Trustees engaged in a field study tour at the historic Deegawapiya premises at Ampara and Neelagiri Maha Seya in Lahugala, today (March 20) and reviewed the progress in order to provide further directives on the restoration works.

The review focused on the current progress of the restoration works related to Deegawapiya Stupa and Neelagiri Maha Saya sacred sites. During the tour, General Gunaratne provided technical advice to the project officials to carry out the construction in a speedy and effective manner. Discussions were held regarding the existing problems and how to carry out future work.

Commander of the Army Lt. Gen. Vikum Liyanage, Commander of the Air Force Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa, Security Force Commander (East) Maj. Gen. Prasanna Gunaratne, Military Liaison Officer of the Ministry of Defence Maj. Gen. Dammika Welagedara, Commander South Eastern Naval Area, Rear Admiral Mahesh De Silva, Director of Architectural Conservation of the Department of Archaeology Mr. Prasanna Ratnayake, Col. Mohan Kumar and several members of the Technical Committee were also present at the occasion.