India-built Jaffna Cultural Centre awaits inauguration
The Hindu
Uncertainty over who will run the facility built in 2020
Nearly two years after its construction, the India-funded in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province awaits inauguration, amid persisting uncertainty over who will run the facility.
, with 11 floors and facilities, including an auditorium that can seat 600 persons, a conference hall, an amphitheatre and a digital library, was completed in early 2020.
Built with an Indian grant of $11 million, the centre was envisaged as a public space to “promote, preserve and foster the cultural heritage of Jaffna”, and serve as “a hub of cultural activities” in Sri Lanka. “We hope to open it soon,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a rally in Chennai in February 2021, referring to the Jaffna Cultural Centre. But there has been little movement since, despite India’s subsequent offer to Sri Lanka, to absorb the administrative costs of the centre for five years.