The demolition of the iconic, nearly 200-year-old “de Soysa” building on Malay Street, Slave Island, which is a location of great archaeological value in Colombo, commenced last week.
According to the tenants of the building, the property was marked for demolition back in 2013 when they were all made to sign a memorandum with the Urban Development Authority (UDA) under the Tata project, where the UDA planned to demolish the building in order to offer the land to the Indian-owned Tata Housing Development Company. However, things remained relatively silent until now.
A true treasure in the old part of Colombo, the de Soysa building collapsed around mid-June and since then, the demolition plans have been fast-tracked.
Department of Archaeology Director General Prof. Anura Manatunga said that the building was being demolished by the UDA despite the opposition of the Department of Archaeology. He said that the department objected to the demolition of this historic building, however, no legal action can be taken against the UDA over the demolition, as “the building had not been gazetted as a historical landmark under the Antiquities Ordinance”, No. 9 of 1940.
It is important, at this point, to note that there remain many other locations of historic importance in Colombo that have not yet been gazetted as historic landmarks under the Antiquities Ordinance and that steps to gazette these landmarks have been expedited.
The tenants
While some believe the de Soysa building to have been left abandoned for a while, it continues to house a number of residents to this day, who are now being forcefully evicted from their homes – homes which some of them have occupied for well over 50 years. These families and businesses who have been based at the de Soysa building for generations are now being forced to move.
Speaking to Mahima, the daughter of the late Noor Zulsky Passela, the owner of The Cue – Billiards, Snooker, and Café located in the de Soysa building facing Justice Akbar Mawatha, we learned that her father, who, prior to his passing just last week due to Covid-19, used to champion the cause of preserving the building, which is one of the last true remnants of Ceylonese history and architecture.
While Mahima’s family moved their residence from Slave Island, historically, their entire family has always resided in and around Slave Island, and one by one, they have all had to leave. She also added that some of her family previously used to live on Java Lane in Slave Island, which was demolished by the Government in 2014, adding that their family never received compensation for their destroyed property.
It would appear that even the collapse of the building was largely due to the mismanagement of the property, as she stated that considering that it is a very old building, it required a lot of upkeep and yet, the authorities did not manage it appropriately.
Another tenant also shared that while they are not allowed to alter the building in any major intrusive way, the authorities didn’t care for it properly. Apart from occasional visits by the military where they aggressively pulled out weeds, the building was largely left unattended.
Some tenants shared that living in a heritage building costs time and money, as maintaining it – that is, whitewashing it each year, applying fresh plastering before each monsoon, and the perennial cleaning of the dust-filled rooms, and the termite-infested woodwork – was difficult.
Harshani Nalika, who owned the Wasana Bakery at the de Soysa building, shared that her family had lived on the property for decades, and it was incredibly painful to have to vacate their premises. Similarly, the owner of a stationery shop, and previously a boarding house in the building, H.W.A. Thusitha shared that his family has been living on the property for well over 90 years, and they have never paid a single cent on rent. He said that it is their home and having to pack up and leave is a tragedy.
Thusitha shared that back in 2013 when the tenants all signed the memorandum, it was done with great reluctance, as they were given absolutely no choice by the UDA. He shared that when they originally signed the agreement, they were promised 50% of the floor space they’re currently occupying at an alternate property as compensation.
Some tenants have since received the compensation as promised as a portion of the Metro Homes building in Slave Island. However, speaking to Nalika, who has since moved to Metro Homes and is trying to run her business, the place is not ideal and they are struggling to adjust, as the nature of her business does not suit the new environment.
However, while some tenants have received the promised 50% square footage elsewhere, Thusitha stated that the UDA has refused to compensate him in full for the value he is owed and he is unsure why, and beyond that, the tenangs also stated that the UDA has informed them that the compensation they have been offered as of now is temporary and that there will be a court case taken up at the Supreme Court (SC), which will permanently determine their fate and therefore, they must live in general uncertainty until such decision is made.
You will notice it’s gone
While many of us may not have perused through the property, if you’ve ever frequented the area in Slave Island, you are sure to miss it when it’s gone.
The de Soysa building, a two-storeyed block that lines the road for almost 200 yards, is one of the earliest examples of the building design style of offices/shops on the ground floor and residential spaces on the upper floor.
This unique style of building formed a part of the urban fabric of inner city centres and were constructed in most of the tropical Asian regional capitals such as Mumbai, Chennai, Colombo, Singapore, Penang, and Rangoon. Many of them have since been flattened to the ground and the de Soysa building remained a rare example of buildings of the colonial period that remained to this day – until last week at least.
The building’s history is slightly murky, according to Ranil de Soysa, the current owner of the de Soysa building and great-grandson of Charles Henry de Soysa. He shared that the building is actually not a British building, as many claim it to be, and that it was a Ceylonese who built it for the people. De Soysa also expressed his great disappointment in the demolition of the building, stating that it is a great loss.
Although now run-down and looking worn, the building was a landmark in the last century from 1918 onwards, and it was once the headquarters of the prestigious firm of H.W. Cave & Co., which from 1877 was the country’s leading publishing and printing house. And it is said that during the 1920s and 1930s, the premises of H.W. Cave & Co. was considered one of the most fashionable addresses in Colombo,.and it was here that national political figures, such as D.R. Wijewardene, D.S. Senanayake, and Oliver Goonetilleke, met to discuss the constitutional reforms that led to Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948.
The “de Soysa” building, in its two centuries of existence, has lived many lives, and according to some of the tenants in the building, it had some life left till the very end.
