Wednesday, 8th October 2014.
A section of the Yahala Kele Rubber Estate at Moragahahena in Horana, where Che Guevara planted a mahogany tree when he visited Sri Lanka in 1959 would be named Che Park at 3.00 pm today, JVP youth wing leader and former MP Bimal Ratnayake said yesterday.
The Che Park would be declared open to mark the Che Day (Oct 08) celebrated by the members of the JVP’s Socialist Youth Union of which Ratnayake is the National Organiser.
Ratnayake said that the Yahala Kele Estate belonged to J. C.D. Peries, who had kindly permitted the SYU to clear about one acre of land surrounding the historical mahogany tree. Cuban Ambassador to Sri Lanka Indira Lopez and JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva will participate in today’s ceremony.
Che visited the Yahala Kele Estate to study rubber planting methods during his brief stay in the country and planted the Mahogany tree on August 7, 1959. He was visiting to study rubber planting techniques in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) as part of an Asian tour which also took him to India and several other countries in the region. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries he visited in his lifetime.
The Island. http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=111700
