By Aazam Ameen

One section of the landmark De Soysa building in Slave Island which was built in the late 1870’s had collapsed on Wednesday night (16), after a tree fell on to the structure, The Morning learnt. The Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Slave Island Police station confirmed this to The Morning today (18). Meanwhile, Director General of the Department of Archaeology, Prof. Anura Manathuga told The Morning that the Department had begun the process of gazetting and protecting the building. “The De Soysa building is a heritage building and it is one that needed to be preserved,” he told The Morning. Further, the former Head of the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and former Commissioner General of the Department of Archaeology Prof. P. B. Mandawala expressed that the collapse of this building comes across as sad news. “This was one the last remaining colonial era buildings in Slave Island,” he said. He also mentioned that even during his tenure at the Department of Archaeology, the gazetting of the building was in process. The De Soysa building had been marked for demolition since 2015 in partnership with Tata Housing land developers. However, the process was delayed largely due to public outcry and concerns over the demolition of such a valued structure. Despite The Morning’s repeated attempts to reach the Chairman and Director General of the Urban Development (UDA) authority for comment, they proved to be futile. Note - This article has been edited. Earlier, the article noted that the building was demolished. However, after reconfirming with relevant authorities, it has been corrected accordingly.