The Commemoration of the 109th birth anniversary of Al Haj M.A.Bakeer Markar, considered as the son of the Beruwela community because he pioneered the development of Beruwela town to what it is today. This post is a dedication to his services.
After Al Haj M.A.Bakeer was appointed as the Mayor of Beruwla town in 1950, he developed it from a small row of shops to the town it is today. When he was appointed Mayor of Beruwla town, the only Government institution was the Urban Concil. He initiated the process of recognising Beruwela as a separate Divisional Secretariat and subsequently the construction of buildings for these instituitions. At the time there were no shopping complexes, State Banks or Fishing Offices in Beruwela. Nor did it have a dedicated post office. The were no medical quarters as well.
After his election as an MP, a large area of land was acquired for the development of Beruwela town. The Divisional Secretariat, the new post office in Beruwela, the Beruwela Youth Vocational Training Center, four medical quarters, the Beruwela Fisheries Complex building and other buildings required for the hospital were constructed on this land.
Banks including the Bank of Ceylon, National Savings Bank, Rural Development Bank and others came to Beruwela under his leadership. The giant shopping complex that adorns the city of Beruwela was also built under his leadership, according to the Beruwela city development plan that he prepared. The Samoopakaara Mandiraya and telephone exchange centre was constructed under his guidance.
He donated the first two-storied building to Ariyawansha Vidayalaya. Nearly fifty per cent of the buildings of D.S. Senanayake Central College also known as Beruwela Central College were constructed during his tenure. The Educational office, Meeting Hall and Century Building were also constructed during this period. He acquired the land for the playground of the Beruwela Central College amidst many objections. He also constructed the two buildings of the Roman Catholic School near the Beruwela Police Station, the two main buildings of Warapitiya School, the meeting hall of Gnanissara Vidyalaya, the meeting hall of Aluthgamveediya Balika Vidyalaya, the building of the Pambe School and the prayer hall of the Hettimulla Temple, the Munghena Century School building and the two-storied building, the Duwegoda School Building, the Walatara School Building, the Kalavila School Building, the Meeting Hall of Al Hambra Vidyalaya, the meeting hall of Naleem Hajiyar Girls' School and the two-storied building of the Roman Catholic School in Diyalagoda.
He donated the three-storied laboratory building and meeting hall for the Aluthgama Maha Vidyalaya and the two-storied building for the Aluthgama Sanghamittha Vidyalaya. He also donated the Government acquired lands adjacent to the Junior Section for the construction of a playground for the Aluthgama Vidyalaya.
He also acquired land for the development of many schools in the Beruwela electorate including Halkadawila Vidyalaya, Padagoda Vidyalaya, Mahagoda Vidyalaya, Aluthgamveediya Balika Vidyalaya, Beruwela Central College, Diyalagoda Roman Catholic Vidyalaya, Maggona Indirligoda Maha Vidyalaya and several others. He also took a special interest in the construction of playgrounds for many schools within his electorate.
At the time, water was brought to the shops in Beruwela town by carts. The water was brought from the carts and sold to the shops. In some areas, people had to walk miles to get drinking water. He took steps to provide piped water to all areas that came within the Beruwela seat including Maggona, Payagala, Aluthgama and Dhargatown.
It was Bakeer Markar who proposed to include the areas of Beruwela, Aluthgama, Moragalla and Kaluwamodara to the Bentota Tourism Zone. This also paved the way for a revolution that uplifted the economic conditions of the people of that area.
The people of Beruwela still remember how he took the initiative to establish several shopping complexes in his electorate with the involvement of the private sector. He also took the initiative to build a big shopping complex for the development of Aluthgama town, amidst the challenges faced in Courts with regard to it. The Aluthgama Town Hall building was also built by him. The model village of Wellathuduwa, Aluthgama was built during his time. The Aluthgama Post Office Building, Beruwela New Post Office Building, Maggona Post Office Building, Dhargatown Post Office Building, Halkadawila Post Office Building, Beruwela and Payagala Telephone Exchange Centers were all built under the guidance of Mr. Bakeer Markar.
He built a housing scheme in the Massala area which is considered to be one of the first housing schemes to be built by an Urban Council which is still standing strong. Under his guidance, a large-scale housing programme was implemented to provide shelter to many homeless people within the Beruwela seat. Yovungama, Sinhagama, Malaygoda Dahampahanagama, Kalawilakanda, Badanagoda Village, Heralathuduwa Village, Welipitiya Sinhala Village, Welipitiya Muslim Village, Pinghena Village, Ananda Village, Lushantitus Village, St. Vicenti Village, Aluthgama Wellathuduwa Village, Rahmathpura, Ruwalpura, Sagarapura, Kuda Payagala Fisheries, Indirligoda Sheikh Hamza Model Village, the Housing Scheme of the sixty house of Magalkanda, Kuda Magalkanda Housing Scheme, Kaluwamodara Housing Scheme Village and many other villages were services rendered under his guidance.
A massive programme to distribute land to those who did not have land to settle was prepared with his foresight and implemented in Beruwela during his time. The land distributions included the Duwegoda Frankland land in Payagala, the Sudugahalanda land, the Kalawila Kanda land, the Morayaswattha land in Pinghena, the Malnaidewattha land within the Beruwela Municipal Council limits and the adjacent land, the two lands of Sapulankanda and Meenachchi Kanda in Darganagara, the Marbleland land in North Payagala and the Bubulanda Wattha land in Magalkanda.
The by-pass road and bridge built connecting the Beruwela and Halkadawila areas as well as the by-pass roads and bridges in the Walatara, Akuressa, Warapitiya, Pambe areas, etc. were built during his era.
The Palyangoda Sub Post Office, Egodawatta Sub Post Office, Hirigalgodalla Sub Post Office, Maradana Sub Post Office, Kachchagoda Sub Post Office, Maligahena Sub Post Office, Hirigalgodalla Sub Post Office as well as Pothuwila Ayurvedic Medicine centre, Hettiyakanda Unani Dispensary, Massala Medical centre and New Building, Pinghena Community Hall, Pinhena Agrarian Service Centre etc. were built during his era.
It was during his era that 80 per cent of the rural areas within the Beruwela seat received electricity.
The principals and education officers during his time, to date remember the support he provided to resolve the problems faced by schools by inquiring about the needs of teachers, educational conditions and other shortcomings in these schools, by inviting the Director of Education, the Divisional Education Directors, and the directors and officers in charge of all subjects as well all the Principals of the Sinhala and Tamil medium schools in the Beruwela electorate to the Kalutara Education Director's office.
The people of Beruwela still remember the service he rendered by continuously conducting review meetings to look into the education of school children in his constituency, even inquiring about the results of the Ordinary Level and Advanced Level examinations in schools and addressing the situations, even after he was appointed as Speaker of Parliament.
The era in which he worked tirelessly to improve the lives of the people can indeed be described as the Golden era of Beruwela. The desire and interest he possessed to look into the lives of the less privileged people is a great example for today's political authorities.
“I really admire the manner in which he stood up against the power of the rich and affluent in his area…” said Ronny De Mel in Parliament
The service rendered by Deshamanya Alhaj M.A. Bakeer Makar for the people he represented, with vision, dedication and determination is a great example of those engaged in politics today. We in Beruwela will remember him with gratitude even today as an honest politician who owed nothing to the people who placed their trust in him. The service rendered by Bakeer Markar, who is considered the founder of the Beruwela Tourist city, will always be remain in the hearts of the people of Beruwela.