Protest Rally: December 27, 1998

After marching more than a mile from the base of Phosphate Hill to the center of Eppawala, the protestors staged a two-hour sit-down strike. Their presence crippled one of the country's major thoroughfares, demonstrating their power to physically prevent the arrival of IMC-Agrico's mining equipment and personnel. Angry protestors shouted down the police when they tried to clear a path for the backed-up traffic; all three roads into Eppawala were lined with stalled trucks, busses, cars and even bicycles and ox-carts while the rally proceeded. The leader of the movement, Reverend M. Piyaratana, charismatic chief incumbent of the Galkanda Ancient Buddhist Temple, and other local activists rallied the cheering crowd to practice civil disobedience even to the death. Rev. Piyaratana has threatened protest suicide if the project proceeds. The people of Eppawala and its environs have threatened to use all means necessary to prevent that from happening.

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