In July 1874 a rail line, known as the Breakwater line, was opened connecting the Harbour Works Quarry at Ragama to the Colombo Harbourbreakwater, in order to enable stone to be transported to the harbor to construct the breakwater.[1] Stone from a second quarry at Ragama was then used to stabilise the Coastal line where it ran on the edge of the beach.[1]
On 8 January 1901 the BritishWar Office established a prisoner-of-war camp in Ragama to house Boer prisoners captured in the Second Boer War. The prisoners at Ragama were primarily dissidents, foreign volunteers and irreconcilables who refused to sign an oath of allegiance to the British Crown, and were transferred from the main camp at Diyatalawa.[2][3]
Ragama served as the main observation camp for coolies entering the country. The coolies disembarked at Colombo and were sent by train to Ragama, where they were detained for forty eight hours before being transported to various tea plantations around the country.[4] In 1904 76,963 coolies from Southern India came through the camp[5] and in 1905 this increased to 132,690.[4]
Transport
Ragama is accessible from the A3 highway (Colombo-Negombo road) and is about 5 km (3.1 mi) from Mahabage junction. Sri Lanka's second motorway flyover was built in 1996 over the main railway line right at the town centre, at a cost of Rs 200 million.
The Colombo North Teaching Hospital is located at Ragama. It is the second largest hospital in Sri Lanka, with a 1,442 bed capacity. The hospital comprises the District Hospital Kandana, the Rehabilitation Hospital, Ragama and the Nurses Training School, Kandana. It also associated with the University of Kelaniya's Faculty of Medicine and is known for having one of the most advanced diagnostic departments in the country. It also boasts the country's only Liver Transplant Unit.
Other hospitals in Ragama include the National Hospital for Respiratory Diseases, the Ragama Rehabilitation Hospital, Melsta Hospital, Leesons Hospital and Suwasarana Hospital.
Government facilities
Currently Ragama is home to several important government establishments in the country. They include:
Sri Lanka Navy (Gemunu) Brigade
Sri Lanka Navy (Mahasen) Brigade
College of Naval Architecture (attached to Sri Lanka Navy)
Mahara Prison (a maximum security prison and one of the largest prisons in the country)
^ abWright, Arnold, ed. (1907). Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources. Asian Educational Services. p. 642. ISBN9788120613355.
^Green, Ewen (ed.). The Ideals of Empire: Political and Economic Thought, 1903 - 1913. Psychology Press. p. 715. ISBN9780415194679.
