2024-07-12
News Categories : Committee News
The Committee on Public Enterprises disclosed that a 6-acre land belonging to the Urban Development Authority located at James Peiris Mawatha, Colombo 02 was leased for 12 billion rupees for 99 years in 2019 without the approval of the Board of Directors. when drafting the lease agreement related to this land, it was disclosed that in addition to the lease conditions submitted and approved by the Board of Directors, other conditions were included that has not been approved by the Board of Directors.
However, it was disclosed at the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) that disciplinary investigations are underway against the Legal Director regarding the drafting of the relevant agreements and the development of the particular land has been at a halt thus far.
Details pertaining to the said matter was disclosed when the Committee on Public Enterprises met in Parliament recently (Jul. 9) under the Chairmanship of Hon. Rohitha Abeygunawardana, Member of Parliament.
Furthermore, it was also disclosed that the Authority had to bear a loss of 330 million rupees due to the leasing of 2 acres 2 roods and 21.4 perches land bordering Fort D. R. Wijewardana Mawatha owned by the Urban Development Authority without the formal approval of the Board of Directors. Accordingly, the Chair instructed the officials to send a formal report on these incidents to the Committee within two weeks.
Presenting facts, the officials of the National Audit Department pointed out that they have identified the problematic situations in the accounting system of the Urban Development Authority. The officials pointed out that the manner in which the values of the project lands owned by the Authority have been assessed is also questionable. The officials of the audit department pointed out that the ownership of the land on which the Parliament complex stand is still held by the Urban Development Authority and gave instructions to transfer ownership of the land to the Parliament. Addressing the Committee, the Chair of the Committee instructed to send a complete report containing all the details of all the investment lands owned by the Urban Development Authority to the Committee within two weeks.
The Urban Development Authority has completed 13,602 houses in 22 housing projects using 48,156 million government funds under the Urban Revitalization Program for ghetto dwellers living around Colombo. However, the officials of the audit office pointed out that 66 houses in such apartment complexes still remain vacant. Officials of the Urban Development Authority stated that measures will be taken to settle the owners of the vacant houses as soon as possible. However, the officials of the audit office pointed out that the condominium management certificate has been obtained for only one housing project out of the completed housing projects. As a result, it was disclosed that the Urban Development Authority has borne a sum of 667.6 million rupees for the maintenance of houses in 2023 and up until May 2024. Accordingly, the officials pointed out that after transferring the ownership of the houses to the relevant personnel, the responsibility of maintaining the houses will be removed from the Urban Development Authority.
Furthermore, the attention of the Committee was also drawn to the fact that not enough attention has been paid to provide facilities for parking the vehicles of the people who come to Colombo on a daily basis. The Committee pointed out that the work of the 2 parking garages proposed to be built by the authority itself was stopped in the middle of the year 2021 and so far, 230 million rupees have been spent. Accordingly, the Urban Development Officers informed the committee that the construction work has started to complete the work in such a way that these 2 car parks can be used in their current condition.
State Minister Hon. Indika Anuruddha Herath, Member of Parliament Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Hon. Madhura Withanage, Hon. Sanjeeva Edirimanna, Hon. (Major) Sudarshana Denipitiya, Hon. Upul Mahendra Rajapaksha and Hon. Premnath C. Dolawatte, government officials were present at this Committee meeting held.
2026-06-19
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Environment focused its attention on the issue of water pollution in the Kelani River when it met in Parliament recently (10th June) under the chairmanship of the Hon. Minister of Environment, Dr. Dammika Patabendi.During the meeting, the Committee was briefed on the progress of discussions being held with companies that have expressed willingness to invest in a project aimed at cleaning the waters of the Kelani River.The Committee also discussed a number of proposals and other issues raised by Hon. Members of Parliament.The meeting was attended by Hon. Members of Parliament and officials.
2026-06-18
A meeting of the Women Parliamentarians Caucus was held in Parliament recently to discuss the importance of incorporating Gender-Responsive Budgeting into Sri Lanka’s national budget formulation process and to examine the challenges associated with its implementation.The meeting was chaired by the Chairperson of the Caucus and Hon. Minister of Women and Child Affairs, Saroja Savithri Paulraj. Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya also participated in the discussion.A key concern raised during the discussion was the lack of adequate data and indicators to accurately assess and measure women’s economic contributions within the budgetary process. Drawing on examples of approaches adopted in India and other countries, members of the Caucus underscored the need to identify and address existing systemic and technical gaps in Sri Lanka’s budgeting framework.The Caucus also emphasized the importance of disaggregating data by gender in project reporting and strengthening digital data management systems to support such efforts. It was further noted that identifying relevant gender-related considerations at the initial stages of project design and implementation at the ministerial level would facilitate more effective project analysis, monitoring, and evaluation of outcomes.The need to move away from existing traditional and time-consuming methods towards formal online systems and data-driven analytical tools was also emphasized.The current progress and challenges in integrating Gender-Responsive Budgeting into Sri Lanka’s public financial policy were discussed in detail during the meeting.It was also emphasized that such budgeting should not be limited to nominal percentages in documents, but that the need to establish a formal framework and data system to ensure it has a real and practical impact was also highlighted.The Hon.Deputy Chairperson of Committees Hemalee Weerasekera, Hon. Deputy Minister Dr. Kaushalya Ariyarathne, Co-Vice Chairpersons of the Caucus, Hon. Members of Parliament Chamindrani Kiriella, Attorney at Law and Samanmalee Gunasinghe, Hon. Members of Parliament Thushari Jayasinghe, Attorney at Law, Krishnan Kaleichelvi, Sagarika Athauda ,Attorney at Law, Nilanthi Kottahachchi, Attorney at Law, Ambika Samivel and Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney at Law, along with a group of officials from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, also participated in the event.
2026-06-17
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government met recently (Jun. 12) at Parliament under the chairmanship of the Hon. Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Prof. A.H.M.H. Abayarathna.During the meeting, Members of Parliament discussed a range of issues and proposals relating to their respective electorates, as well as several other matters of public importance.Hon. Members of Parliament and officials were present at the meeting.
2026-06-17
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs met recently (Jun. 09) at Parliament under the chairmanship of the Hon. Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Hiniduma Sunil Senevi.During the meeting, Members of Parliament discussed a number of proposals and issues, including reviewing the progress of discussions initiated with the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education and the Department of Examinations regarding the formulation of regulations to prevent the conduct of private tuition classes on Sunday mornings, thereby facilitating the holding of Dhamma School classes on Sundays.The meeting was attended by Hon. Deputy Ministers, Hon. Members of Parliament and officials.
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