Sri Lanka’s Public Trustee goes after undiscovered immovable property
Sri Lanka’s Public Trustee Department entrusted with the task of managing private property both movable and immovable worth billions of rupees is seeking public assistance to find immovable property vested in the department which is still to be taken over by them.
In a public notice published in newspapers recently, the Public Trustee requested the public to provide any information relating to bare lands (with or without plantations), house and property (residential and or commercial) paddy and or marshy lands belonging to the department.
The department has assured that any such information will be treated with the highest level of confidentiality.
According to the 2016 performance report of the department, the number of active estates coming under the Public Trustee has increased to 140 from 126 in 2012.
Only 14 estates have been vested in the department during the 4-year period. The Public Trustee says it’s now compelled to find out information and take over the immovable property it owns as such property is being enjoyed by illegal owners or lying idle.
Many instances of forcible acquisition of house and property with or without owners were reported in newspapers during the previous regime. But no action has been taken as yet.
Unscrupulous persons including politicians and their stooges could have forcibly and illegally acquired a considerable number of house and property as well as paddy, tea, rubber and coconut lands vested in the Public Trustee, informed sources said.
On the other hand, some of the corrupt officials of the department have also misused and acquired the property belonged to the Public Trustee, Auditor General’s reports revealed.
According to the 2015 Auditor General’s report, the department had failed to fulfill the objectives by 30 May 2016 of the owner of a property of Ms. Shrima Indrani De Soyza who had died on 14 April 2007, even after nine years of her demise.
Furthermore, the house and its properties belonging to the owner of the estate had been given to a female officer in August 2009 who had been employed in the department by that time, without an agreement or levying rentals.
In another instance, the Labuhena Watta land in extent of 98 acres located in Kurunegala district under the ownership of N.D.S. Silva Board of Trustees, had been vested in the Public Trustee but an agreement had not been entered into in respect of, the highlands and paddy lands of the property, main crops, intercrops, other trees, existing buildings, machinery and other specialties, the report said.
The AG’s report revealed that a land in extent of 32 perches belonging to the estate of Weerasinghe Abeynayake and located on Gabada Street, Matara had been leased out to a person under a lease agreement in 2013 at a monthly lease rent of Rs. 8,000.
The Public Trustee had not inquired from the Department of Valuation about the assessment of the monthly lease rent and had not acted properly in that connection.