News
Dehiwela-Mount council vows action on high-rises
The Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council (DMMC) has offered to look into the grievances of residents upset by the proliferating construction of high-rise condominiums.
Former DMMC Mayor: Danasiri Amaratunga
This is despite the fact that the approval process for buildings higher than five floors and in an area more than 4,000 sq ft is under the Urban Development Authority’s (UDA) wing.
The DMMC’s newly-elected Mayor, Stanley Dias, said his council had a responsibility towards its residents and would look into their complaints against developers whose constructions breached regulations.
“We were elected by the residents of our municipality. It is our duty to look into their woes,” Mr. Dias said.
Constructors of condominiums in urban areas have come under fire for ignoring regulations and causing great inconvenience to neighbouring residents.
Residents are plagued with noise pollution, the blocking of sunlight and ventilation, dust, interruptions in electricity and water supply and damage to their houses as a result of nearby piling and construction work.
The methods by which developers have obtained building permits for high-rise structures is also under scrutiny. Blame has been laid on local councils, which, at the time, had authority to issue permits. They stand accused of issuing permits that were non-compliant with UDA regulations.
There were 180 complaints last year alone in the Colombo District for the way in which permits had been issued, a spokesperson for the National Building Research Organisation said.
In consequence, the UDA withdrew the authorisation process from the councils and now all such permits will only be issued by the UDA.
UDA Chairman Jagath Munasinghe cited the heedless manner in which the permits were issued and the fact that the councils, at present, were not adequate to handle this process as reasons for the centralising of power with the UDA.
“Until such time when councils can prove they possess the relevant material and the mindset for handling this process capably and without malpractice, the UDA will hold this under its authority,” Dr. Munasinghe said.
Mayor Dias drew attention to the fact that many developers, after obtaining building permits, had carried out construction without abiding by the conditions by which they were bound.
Newly-elected Mayor: Stanley Dias
He acknowledged the council had also been at fault in not overlooking construction once a permit was issued and said collective responsibility ought to have prevailed.
Mr. N. Muthugala, who headed the DMMC in the period before this year’s local government elections, cited a shortage of staff as the reason for the failure to monitor construction activities.
“We have only three technical engineers and this strength is nowhere near enough to look into the many issues that spring up in our municipality,” he said. “We made numerous complaints about this to the ministry. We were only able to look into cases where a complaint was lodged.”
All the complaints made against the DMMC were on decisions taken during the tenure of the previous council, headed by Mayor Danasiri Amaratunga.
There was also an internal rift in the council, with ex-deputy mayor Keseralal Gunasekara strongly objecting to the manner in which the mayor went about issuing building permits.
Mr. Gunasekara confirmed there had been complaints that the council had issued permits that had not complied with UDA regulations and that the mayor had been responsible for this, together with the planning committee, which includes one or two UDA officials.
Mr. Amaratunga said his council had nothing to hide. “Every permit we issued was with the approval of the planning committee, which included the UDA officials. I only signed the permit once everyone else had signed it. If they have a case against me or my council, I request them to take it up in the courts,” he said.
He said some objections to condominiums were unreasonable.
Asked what the UDA officials on the planning committee had been doing when so many illegal permits had been granted, Dr. Munasinghe said, “Although they signed the plans they made recommendations when a plan wasn’t in compliance with our regulations but these were ignored when the mayor placed the final signature.”
Dr. Munasinghe described how his organisation had taken measures to ensure planning approvals were free of corruption and mismanagement.
“There are three steps we took: a change in the system, the redeployment of identified corrupt officials, and a change in the general attitude of the staff,” he said.
“Corruption mostly occurs when there are gaps in the system. The new system will have the utmost transparency and every official will be kept in check, preventing anyone from violating regulations.”
He also said a new development plan for the urban areas was being drafted and would be presented for public consultation later in the year.
Meanwhile, the complaints keep piling up. The Mount Lavinia Residents’ Organisation (MLRO), dedicated to ensuring that development occurs within the regulatory framework in the town, believes the authorities pay more attention to the interests of the developers than those of residents.
MLRO President Kishan Ratnayake said his organisation had lodged many complaints to the UDA and the DMMC over apartments in Mount Lavinia and had requested information under the Right to Information Act, with no response forthcoming. “They kept tossing the ball to each other. What are they hiding from the public?” he asked.
“The authorities seem to be on the side of the developers. This is why we have organised ourselves collectively. We will put pressure on them till justice is served,” he said.