News
Did Wattala UC sell prime land for a song?
A preliminary investigation has found that there were “serious acts of wrongdoing” in the sale of a 79 perch prime plot of land belonging to the Wattala-Mabole Urban Council (UC).
Nimalsiri Koralage
The Sunday Times learns that the land on the Colombo-Negombo Road had been sold for Rs 1.3 million a perch, although usually the market price is about Rs five million a perch.
Western Province Governor Azath Salley told the Sunday Times that after the conclusion of the preliminary inquiry, his officials were conducting investigations to identify those responsible.
Confirming that the recent transfer of the UC Secretary was linked to the ongoing investigation, the Governor said it appeared that the UC had acted in violation of the law.
Several opposition council members have strongly protested the sale of the land situated at the Hendala junction, just a stone’s throw away from the UC. They claim the land had been illegally sold at a fraction of its actual value.
Complaints have been lodged with a variety of Government agencies, including the Presidential Investigation Unit, the Western Province Governor’s office, the Bribery Commission, the Fraud Investigation Bureau and the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID).
Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) UC member Nimalsiri Koralage alleged the tender process had been manipulated to sell the land at Rs 1.3 million a perch, much below the actual market price of Rs. 5 million a perch.Mr. Koralage charged that the Chairman of the United National Party (UNP)-controlled UC, ruling party councillors, council officials and even some opposition members were complicit in the fraud.
The land had been leased out to a private company by the council for 30 years in 2000 when the current UC Chairman was also holding the same post. Mr. Koralage said the land was sold while12 years were still left of the lease period. He claimed that the winning bidder was a close relative of the owner of the company, to which the land had been leased. Therefore, the whole process was a move to sell the land to the same people.
Opposition councilors claim even the original lease agreement signed in 2000 was suspect as it gave the land on lease for a payment of Rs. 1.5 million, after which the company only had to pay Rs. 1000 a year to the UC. “Even 19 years ago, a Rs.1000 a year lease for a 79 perch plot of land in such a prime location was absolutely criminal,” the UC member noted.
Moreover, the land had then been sold without first cancelling the lease agreement between the UC and the private company as required by law, he alleged.
The 79 perch land in the centre of a controversy
The proposal to sell the land was put to UC members by the chairman during a special council session on May 21, 2018. According to the minutes, the opposition councillors said, the chairman had told the members that the company, to which the land had been leased for 30 years, had sent a letter expressing interest in buying the land. The proposal had called for a valuation of the land to be done and after approval was obtained from the Western Province Chief Minister, to sell the land to the company and to utilise the money from the sale to construct a new shopping complex at Hendala and carry out other projects.
Several councillors had opposed the proposal, pointing out that the land was to be reverted to the UC after 12 more years. When the chairman asked for the council’s stand on the proposal, a Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) councillor asked for a vote. Twelve UC members voted for the motion while only four opposed it, according to the minutes.
Though a decision was made to sell the land to the company, tenders were subsequently published after the Western Province Chief Minister’s office informed that due tender process should be followed when selling the land, the opposition councillors revealed.
Accordingly, on February 14, this year, the UC published a tender notice in a national newspaper inviting bidders to bid for the land. The notice had stated that tender application forms would be issued to the public from February 15 to February 28 from 9.00am to 3.00pm. Bids were to be accepted till 3.00pm on March 1, with bids to be opened at 3.30pm on the same day.
The councillors who opposed the sale, however, claimed that the tender notices had been placed without council approval, and that many interested bidders who came to the UC to collect tender forms were turned away by the chairman who had told them that the tender had been cancelled as the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development had stepped in to finance the project to build the shopping complex.
This, the opposition councillors claim, was a lie and the bids were opened on March 1. Only three bids had been submitted and the tender had been awarded to the bidder who quoted the highest price of Rs 1.3 million a perch.
It is alleged that all three bids were submitted by relatives or associates of the owner of the company holding the lease.
Opposition councillors also expressed doubts about the authenticity of the land valuation report and questioned whether it had been prepared by the Valuation Department, because it had only valued a perch at just over Rs. 1.12 million; an astonishingly low amount considering the prime location of the land. “Either they duped officials from the Valuation Department and showed them a different land, or else the report is fake,” Mr Koralage said.
JVP Councillor Abdul Raheem told the Sunday Times that the council minutes of February 08, 2019 had been tampered with to state that a discussion had taken place on the sale of the land and that approval had been given to call for tenders. “I sent a letter to the council secretary pointing out that I was present at this meeting and no such discussion took place,” he insisted. This was another attempt to make a fraudulent transaction appear legitimate, he alleged.
Wattala-Mabole UC Chairman Mark Gunasekara, however, insisted that the land sale was “100 percent legal,” adding he had the necessary documents to prove it. “I have been Mayor of Wattala-Mabole UC for 22 years. These accusations are being levelled by political opponents who wish to sling mud at me. I am prepared to face any inquiry and prove my innocence.”
Mr Gunasekara said the council took a decision to sell the land in order to finance the building of a new market complex at Hendala junction as the existing complex was crumbling, with even the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) warning the UC not to house shops there.
The chairman also disputed the claim that the land had been sold to the same company, to which it had been leased. He added that the company had agreed to cancel the lease agreement prior to the sale. It was then sold to the highest bidder following a legal tender process, he said.
The tender was advertised in newspapers, after the valuation report was submitted to the Chief Minister’s office to obtain its approval, Mr Gunasekara said.
Mr Raheem, though, noted that the council must approve a proposal to publish tender notices while the valuation report on the land and any document related to the cancellation of the lease agreement with the company should also be tabled at the council. “None of this happened and we have records of council meetings to prove it,” he said..
Though authorities claim an inquiry is being held, the JVP councillor remained sceptical. “It is true that the secretary was transferred, but if a proper inquiry is being held, they should be interviewing us and recording our statements. We are yet to hear from any investigators,” he said.