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Repossessed Council lands can’t be leased out, Governor tells Wattala UC
Western Province Governor A.J.M. Muzammil has informed the Wattala-Mabole Urban Council (W-MUC) that it cannot lease out repossessed lands belonging to the Council, without following due tender process.
The Governor’s intervention comes amid accusations that the W-MUC is attempting to circumvent directives given by Parliament’s Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and the WP Governor’s Office over the controversial sale of a 79-perch plot belonging to the W-MUC.
Late last month, COPA and the WP Governor’s Office both directed W-MUC to take back the land, known as ‘Aswedduma’, located at Hendala Junction, after separate inquiries revealed it had been sold without following due tender process at Rs 1.3 million per perch, when its market value is well over Rs 4 million per perch.
Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Councilor Nimalsiri Koralage said he complained to the Governor this week, after the W-MUC held a special session on September 6, where a majority of the W-MUC passed a resolution to, first reclaim the land and then lease it back to the same company that had been leasing it prior to its sale. “This runs counter to instructions issued by COPA and the WP Governor’s Office,” Mr Koralage charged.
Councilors opposed to the deal have long alleged that the winning bidder was a close relative of the owner of the company, to which the land had been leased, and therefore, the whole process was a move to sell the land to the same people.
Accordingly, the Governor has now informed the W-MUC Chairman in writing that property belonging to the Council, once repossessed, cannot be leased to another party, without following due tender process.
Meanwhile, the WP Governor’s Office has also served a charge sheet on W-MUC Chairman Mark Gunasekara over the controversial sale of the land. The 3 charges against Mr Gunasekara are: (1) Allowing the sale of the 79-perch land belonging to the Council, in violation of provisions in the Urban Councils Ordinance. (2) Allowing for the sale of the land without following due tender process and at a lower estimate than its actual value, thereby causing a loss to the Council fund. (3) Deciding to sell the land to the company that was leasing it, in violation of provisions in the Urban Councils Ordinance.
The WP Local Government Ministry interdicted former Secretary of the W-MUC, D.P.H. Samarawickrama last month, over her role in the scandal, following an inquiry.