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Hopes of playground drowned in lake
By Asif Fuard
The Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha which was deprived of a public play ground, after the land meant for it was taken over for part of a golf course, through a controversial cabinet decision, is waiting for compensation while work on the project is going ahead in full swing.

The land proposed for the public play ground is now being dug up for a lake, part of the golf course project, while protests by Pradeshiya Sabha members and the villagers have gone unheeded.

The Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha Vice Chairman S. Perera said they had held several meetings with the Urban Development Authority but had still not received the money to pay compensation to the former residents.

“We have no say in this matter as the UDA is directly involved. Therefore they should act. We have taken up the matter with the UDA officials several times but they have done little about it. We also asked the company to stop the excavation as there is a dispute over land ownership. Despite all this the digging continues,” he said.

When The Sunday Times contacted UDA chairman D.S. Jayaweera he said the matter would be looked into and declined to elaborate. About 19 acres of land due to be allocated to the Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha were allocated to the Asia Pacific Golf Course (PVT) Ltd. Work is now underway to extend the existing golf course project in Battaramulla.

The original Cabinet paper justifying the allocation of the land for the public playground said that Battaramulla had a recorded population of 82,250 in 1994, and 53 per cent of the land had been used for residential purposes and in keeping with the minimum standard requirement of providing one hectare of open space for every 1000 of the population in Battaramulla, 82 hectares had to be provided.

The land in question, which was previously farmland, was taken over by the UDA in 1986 under the Land Acquisition Act after an Extraordinary Gazette notification was passed in Parliament. According to the Gazette notification the land was acquired for “public purpose only”. The residents living in the 19 Acre block of land were given Rs. 312 a perch as compensation during that time.

However, since the land had been lying idle for sometime, in 2000 the Cabinet directed the UDA to go ahead with a project to make a playground in the area. During this time the land was in the hands of the Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha. The Cabinet decision was later revoked in 2001 by the then Minister of Urban Development and Construction Mangala Samaraweera, who made provision for Asia Pacific Golf Course (PVT) Ltd to make the playground and pay compensation to the UDA. The Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha, was to get the money from the UDA to pay the people affected by the land acquisition.
However, instead of the playground, The Sunday Times learns that the Asia Pacific Golf Course Pvt. Ltd. had started building a lake in the land as an extension to its 236 acre golf course. The lake once completed would be turned into a venue for water sport activities.

However, it is also learnt that the main reason for constructing the lake is to stop the flooding of the Waters Edge golf course and the club itself when there is heavy rain. On previous occasions after heavy rains the flood waters that had submerged the golf course had also seeped into the hotel and damaged the hotel carpeting which had cost Rs. 350, 000 to be replaced.

Although the people in the area had protested that a lake was being constructed instead of a playground, their protests have not been heeded.
Even though they complained to the UDA and the Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha no action has been taken they complain. The company has delayed paying compensation to the UDA, which in turn has delayed the payment of compensation to the people who are the rightful owners of the land. Inspite of the ongoing dispute over the land and several past owners taking the company to courts, work on building the lake is continuing, The Sunday Times learns.

An angry resident Mahinda Perera said it was bad enough that they lost their land but now they were not even getting the compensation they were entitled to. “The company has deceived the UDA and the Pradeshiya Sabha by making a lake instead of the promised playground,” he said.

Previously The Sunday Times exposed an alleged fraud where four unknown promoters had been paid as much as Rs. 150 million for transferring State property near the Parliament complex given to them for 'a song' by the Kumaratunga government.

The final instalment for the transaction of State land vested in the UDA was then completed by multi-millionaire businessman Sumal Perera of Access Holdings paying off the so-called 'promoters' of Asia Pacific Golf Course (Pvt.) Ltd.

The Rs. 150 million has been paid for the shares of Asia Pacific Golf Course Pvt. Ltd. to these promoters who were given this property by President Kumaratunga in 2001 via a BOI project. The promoters did nothing but get this 226-acre property from the President and sell it in turn to Sumal Perera's company.

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