Ten shops at the Dambulla Economic Centre have allegedly been handed over to fresh clients by the original owners, skipping tender procedures and other formalities, causing a possible loss of around Rs. one billion to the state, highly-placed market officials said.
The owners, backed by a powerful politician in the district, had sold the shops for Rs. 10 million each in breach of the original agreement entered with the state, the officials alleged.
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| A deed issued to one of the new ownders. There are 10 in all |
“These shops cannot be sold or even rented out for any reason without following standard procedures mentioned in the original agreement. “The new owners were even able to obtain fresh deeds of ownership with the help of this politician, who in turn is alleged to have collected Rs. 1.5 million from each of them,” the officials said on condition of anonymity.
They added that the original owners had rented out some 90 per cent of the 135 trade stalls at the centre for large sums of money and moves were now underway to provide fresh deeds of ownership to the clients, with the support of the politician.
The officials warned that vegetable prices could see a sharp increase if this trend continued. “If this is not halted, the new owners will jack up the prices to cover the cost of heavy handouts to this politician in addition to the Rs. 10 million paid to the original owner,” the officials claimed.
The secretary to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Anurasiri Waradhana, could not be reached for comment despite several attempts made by The Sunday Times over the past week. |
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