News
National Library: Dispute over Budget allocation brought to book
View(s):- Library users and staff face severe difficulties; building houses millions of rupees worth of books, newspapers and valuable documents
Director General W. Sunil
By Yoshitha Perera
Despite spending millions on renovations, the National Library in Colombo, which is overseen by the National Library and Documentation Services Board (NLDSB), has remained unfinished for several years. The renovations began in 2018, with the goal of completing the task within eight months.
At a meeting held recently with the Education Ministry, the line ministry of the National Library, it was notified to the National Library’s Board of Directors that the former Yahapalana government had allocated Rs. 252 million for the renovations of the National Library building.
However, the Government failed to complete the renovations and the premises have been in a dilapidated condition for the past three years, with unfinished work.
The National Library building plaque mentions a different amount spent on the project. It says Rs. 350 million was spent on the renovations project.
“The former Yahapalana government wanted to re-open the building in 2019 before completing renovations. On the plaque, it mentioned that Rs. 350 million had been allocated. However, the actual amount spent on the project at the time was Rs. 211 million. It was only at the recent meeting that officials revealed the actual amount allocated for the renovations,” National Library Director General W. Sunil said.
The renovations project was a part of the development programme under the policy of the ‘Nearest school is the best school’ introduced by former Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam.
Still in a state of repair in spite of renovations continuing from 2018
According to Mr. Sunil, the renovations halted following the change of government in 2019, leaving the project without officials or funds.
“It was a design and build project with open bid tenders in 2018. The tender was awarded to a private company, SMA Construction, and several construction flaws were discovered during the process. We pointed them out during the construction process. However no measures were taken at that time,” he said.
After Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected as President in 2019, the office that implemented the policy of the ‘Nearest school is the best school’ was closed and the project terminated. SMA Construction also said it could not carry out the project any further. The National Library was half constructed but open to the people.
The plaque says Rs 350 million was spent on renovations. Pix by Eshan Fernando
“At this stage when the issue was explained to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, he advised the Sri Lanka Navy to take over the project and complete the construction. However, due to certain document issues they did not take over the project,” Mr. Sunil said.
However, according to a recent update the present government was ready to start the project again and to complete the renovations.
Sri Lanka’s State Engineering Corporation recently completed a report on the remaining work for the proposed renovations. On November 9, the report was delivered to the Education Ministry, and the State Engineering Corporation is preparing an estimate for the remaining work.
“After the estimate is completed, the Education Ministry will issue a Cabinet paper to obtain funds for the remaining work,” Mr. Sunil said.
Several National Library committee meetings were held previously, and staff members of the National Library complained that due to shortcomings of the renovations project, both staff and library users were facing severe difficulties, said the National Library’s former Director General Upali Amarasiri. He also said the library’s collections were under severe threat.
“The committee members were taken for an inspection tour of the building and it was a rather depressing situation. The committee members were provided with a report prepared by the head of the National Library’s conservation division, highlighting the threats caused by to the refurbishment project to the library collections which include rare materials,” he said. He also served on the National Library’s committee.
According to the information provided to the committee on November 5, 2021 the National Budget Department, through its letter addressed to the Education Ministry Secretary on January 13, 2017, said it allocated Rs. 500 million for renovations of the National Library building.
Accordingly, the committee had requested from the National Budget Department to give the details of the total value of the tender given to SMA Construction for the renovation work under the design and build method.
The library houses a collection of more than one million books, valuable and rare government documents, newspapers and literature.
In response, the department said the total value of the tender was Rs. 297 million and the contractor had not submitted a main breakdown of the different tasks expected from it and the allocation of funds for those main tasks.
When questioned were raised, the Education Ministry said the ministry’s internal sources said there was an ongoing internal audit with regard to the allocations.
The National Library houses a collection of more than one million books, valuable and rare government documents, newspapers and literature.
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