COPE reveals unauthorized lease of UDA land for Rs. 12 billion

COLOMBO (News 1st) - It has been revealed before the Committee on Public Enterprises or COPE, that a loss of Rs. 330 million has been incurred by the government, due to the unauthorized leasing of land located on D.R. Wijewardhana Mawatha, Fort, which is under the Urban Development Authority.

COPE Chairman Rohitha Abeygunawardena instructed officials to submit a formal report on the incident to the committee within two weeks.

The matter was taken into discussion when the Committee on Public Enterprises convened in Parliament recently.

It was revealed before COPE that a 6-acre land belonging to the Urban Development Authority (UDA) located on James Peiris Mawatha in Colombo 02, was leased out for Rs. 12 billion for 99 years without the approval of the board of directors, in 2019.

It was further revealed that the lease agreement for the land was prepared and presented to the board of directors for approval, with additional conditions that were not included in the original lease terms and conditions approved by the board.

Disciplinary action is being taken against the legal director in connection with the drafting of the lease agreement. 

The development work on the land has not yet commenced.

Meanwhile, officials of the National Audit Department have informed the committee that they have identified problematic issues in the accounting system of the Urban Development Authority.

The officials further pointed out that the valuation of investment lands owned by the authority is also questionable.

Highlighting that the ownership of the land where the Parliament complex is located still rests with the Urban Development Authority, the National Audit Department officials recommended that steps be taken to transfer the ownership of that land to Parliament.

Accordingly, COPE Chairman MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena has instructed that a comprehensive report containing all details of all investment lands owned by the Urban Development Authority be submitted to the committee within two weeks.