Former Secretary to the Ministry of Lands talks about the Port City Commission Act

“I was the Secretary to the Ministry of Lands for more than 5 years. Therefore, there is some understanding of land laws. According to this draft, the rules and regulations of this country do not apply to the Port City area. However, a commission of not more than seven and not less than five will be appointed by the President and administration of the area will be handed over to it. This commission is a ghost commission. The qualifications of these members are not mentioned in the Bill. Not even educational qualifications are mentioned. The basic requirement to be a citizen of Sri Lanka too is not present. An empty space is provided. The president can appoint anyone he wants,” states former Secretary to the Ministry of Lands Ashoka Peiris.
Speaking further he said, ““There are many opinions about the size of the port city. When the Survey Department maps and other factors are examined, there are finally 446 hectares. What is the value of this land mass? A former Director General of the Urban Development Authority had estimated a perch in the Colombo Municipal Council area at 16 million. Accordingly, the value of 446 hectares is Rs. 3000 billion. The total annual government revenue was Rs.1,389 billion in 2020. 1,889 billion in 2019. That is, we are talking about an asset that is worth more than the annual revenue of the Sri Lankan government. People we have never known as Members of Parliament and Ministers have started to talk about this. Cabraal says this is a turning point. The advantages of this have been exaggerated. It is still a bill regarding the Colombo port city. This bill was tabled blocking the possibility of taking legal action. There are those who have a real criticism about this and there are a group of critics who want to reverse the real criticism. The land worth Rs. 3,000 billion has been handed over to the reclamation company. A small portion of about 10% of the land is vested in the Government of Sri Lanka. The rest of the land is handled by the company that reclaimed.
I was the Secretary to the Ministry of Lands for more than 5 years. Therefore, there is some understanding of land laws. According to this draft, the rules and regulations of this country do not apply to the Port City area. However, a commission of not more than seven and not less than five will be appointed by the President and administration of the area will be handed over to it. This commission is a ghost commission. The qualifications of these members are not mentioned in the Bill. Not even educational qualifications are mentioned. The basic requirement to be a citizen of Sri Lanka too is not present. An empty space is provided. The president can appoint anyone he wants.
I said this commission is a ghost commission because the owning company owns more power. With the exception of a few prominent ministers including the Minister of Justice, the majority of the government is silent on this. This common question related to the government is more apparent with regard to the Ports Commission. Why are others silent? Tell the country their opinion. Tell the people the opinion of the big gentlemen in patriotic garbs. Even though they understand the issue, they do not open their mouths. This government has no place to hang and now it is being called the turning point. Sri Lanka ranks 192nd in the Investor Attendance Index. During the tenure of President Mahinda Rajapaksa a great effort was made to attract investors. Hambantota Port Associated Industrial Park was started as a project to attract investors. When I was the Secretary to the Ministry of Lands, I was also on the committee calling for investors. Once a month advertisements were published to attract for investors, but no one came.
Also, the Sooriyawewa Cricket Stadium was built to attract investors. The Lotus Tower was built. Floating restaurants were built and were introduced in very attractive words. Entrepreneurs did not come. The past experiences show that investors do not come for attractive words. The reason why they do not come is corruption and fraud in Sri Lanka. If investors come, they have to distribute money everywhere. The Korean company came to buy a golf course in Sri Lanka and wandered everywhere. He told me that everyone asked for a commission. Relatives and friends of the rulers are all demanding commissions. So investors are not coming like Cabraal says. They are only dreams. The government alleges that the critics are speaking against this project. We say that the project should be carried out in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the country. Apart from that, it does not matter what action is taken against this now. The sea has been already reclaimed. This area should be made a normal area under the constitutional administration of the country.”