Condominium Management Authority presents annual report to State Minister

CMA Chairman Sarana Karunarathna presenting copies of Annual Reports 2020 to State Minister Dr. Nalaka Godahewa and Secretary to the Ministry Sirinimal Perera. CMA General Manager Dr. Indunil Liyanage also participated at this occasion  

Condominium Management Authority (CMA) Chairman Sarana Karunaratne, Attorney-at-Law, presented the first copy of CMA’s Annual Report 2020 to State Minister of Urban Development, Coast Conservation, Waste Disposal and Community Cleanliness Dr. Nalaka Godahewa and the Secretary to the Ministry Sirinimal Perera recently. CMA General Manager Dr. Indunil Liyanage also participated at this occasion. 

The Condominium Management Authority was established under the Act of Parliament No. 39 of 2003 to regulate and monitor Government and private sector condominiums in the country. Since 2003 CMA established 1,126 management corporations to monitor and regulate individual condominiums in the country which amounts to approximately 38,573 apartment units. CMA consists of various divisions to support this endeavour namely, engineering, customer care, certificate issuance, administration and human resources, legal, finance, information technology and internal audit. Condominium Management Authority is a self-funded (profitable) institute functioning under the State Ministry of Urban Development, Coast Conservation, Waste Disposal and Community Cleanliness.

According to the ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’ policy statement of President Rajapaksa, the Government has a pledge to provide a house to each family in the country and in line with that CMA has planned several activities to regulate and monitor common amenities and common elements in condominiums of the Government and private sector.

In line with the Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour policy statement of the President, CMA has taken steps to reduce its certificate issuing fees for Government sector condominiums which are over 5,001 square feet to provide that benefit to its unit owners. 

According to the act, CMA will play a significant role in the development of Port City. A plan has been developed by CMA for the Port City development activities under ‘One Stop Shop’ concept introduced by UDA to expedite the approval process within a short period of time to meet foreign and local investor demands. 

The year 2020 was an exceptional year where every citizen in this country and globally had to experience the bitterness of the COVID-19 pandemic and the construction industry in the country also faced a downturn and a standstill during this period. It was a very challenging year for CMA in terms of tough economic conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the country was locked down twice during 2020. As of 31 December 2020, CMA achieved a Rs. 203 million income which was 2.6% over 2019 and the operational expenses was brought down by 8% compared to 2019. Net profit (PAT) for 2020 was Rs. 32.96 million which was 80% increase compared to 2019 achievement of Rs. 18.19 million. 

CMA has achieved excellent financial results by superseding its budget as of 31 October 2021. It achieved a revenue of Rs. 304 million and a net profit of 142.1 million and brought down the cost below the budget 2021. Also, CMA donated Rs. 10 million in 2020 to the COVID fund as its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) towards the nation. A five-year Corporate Plan, Action Plan, Budget, Procumbent Plan, Delegated Authority and Audit Plan for 2021 were completed in December 2020 with the participation of the senior management team of CMA. 

CMA opened its first branch in Maligawatta in the month of April 2021 to cater to the needs of Maligawatta condominium unit owners and management corporations in surrounding areas as well. Evaluation process was commenced for the establishment of a regional office in either Kandy or Galle to decentralise services of CMA.

Proposals were presented to the professional panel of experts appointed by the Justice Ministry to meet today’s demands of the developers and parcel owners in the country to make timely amendments to the condominium Act 1973 No. 10 and 11.

CMA provided its assistance to the Sri Lanka Tourist Board to draft their regulations for the ‘service apartment’ concept in the country. 

Encouraging developers to implement UN Sustainable Development Goals namely, 7, 11 and 15 covering introduction of renewable energy options i.e., solar power, planting trees in common areas and protecting old trees while doing the construction work to reduce the carbon foot print, recycle of waste water and garbage and introduction of rain water harvesting methods in those condominiums.

Introduced a navel concept of dos and don’ts for developers on CMA rules and regulations at Preliminary Planning Clearance (PPC) level. Meetings were held among Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), UDA, and CMA to streamline the building approval process of each stakeholder institution before CMA granting the final approval of respective condominium projects. 

CMA also is in the process of identifying the dilapidated Government and private sector condominiums for the redevelopment which are over 40 years of establishment.