Govt. rejects plans for foreign company to conduct land surveys

By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent

The Government on Thursday rejected plans to use any foreign company to conduct land surveys in the country or to allow the control of data and map information, creating a threat to the national security of Sri Lanka.

Minister of Lands and Parliamentary Reforms and Chief Government Whip Gayantha Karunatileka, responding to Chief Opposition Whip, JVP MP Anura Dissanayake in Parliament, rejected allegations of the involvement of a US-based company Trimble Inc.

“The data and the maps obtained by the survey will not be confidential information. But the Survey Department will manage all this data. We will not leave room for any foreign company to handle it, creating a threat to our national security,” ensured the Minister, who highlighted the importance of developing the department with state-of-the-art technology.

“Trimble Inc. of the United States was here during the last regime and they are not new to Sri Lanka as far as I know. This company presented its proposals to the Ministerial Committee on Economic Development in October 2015. That is the point the discussions were started. A committee headed by the Ministry Secretary with the participation of the Association of Government Surveyors, Surveyor General and Surveyors’ Institute of Sri Lanka was appointed last Monday to study the viability of the proposals submitted by the employees of the Survey Department in contrast with the proposals of Trimble Inc. This committee is to submit its report on 23 March,” he explained.

According to Minister Karunatileka, there are no hidden costs in the proposal of Trimble Inc. “But there are costs incurred by the Survey Department, the Land Commissioner General’s Department and the Department of Registrar General. We have had discussions with the Survey Department trade unions and as a result of this discussion the ongoing trade union actionwas stopped. We ensure that no foreign company will be used to do surveys in Sri Lanka. The Survey Department is the oldest state establishment in Sri Lanka. But we need to make use of foreign technology for our requirements,” he added.