Govt. must immediately bring transparency to land sales in Colombo, says UNP

The main Opposition United National Party (UNP) yesterday urged the Government to immediately bring transparency to growing number of land sales in Colombo.

In a statement UNP MP and its Spokesman for Economic Affairs Dr. Harsha de Silva said that just as the country was relieved to hear that the non-transparent deal to sell outright 10 acres of land at Galle Face to Chinese arms manufacturer CATIC had been suspended after the UNP brought tremendous pressure on the Government, “we are now told that two acres of prime land in front of the Beira Lake has been handed over to an Indian company on a 99-year lease”.

“According to press reports, the Chairman of the UDA is said to have agreed that this was in fact an unsolicited proposal but had ‘received the blessings’ of a VVIP and would be ‘directed, supervised and inspected’ by another VVIP. Furthermore, he has claimed that the reason for unsolicited proposal was the poor response received to advertisements for projects at these prime locations in the city,” the statement issued by Dr. de Silva alleged.

“While the UNP welcomes foreign investments into Sri Lanka, we are completely opposed to this rapidly spreading procedure of handing out parcels of prime land on unsolicited and completely non-transparent deals. These types of closed-door deals where the country is informed by an announcement after all agreements have been finalised do not augur well for investor confidence nor do they promote good governance, something sorely lacking in the post-war development phase. In fact these transactions shrouded in secrecy only create perceptions of corruption even if they are clean,” Dr de Silva charged.

In that context, the UNP MP urged that sales or long leases of State land must be conducted on a fair manner by calling for open tenders on a transparent basis.

“To say ‘it was done by a previous regime so why can’t we?’ is not an acceptable answer.

Then to say that the local private sector is not interested and or is incapable of raising funds to invest in real estate in Sri Lanka is not only ridiculing the capable and dynamic community but also a reversal of the national economy concept touted by the Government,” he said.

The UNP is calling upon the Government to immediately stop any further plans to hand over prime State land on an unsolicited basis based on discussions involving politicians but to come up with a list of planned projects and avail the same for open bids on a transparent basis.

“Given all the glowing tributes the Government is paying its own e-Government programme, having an online and interactive list of proposed projects with the kind of investments being sought will be a piece of cake. If that is done, and all are aware of the plans, unlike now where only a select few know what the plans are and some of them are benefiting from such insider information as we have seen recently in the trading of companies related to land in the city, the process will be open and transparent with benefits to all. In such a situation the UNP believes that more than enough investor interest could be generated both locally and internationally,” UNP MP de Silva said.