Ravi K raises query on Rs. 7.5 b EPF high-rise building

By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent

Captive funds in the Employees Provident Fund, a private citizens’ pension fund were being wasted on the construction of a 35-storey building on which there was little return, United National Party Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake claimed yesterday.

Raising a question in Parliament yesterday, Karunanayake said that the investment of Rs.7.5 billion by the EPF into the building was unwarranted and promised low returns.

“An amendment made on 12 January 2012 to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) Act of 1958 has enabled the Government to make use of the captive funds imprudently and waste it on the construction of a 35 storied building,” he said.

Karunanayake asked the Minister concerned who approved the construction of the building using the “captive funds”.

“People expect better return on their funds with the rising inflation and the depreciating Sri Lankan Rupee. Who approved construction of such a building?” asked Karunanayake.

Responding to the question, Minister of Labour and Labour Relations Gamini Lokuge said the sky-rise was necessary “to fulfill the activities of beneficiaries of the EPF efficiently”.