The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake
Bimal Rathnayake reported that the UDA owns 1.74908 hectares in Ragama Town and that unauthorized constructions have been identified along the main road, including six businesses on leased UDA land in front of the Colombo North Teaching Hospital. He said shops around the Police Post near the flyover had been inspected, notices were issued in December 2025 and January 2026 requiring removal or approved plans, and no response had been received. He stated that the UDA Review Committee had decided to pursue legal demolition action if the final notice was ignored, and that removal had not yet occurred but preliminary steps had begun.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I answer the following question.
¶ 02 (a) (i) Total Urban Development Authority (UDA) land in Ragama Town: 1.74908 hectares. (ii) Yes, there are unauthorized constructions. (iii) Numerous unauthorized constructions exist along both sides of Ragama’s main road. On UDA land in front of the Colombo North Teaching Hospital—presently leased out—unauthorized constructions were also observed. Six such business establishments were identified; further surveys will identify others and action will follow.
¶ 03 (b) (i) Yes, shops have been constructed around the Police Post on UDA land at the starting point of the flyover opposite the hospital entrance. (ii) Yes, UDA Gampaha District Office notified the UDA Head Office (Enforcement, Audit and Post-Review Unit). (iii) Steps taken: - A fresh site inspection was conducted. - Notices dated 2025.12.29 were issued directing removal of unauthorized constructions and submission of approved plans within 14 days, up to 2026.01.13. - As there was no response, a 7‑day final notice was issued on 2026.01.14, ending 2026.01.21. - If no response to the 7‑day notice, legal action to demolish was decided at the UDA Director‑General’s Review Committee on 2025.12.31.
¶ 04 The Review Committee is an internal UDA body to decide on issues relating to unauthorized constructions, litigation, plan reviews, and damage claims in declared UDA areas. It comprises the Director‑General, Directors and officers of Legal, Enforcement‑Audit‑Post Review, officers of the Colombo Metropolitan Region, and other relevant agencies as required.
¶ 05 (iv) Not yet removed; preliminary steps to remove have commenced. (v) If no response to the 7‑day notice, court action will be initiated. (c) Not applicable.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Friday, 23 January 2026 ·No. 23290 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
- Page · column
- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
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/lk/speeches/14309
Cite as: The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 23 January 2026. No. 23290. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/14309