The Hon. Mujibur Rahman

¶ 01 Hon. Chair, thank you for the opportunity in this debate on the Budget Heads of the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing, and the Ministry of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation.

¶ 02 The Urban Development Ministry is crucial to Colombo City, particularly due to the resettlement programmes which relocated large numbers into high-rise apartments since 2010 under then Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. These relocations were not done with proper scientific or socioeconomic planning—people’s prior access to livelihoods and services were not considered. Today we see severe deficiencies in basic facilities in these high-rises. Low-income households lack the economic means to maintain them; thus the Government must spend heavily—about Rs. 1,000 million is allocated this year for repairs.

¶ 03 About 60% of Colombo’s residents are self-employed, living day-to-day; although the metro population is 600,000–700,000, only about 40% work within the city, many commuting out on weekends. Many who were relocated were self-employed urban residents. In places like Kompannaveediya, land was taken—sometimes forcibly—and later given to multinational companies; those evicted were “dumped” in places like Henamulla and Mattakkuliya. These projects failed to improve lifestyles; most are now unsuccessful because the intent was to free up valuable land for foreign companies.

¶ 04 I do not believe that packing people into 14-storey blocks alone will uplift them. A better model is diverse-income mixed developments, like the Ranasinghe Premadasa-era Maligawatte Housing Complex, where low-income, middle-class, upper-middle, and artists coexisted. Recent projects lacked such diversity; they simply moved one group en masse. Future housing must consider the city’s social strata for success.

¶ 05 On rental housing: around 20,000 families live in rented homes within Colombo—born and bred in the city, with children in city schools. Since 1994, little has been built for these residents. Post-2010 limited housing was constructed, mainly to vacate prime lands. UDA still builds primarily for relocation; not for low-income or lower-middle families who need affordable homes in Colombo.

¶ 06 Under Gotabaya Rajapaksa, UDA launched the Oval View Residencies in Borella for professionals at Rs. 7–8 million initially; today professionals have rented them out. Current projects like Elliot Place units are priced around Rs. 9–10 million each. Lower-middle and low-income households cannot afford Rs. 10 million for 450 sq ft units; the better-off buyers take them, and the housing problem remains unsolved. The new 1,100 units at Orugodawatta too must be allocated to renters in Colombo; ensure they truly receive them, rather than turning UDA into a developer selling to those with money.

¶ 07 From 2020–2024, many lands and properties of the Housing Ministry and the National Housing Development Authority have been misused, given to favorites without tenders. Even resident car parks in Maligawatte complexes have been leased as stores. This violates the law. Hon. Minister, you have the authority to annul such allocations immediately; delays only embolden unlawful occupants.

¶ 08 On the circular to allocate Rs. 500 million this year to build houses in 14,022 GN divisions, with Rs. 1 million per family: given the current economic hardship and high construction costs, this allocation is insufficient and risks being diverted to consumption. Please reconsider the mechanism.

¶ 09 Housing construction by low- and middle-income families has stalled due to higher construction material costs and increased mortgage interest rates, leading to illegal extensions and unsafe additions. Strengthen regulation and focus UDA’s resettlement in a scientific, livelihood-sensitive manner.

¶ 10 On ports: The West Container Terminal (WCT) was given to Adani with targets; failure affects our concessions. Recently Adani launched Vizhinjam Port near Cochin, directly on routes to Sri Lanka. Amid recent Customs/port disruptions, about 30 vessels diverted to Vizhinjam. Investigate whether our disruptions contributed. January 2025 shows a 13% drop in boxes at some terminals versus Jan 2024 (236,520 vs. 204,095), overall about 3% down across terminals. MSC handles about 50% of terminal operations; long-term agreements for 2025–2026 reportedly remain unsigned—this could badly affect the port.

¶ 11 On ECT, the President said operations will start by July 2025, but due to cancellation of the equipment tender, it may slip to 2027 as re-tendering takes at least 18 months.

¶ 12 Regarding the Port Access Elevated Highway, Central Expressway, and Kandy Multimodal Transport Terminal, these are not “blunder projects.” ADB and World Bank funded them; these institutions only fund after feasibility studies. Port Access had two exits—Malwatta Road and the New Street exit—that the previous government didn’t fund; you are now allocating funds. If they were blunders, you wouldn’t fund them now.

¶ 13 Unsolicited proposals were a hallmark before 2010 under the Rajapaksa administration; many Chinese loan projects became white elephants—look at Hambantota. But ADB and World Bank do not fund blunders. Thank you, Hon. Chair.