The Hon. Nalin Hewage

¶ 01 Hon. Member, the figure you mentioned is incorrect; it is not Rs. 50 million. Initially, Rs. 434 million was allocated for this—about Rs. 4,300 lakhs—a very large sum. There has also been construction worth Rs. 11,000,000. Based on political desires, a large amount of funds and land were allocated for this. To put it bluntly, someone had carved out land from what was grabbed. The Board of Governors of the University of Vocational Technology (UNIVOTEC) itself has said this site is not suitable to establish a University College of Technology there. The Department of Wildlife Conservation has said the area is an elephant corridor. Plans were made to build in an elephant corridor without any feasibility studies for academic activities—this was done not by our government but by yours—to then create a narrative in that area that “we started a University of Vocational Technology and this government stopped it.”

¶ 02 Hon. Member, as you know, on 21 April 2023, the Minister appointed a committee that inspected the site. NIBM, DTET, NAITA, and VTA all visited and reported that the place is not suitable for starting any course. These are decisions that should not be made by political authority. Because political authority decided, Rs. 11,000,000 has been wasted. The institutions have said the site is unsuitable. Therefore, our response must be based on those institutions’ findings, not on political arguments. This was not stopped by our government; it was a project halted in 2023 during your administration.