Hon. (Prof.) Ruwan Ranasinghe - Deputy Minister of Tourism
On behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, the Deputy Minister stated that the Hanguranketha Rest House is one of 37 rest houses under the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and that field inspections have not found illegal activities. He detailed the lessee, Jayalath Mudiyanselage Jayalath Bandara Dissanayake, and said the lease was awarded through an interview process following approvals in 2008, with agreements covering 2008–2018, 2018–2020, and 2020–2028. He added that SLTDA officers conduct periodic inspections, require rectification of shortcomings, and collect a 1% Tourism Development Levy from gross turnover.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism:
¶ 02 (a)(i) The Hanguranketha Rest House is one of 37 rest houses belonging to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and therefore falls within the purview of the Ministry.
¶ 03 (ii) Field inspections of rest houses have not revealed illegal activities.
¶ 04 (b)(i) Jayalath Mudiyanselage Jayalath Bandara Dissanayake.
¶ 05 (ii) Following a Board decision dated 13.05.2008 and the approval of the Secretary to the Ministry dated 26.05.2008, the rest house was leased after an interview process conducted among prospective lessees.
¶ 06 (iii) Under Agreement No. 54 from 01.04.2008 to 31.03.2018; Under Agreement No. 157 from 01.04.2018 to 31.03.2020; Under Agreement No. 190 from 01.04.2020 to 31.03.2028.
¶ 07 (iv) Officers of the Establishment Management Division conduct periodic field inspections of leased rest houses to ensure they are operated in accordance with SLTDA-approved guidelines. Any shortcomings are pointed out and required to be rectified to ensure efficient operation and accommodation for domestic tourists. Further, as the rest house is registered with SLTDA, 1% of gross turnover is collected as the Tourism Development Levy, contributing to tourism development.
¶ 08 (c) Not applicable.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 9 April 2026 ·No. 23475 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: Hon. (Prof.) Ruwan Ranasinghe - Deputy Minister of Tourism. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 9 April 2026. No. 23475. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/28529