The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation
Minister Bimal Rathnayake stated that land acquisition for the Ruwanpura Expressway began in 2016 and covers about 210.1 hectares, including 2,910 plots, with compensation governed by the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 compensation regulations, and LARC/Super LARC committee procedures. He said project stoppages and Cabinet decisions had caused delays and hardships for affected residents, including delayed compensation, higher rebuilding costs, loss of income, and incomplete houses. He reported that Rs. 5,098 million had been paid by the end of 2024, with further allocations made from 2022 to 2025 and Rs. 129.66 million paid in 2025 for 31 plots.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Lands Acquired for Ruwanpura Expressway: Compensation (Q. 419/2025)
¶ 02 (a)(i) A full report exists on the situation that has arisen in acquiring lands and paying compensation for the Ruwanpura Expressway. A complete file with details can be provided to the Hon. Member. In brief: acquisition of approximately 210.1 hectares commenced in 2016. Acquisition in the Homagama Divisional Secretariat area commenced in 2020. Total plots to be acquired: 2,910 (576 state lands; 2,334 private).
¶ 03 Compensation, allowances and ex gratia payments are determined under the Land Acquisition Act, the Land Acquisition (Payment of Compensation) Regulations, 2013 published by Gazette Extraordinary No. 1864/54 of 30.05.2014 and amendments; and via Special Committees (LARC/Super LARC) per Gazette Extraordinary Nos. 1991/47 of 04.11.2016 and 2012/20 of 29.03.2017.
¶ 04 Due to various Cabinet decisions and the halting of project activities midway, adverse impacts have arisen for residents within the acquisition limits. Complaints have been lodged with Divisional Secretariats, the Ministry of Highways and the Road Development Authority. Main issues: 1. Delays in paying compensation to landowners for acquired lands. 2. Increased costs for constructing new houses due to inflation. 3. Loss of income sources. 4. Inability to complete partially built houses.
¶ 05 (ii) Measures: allocations were Rs. 1,180 million (2022), Rs. 1,925 million (2023), Rs. 2,500 million (2024), and Rs. 2,000 million in 2025 (through the Vote on Account). As at 31.12.2024, Rs. 5,098 million has been paid as compensation and allowances. In 2025 to date, Rs. 129.66 million has been paid for 31 plots. (b) Does not arise.
¶ 06 Supplementary
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Monday, 10 March 2025 ·No. 1743651953052186 ·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.
- Permalink
/lk/speeches/29336
Cite as: The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 10 March 2025. No. 1743651953052186. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/29336