The Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara, Attorney-at-Law
The Minister responded that the Morawaka court has operated since January 2021 in a rented building at Gatabaru Rajamaha Viharaya due to cracks and slope instability above the original court building, with a monthly rent of Rs. 440,000 and limited facilities. He said NBRO recommendations and updated designs have led to Cabinet-approved stabilization works, including reducing the retaining wall height and soil nailing, to be implemented with NBRO consultancy under an AIIB–Government of Sri Lanka funded landslide risk project. The work is expected to begin in April, be completed within six months, and allow repairs and reinstatement of the court in its original building by December.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, the answer is as follows.
¶ 02 (a) (i) Part of the retaining wall above the court building had cracked and moved forward, and the slope above had become unstable, creating a risk to the building and its users. Therefore, since 18.01.2021, the court has been temporarily housed in a rented building at the Gatabaru Rajamaha Viharaya, Kotapola.
¶ 03 (ii) A monthly rent of Rs. 440,000.00 is being paid for that building.
¶ 04 (iii) Since the court is run temporarily in a rented building, due to inadequate physical and technical facilities, litigants and court staff are functioning with minimal facilities. The store of productions is still maintained at the original Morawaka court building.
¶ 05 (b) (i) In 2021, the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) provided recommendations and estimates to stabilize the retaining wall and slope above the court. Implementation was delayed due to the economic crisis.
¶ 06 (ii) For relocating the court back, in 2025, NBRO provided updated recommendations, designs and estimates.
¶ 07 (iii) They recommend reducing the height of the retaining wall to some extent and stabilizing the slope above through soil nailing.
¶ 08 (iv) Cabinet approval has been granted (file AMAP/25/1299/818/082; 04.08.2025) to implement the project with NBRO consultancy.
¶ 09 (v) Since NBRO indicated this work can be implemented through the “Project to Minimize Landslide Risk through Stabilization Methods,” funded under an AIIB–Government of Sri Lanka loan, the Ministry has concurred. Procurement is being handled by NBRO.
¶ 10 Once stabilization is completed, the court building must be repaired and upgraded. It is expected that within a year the court can be reinstated in that building.
¶ 11 This project is expected to commence in April—in a few weeks, the third week—and NBRO has indicated the stabilization work can be completed within six months. Within that period, repairs to the court complex will also be completed, and we expect to reinstall the court by December this year.
¶ 12 (c) Does not arise.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 17 March 2026 ·No. 23387 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara, Attorney-at-Law. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 17 March 2026. No. 23387. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/2999