The Hon. Asitha Niroshana Egoda Vithana

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I directed this question to the Minister of Urban Development, Construction and Housing. Since the BOI is involved, the Deputy Minister of Finance is answering. I believe UDA officials prepared this reply. Therefore, it is difficult to be satisfied with the answer.

¶ 02 My first supplementary: The project began in 2000 and was named “Millennium City.” A total of 135 acres were granted to the project—110 acres from the public land of the Steel Corporation and an additional 25 acres previously given to Amul—at a very low price under the then Government. The answer mentions 110 acres, but with the 25 acres to Amul, it is 135 acres.

¶ 03 Under the UDA Act, for any subdivision over one hectare, at least 10% of the site (excluding roads and drains) must be reserved for common amenities. However, the reply merely says “preliminary field observations indicate” without concrete specifics. Therefore, the required 10%—about 13 acres—is not physically present; at minimum even six acres are not available.

¶ 04 My first supplementary question is: since the common amenities land is not physically present within the complex, what action will be taken to properly identify and make available those lands to the residents?