The Hon. (Prof.) A.H.M.H. Abayarathna – Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government
The Minister replied to Question No. 582/2025 on Southern Provincial Council cultural buildings, stating that the Central Government allocates development funds to Provincial Councils and that their accounts are audited by the Auditor General under the Provincial Councils Act and reported to Parliament under the Constitution. He said the Southern Provincial Council received Rs. 16,694.488 million from 2015 to 2019, including Rs. 1,366.13 million for the Southern Provincial Cultural Ministry, during which 28 buildings were constructed. He added that there were no buildings without a current use, though one is to be handed over to the Ministry of Justice and another is to be completed for a joint project with industrial and tourism authorities.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Question No. 2 – 582/2025 – Cultural Ministry of Southern Provincial Council: Buildings constructed from 2015–2019.
¶ 02 (a) (i) Yes, the Central Government allocates funds to Provincial Councils for development.
¶ 03 (ii) Under Section 23(1) of the Provincial Councils Act, No. 42 of 1987, the Auditor General is empowered to audit accounts of a Provincial Council Fund. The Auditor General’s Report prepared on behalf of the Provincial Council is presented to Parliament under Article 154(6) of the Constitution.
¶ 04 (b) (i) The last Southern Provincial Council functioned from 2015 to 2019. The total allocation to the Southern Provincial Council during that period was Rs. 16,694.488 million.
¶ 05 (ii) Rs. 1,366.13 million was allocated to the Southern Provincial Cultural Ministry from 2015 to 2019.
¶ 06 (iii) 28 buildings.
¶ 07 (iv) No.
¶ 08 (v) Yes. One building is to be handed over to the Ministry of Justice. Construction of another building is to be completed and a project implemented jointly with the Department of Industries, Industrial Development Authority, and Tourism Authority.
¶ 09 (c) Not applicable.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 21 May 2025 ·No. 1749121318003248 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Prof.) A.H.M.H. Abayarathna – Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 21 May 2025. No. 1749121318003248. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/8085