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Sunday October 1st, 2023

Sri Lanka UDA to take back Krrish, Destiny, non-operational buildings in lands it owns

ECONOMYNEXT – The Sri Lanka’s Urban Development Authority is planning to take over abandoned and unfinished buildings in the Colombo district constructed in UDA- leased lands and it is planning to submit a cabinet paper to take over unfinished Krrish and Destiny buildings, a top government official said.

Both Krrish and Destiny were ambitious projects under former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who gave priority to the construction sector.

Nimesh Herath, Chairman of the Urban Development Authority said UDA lands are given for some of such mega projects on a long term lease.

“Under this method, the UDA has the authority to take back the land because it owns the land,” Herath told EconomyNext.

“At the moment we are only focusing on these two (Krrish and Destiny) buildings as they are highlighted. But if there is a development opportunity of getting the lands, we will discuss it by bringing in the necessary laws.”

The valuation of the two buildings is yet to be done, he said.

“In terms of valuation, we have appointed an internal committee, and we are working on that, but the issue is, there are buyers who have already paid to those developers,” Herath said.

The management companies of Krrish and Destiny have stopped the construction midway. Krrish has taken partial and full payment for some apartments it was to complete.

The move comes as an precedented economic crisis has forced Sri Lanka to look for new resources to earn foreign currency. Tourism has started to see some increase in arrivals of foreign visitors since December last year.

The price fluctuation due to sharp depreciation of the rupee has discouraged constructors, and many were on hold until the prices stabilized. The delay has caused heavy cost escalation for constructors and higher opportunity cost for the government, analysts say. (Colombo/ March16/2023)

Comments (2)

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  1. sacre blieu says:

    This means even inheriting the liabilities of the defaulter, with the citizen being made the victim of the losses. The deal makers making a break for shelter.

  2. sacre blieu says:

    Take back without the liabilities and debt. Otherwise, this would end up as either a fraud or a racket. Those who invested in it in whatever way, knew of the risk they were taking, as in any investment with ups and downs. This type of debt invariably is burdened the public.

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Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. sacre blieu says:

    This means even inheriting the liabilities of the defaulter, with the citizen being made the victim of the losses. The deal makers making a break for shelter.

  2. sacre blieu says:

    Take back without the liabilities and debt. Otherwise, this would end up as either a fraud or a racket. Those who invested in it in whatever way, knew of the risk they were taking, as in any investment with ups and downs. This type of debt invariably is burdened the public.

Sri Lanka National Christian Council opposes Online Safety Bill

ECONOMYNEXT – The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) in a statement on the Online Safety Bill, said that the existing legal regime is adequate to deal with instances of harmful speech, making it unjustifiable to enact such “stringent laws”.

The Council called upon the government to withdraw the bill immediately.

The body expressed “deep concern” over the proposed bill, detailing its potential to curtail freedom of speech and how, according to the Council, the piece of legislature is inconsistent with the principles of democracy.

“The bill proposes the establishment of an entity named the Online Safety Commission without provisions to guarantee its independence and impartiality,” the statement said.

Chapter 3 imposes restrictions on online communication of certain statements, many of which are vague and overbroad, leaving room for executive control and the curtailing of legitimate criticism and dissent that are basic features of democracy, the statement said.

“The laws granting wide discretion to the executive and its investigative agencies with expansive reach have been misused in the past.”

The Council said that the bill was not drafted with the process of public consultation and discussion, which might have ensured the bill would be less draconian in nature.

“The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka calls upon the government to withdraw this anti-human rights and anti-democratic bill immediately.” (Colombo/Sep30/2023)

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Sri Lanka to implement new vehicle revenue licence issuing system

ECONOMYNEXT – A new system of issuing vehicle licences called eRL 2.0 is to be implemented in 5 provinces, excluding the Western Province, from 3 October onwards.

The new system is to be implemented beginning in the North West, South, North Central, Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces, respectively. The existing vehicle licence issuing system eRL 1.0 will continue to be used in the Western Province.

The issuing of revenue licences islandwide at Department of Motor Traffic head offices and regional branches will be temporarily halted on October 2.

The facility of obtaining vehicle permits online will also be temporarily halted on 6 October till midnight.

The Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) and the Provincial Motor Traffic Departments are working to modernize the current vehicle revenue license issuance system.

The implementation of the new eRL 2.0 system is expected to be an important step in the digitalisation of Sri Lanka. (Colombo/Sep30/2023)

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Sri Lankan Airlines flights cancelled as aircraft grounded

ECONOMYNEXT – State-run SriLankan Airlines has apologized to passengers who were stranded as multiple aircraft were grounded at the same time.

The airline said it has strict procedures which requires aircraft to be grounded when technical issues are discovered.

“Unfortunately, in this case we suffered a number of groundings at the same time,” the airline said.

“We apologize for the disruption and inconvenience caused and assure all our loyal customers that we are working diligently to minimize such occurrences moving forward.”

The airline said it was booking passengers on other airlines while some have been accommodated at hotels. (Colombo/Sept30/2023)

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