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Alleged LRC malpractice: Report to COPE in November

30 Oct 2022

By Maheesha Mudugamuwa   The Land Reform Commission (LRC) is expected to hand over a comprehensive report to the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) by the second week of November, following the discovery of an alleged long-term malpractice by the State institution through an audit report. The LRC has, over a period of 30 years, failed to recover nearly Rs. 2.1 billion from eight public institutions, the latest audit report published by the National Audit Office (NAO) states. The revelations came to light when COPE had recently questioned senior LRC officials regarding the institution’s performance and balance sheet. The committee has directed the LRC to submit a comprehensive report.              According to the NAO, a sum of Rs. 2,127,271,837 has been in arrears for more than 30 years and Rs. 8,353,409 has been in arrears for more than 10 years pending from eight public institutions.  Further, when trade and other receivables are calculated, a total of Rs. 2,609,227,062 needs to be recovered by the LRC as of 31 December 2020. The report also indicates that although advances of Rs. 11,215,815 obtained from 269 persons and included in the land lease rent advance account balance of Rs. 14,080,850 as of 31 December 2020 have been retained for a period of more than 15 years, the LRC has failed to take steps to lawfully lease the relevant lands or repay the advances.  COPE has directed Ministry of Lands Secretary Chulananda Perera to update the Land Reforms Commission Act and carry out the necessary measures to restructure its operations. Accordingly, COPE has also recommended that a report be given within six weeks, based on the action taken in this regard. However, when The Sunday Morning contacted LRC Chairman Nilantha Wijesinghe, he stressed that the alleged mismanagement and irregularities had taken place years ago. “We are preparing a comprehensive response to the COPE findings, which will be forwarded to COPE next week,” he added.  


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