The Ministry of Urban Development, Construction, and Housing is reviewing whether the compensation paid to more than 40 Parliamentarians for damages to their houses during the 2022 unrest aligns with the actual losses incurred.
Chief Government Whip and Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa recently revealed in the Parliament that some 43 former MPs have obtained compensation of Rs. 1.2 billion for the damages caused to their houses and property during the unrest that occurred in 2022.
The Daily Morning queried the Deputy Minister of Urban Development, Construction, and Housing T.B. Sarath as to whether the Government would conduct a review on the compensation paid to the MPs in question, to which he said: "We are reviewing whether the compensation provided to them aligns with the actual losses. When the findings are made, we will consider taking appropriate action in line with the relevant legal provisions."
The compensation payments in question have been made as follows: former MPs Kapila Athukorala received Rs. 504,000, Wimalaweera Dissanayake Rs. 550,000, Geetha Kumarasinghe Rs. 922,000, Janaka Tissa Kuttiarachchi Rs. 1.1 million, Gunapala Ratnasekera Rs. 1.4 million, attorney Premnath C. Dolawatte Rs. 2.3 million, Piyankara Jayaratne Rs. 2.3 million, S. Athukorala Rs. 2.5 million, Jayantha Ketagoda Rs. 2.8 million, Wimal Weerawansa Rs. 2.9 million, Prof. Channa Jayasumana Rs. 3.3 million, Akila Ellawala Rs. 3.5 million, Chamal Rajapaksa Rs. 6.5 million, Ashoka Priyantha Rs. 7.2 million, Chandima Weerakkody Rs. 6.9 million, Samanpriya Herath Rs. 10.5 million, Rohitha Abeygunawardena Rs. 11.6 million, Dr. Seetha Arambepola Rs. 13.7 million, Sahan Pradeep Withana Rs. 17.1 million, Shehan Semasinghe Rs. 18.5 million, Indika Anuruddha Rs. 19.5 million, Milan Jayatilaka Rs. 22.3 million, Dr. Ramesh Pathirana Rs. 28.1 million, Duminda Dissanayake Rs. 28.8 million, Kanka Herath Rs. 29.2 million, D.B. Herath Rs. 32.1 million, Prasanna Ranaweera Rs. 32.7 million, W. Weerasinghe Rs. 37.2 million, Shantha Bandara Rs. 39.1 million, S.M. Chandrasena Rs. 43.8 million, Sanath Nishantha Rs. 42.7 million, Siripala Gamlath Rs. 50.9 million, Arundika Fernando Rs. 55.2 million, Sumith Udukumubura Rs. 55.9 million, Prasanna Ranatunga Rs. 56.1 million, Kokila Gunawardene Rs. 58.7 million, Mohan P. De Silva Rs. 60.1 million, Nimal Lanza Rs. 69.2 million, Ali Sabri Raheem Rs. 70.9 million, Gamini Lokuge Rs. 74.9 million, Johnston Fernando Rs. 93.4 million, and Keheliya Rambukwella Rs. 95.9 million.
It was also revealed in the Parliament recently that 26 former MPs whose houses were set on fire during the 2022 unrest, purchased 26 units from the ‘Viyathpura’ housing scheme at nominal prices, resulting in a loss of Rs. 220 million to the Government.