The National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) said that it has not been directed by any party to conduct a probe against Samagi Jana Balawegaya and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa over allegedly unauthorised housing loans and projects.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (18), the NHDA’s Acting General Manager Ajantha Janaka said that even though several media outlets claimed that the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing had directed the NHDA to launch an investigation into the housing projects conducted by Premadasa during his tenure as the Housing Minister of the United National Front for Good Governance-led Government (2015-2019), no such direction has been received by the NHDA thus far.
However, he said that the senior staff of the Ministry might have been instructed by subject Minister Prasanna Ranatunga since the Ministry has the capacity to do such investigations. “We have no connection with the alleged investigations, even though some reports claim that we were ordered by the Ministry to launch these. Sometimes, the Minister might have instructed ministry officials to launch a probe in this regard. They have the capacity to do so,” he said.
When contacted by The Daily Morning, Urban Development Authority (UDA) Deputy Director General Real Estate and Land Management E.A.C. Piyashantha also said that they are not aware of such investigations at the moment. He added that only a small number of housing projects are being monitored by the UDA, and that therefore, they had no major role to play in this particular task.
It was reported that the Ministry had launched an investigation into the housing projects conducted by Premadasa during his tenure as the Housing Minister of the “Good Governance” Government (2015-2019). Alleging that the then-Deputy Leader of the United National Party had distributed housing loans, etc., in violation of the proper procedures, Urban Development and Housing Minister Ranatunga recently directed the authorities to initiate an investigation. A statement issued by the Ministry on 17 December quoted Ranatunga as having said that the construction of 38,815 houses in 2,150 projects had not been completed.
Meanwhile, issuing a press release on 17 December, Premadasa had appreciated Minister Ranatunga’s decision to resume the work of housing projects that had been halted after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa assumed the presidency. Yet, he has not commented on prospective investigations against him.
The Ministry’s Secretary W.S. Sathyananda was not reachable.