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Cabinet discusses free grant of 184 acres in Oruwala

22 Jan 2022

  • Concerns raised on plans to grant and not lease
  • Cabinet to now look at 1996 privatisation valuation
By Our Political Editor The Cabinet last week discussed a Cabinet paper presented by Lands Minister S.M. Chandrasena, to give a 184-acre land in the Oruwala area on a free grant to the current owner of the business entity situated on the land and deferred on it following concerns and objections raised by several Cabinet ministers questioning the free grant instead of a long-term lease, The Sunday Morning learns.  Several Cabinet ministers have raised concerns over the granting of a land that values around Rs. 3 billion held by the Government free of charge to a business entity. The Ceylon Steel Corporation (CSC), now known as Lanwa, is located on the land in question at present, according to senior Government members.  Minister Chandrasena had explained that the business venture in concern had made a payment of $ 15 million in 1996 from the Korean company that took over the business entity initially under the then Government’s privatisation programme. Accordingly, the CSC was originally sold to South Korea’s Doosan Group and was renamed Ceylon Heavy Industries and Construction Co. (CHICO). The business was later acquired by Sri Lankan businessman Nandana Lokuwithana in 2009. “The total investment in the company will come to $ 65 million. We will make this investment over a period of two to two-and-a-half years. We are hoping to break even and show profits within four years,” Lokuwithana, who is the Chairman of the Onyx Group based in the UAE, told the media at the time. However, a senior Government Minister explained to The Sunday Morning that the Government in 1996 would have only privatised the business and not the land. “Land owned by the State cannot be given free of charge, but on a long-term lease,” the Minister stated. It is also learnt that the Cabinet Secretary had explained to the Cabinet that the President had powers to vest land free of charge only for cultural, educational, and welfare purposes, and not for businesses. Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara had also raised objections to the proposal by the Lands Minister, saying there was no justification to give the 184-acre land in Oruwala free of charge to the Steel Corporation located on it. Minister Wimal Weerawansa had noted that the Steel Corporation was located in his constituency and that a public ground was also located within the 184 acres under consideration. “The ground cannot be included in this 184-acre land extent. That belongs to the public and cannot be vested with a private business venture,” the Minister had claimed. However, the Cabinet paper was held back and postponed till this week and the Cabinet had resolved to first have a look at the 1996 valuation of the then Government that was followed in the privatisation of the Steel Corporation to determine whether the land was included in the initial agreement.  


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