President’s Square plan suspended

Abandoned complex project at Madiwela an alternative

A multi-million-rupee project to set up a President’s Square in Fort has been suspended on a directive from President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Urban Development Authority (UDA) which had begun acquiring buildings in the vicinity of the President’s House has been directed to suspend the project, Urban Development Ministry Secretary Anila Amaratunga told The Sunday Times.

He said a Gazette notification canceling an earlier order to acquire buildings in the vicinity would be issued shortly. The owners of some of the key buildings around the President’s House had been ordered to vacate their premises under the previous order, but have now been informed that they could remain as the project is to be suspended. The Foreign Ministry was also to be relocated.

The Sunday Times learns that the decision to suspend the project came after recent revelations about it. Urban Development Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told The Sunday Times the project was being suspended, but the ministry was looking for ‘alternatives’.

Mr. Gunawardena claimed the proposal for the construction of a President’s Square was originally made some 30 years ago, and the government had earlier wanted to put it into effect. He said one of the alternatives being considered was the now abandoned Madiwela presidential complex where some Rs. 400 million had already been spent.

The Minister, however, declined to comment on widely-splashed media reports last Sunday that a luxury presidential bunker was also to be built in the so-called President’s Square.

Dhammapada with today’s ST
A copy of the English translation of the Dhammapada is issued with The Sunday Times today