New lifts for Parliament

• Tender likely to exceed Rs.100m, Treasury to foot bill 

By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has instructed to replace the decades-old lifts in the Parliament with state-of-the-art lifts, for the protection of lawmakers and others making use of them on a daily basis. Sergeant-at-Arms Narendra Fernando told Daily FT that Parliament will seek assistance from the Treasury for funds, and will float an open tender, which will most probably exceed Rs. 100 million. 

“We estimate each lift to cost us at least Rs. 10 million. Parliament is unable to shoulder this massive cost, and will need assistance. We are yet to decide the fate of the old lifts once removed,” he confirmed.

Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees J.M. Ananda Kumarasiri, making an announcement yesterday at Parliament, informed lawmakers that the Speaker has looked into the issues raised by Opposition lawmakers Dinesh Gunawardena and Wimal Weerawansa on 7 February, with the number 6 lift getting stuck due to going overweight.

“Aitken Spence, the local agents of the lift manufacturer, were immediately informed about the malfunction. The local agent inspected the particular lift and has submitted a report. According to this report, the particular lift is almost 36 years old, and has malfunctioned due to overweight, with the failsafe mechanism failing. Based on the outdated technology used in these old lifts, the company has recommended replacing these lifts as soon as possible,” held the Deputy Speaker. A group of Opposition lawmakers became stuck in lift number 6, reserved for MPs, a short while before the Parliament sitting commenced. The particular lift is among the 10 lifts fixed in the Parliament complex in 1981, and was used exclusively for lawmakers to reach upper floors. Lift number 6 only has the capacity to accommodate 13 persons, with a maximum weight of 900kg. However, with 12 lawmakers in this particular lift, it became stuck for over 20 minutes, shutting off the emergency communication with the lift operators until the occupants were rescued.