Safeguard State properties without bartering them away

It was announced recently that the official residence allocated for the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka in Kotte is to be turned into a “Centre for Parliamentary Studies and Research,” for the exclusive use of Members of Parliament, Provincial Council members, and Local Government representatives. It is to become a place for advanced research resources, specialised training, and policy analysis.

The building located in close proximity to the Parliament building opened in 2000 to replace the Mumtaz Mahal, Colombo which served as the official residence of the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka till then. With the shifting of the Parliament building to Kotte, it was logistically more feasible to have a residence for the Speaker in Kotte, hence it opened for speakers to occupy. 

Since taking office, the leaders of the National People’s Power (NPP) have shunned official residences and have chosen to live in private dwellings with other plans for official residences.

The newly elected NPP Mayor of Colombo Vraie Cally Balthazaar announced recently that the official residence allocated to her, Sirinivasa, will be opened for children recreation activities.

“Many years ago, Sirinivasa was home to the city’s library. So, it felt just right to bring a new reading initiative here — one where children from all 12 pre-schools run by the council could come together,” the mayor said. Colombo has the biggest public library in the country, and it is underutilised so it would be better if she focuses on getting that place going first.

The President’s House in Colombo as well as the Prime Minister’s official residence Temple Trees are no longer occupied by the two people holding the two highest positions in the land. Instead they live in private dwellings.

Not all presidents have lived in the President’s House, but the premises were kept for official work. Temple Trees has been occupied by almost all former presidents/prime ministers while ministers, deputy ministers, etc. too have official residences allocated for them.

The official residences allocated to ministers and others in Government too remain closed since the NPP took power.

The President appointed a committee to look into the effective economic utilisation of Government properties, including residences allocated to former presidents, ministers, and deputy ministers. A report was handed over but its contents are not known yet.

The Government’s argument is that these are not used to their full potential which means there is no revenue for the Government from them. These buildings are there to be used by those in Government, be they the NPP or whoever is in power. Some are protected by the archaeology laws as they were built during colonial days and need to be preserved.

This is another of the Government’s ‘penny-wise, pound-foolish’ moves like the recent move to strip former presidents of their salaries, pensions, security, etc.

President Anura Kumara Disanayake is less than two months away from completing his first year in office which leaves him with four more years. He is only the temporary custodian of these public properties, and these are not there for any Government to barter away as they wish. During the ‘Aragalaya’, several of the landmark public properties were saved from being destroyed though some were damaged. The onus is on the Government to ensure the buildings are kept in State hands and maintained for future generations.

Has anyone heard of the Indian President wanting to live in her private home and not her office residence Rashtrapati Bhavan or the British Prime Minister moving out of Downing Street and wanting to turn the place into a hotel?

No, because once elected to office, it’s important to maintain the dignity of the office one holds, and one can’t do that by dwelling in party offices.

As for the plans to turn the Speaker’s residence into a research centre for MPs and other elected representatives, it’s not hard to predict that the place will remain closed most days because we are far away from having any politicians who have the slightest interest in research or upskilling themselves except for a handful of them. What we’ve seen in the past and also since the NPP won a two-third majority in Parliament is the usual set of ‘entertains’ who survive by keeping the public amused with foolish talk and actions.