UDA to sue CMC over Meethotamulla tragedy

The Urban Development Authority (UDA) is to seek damages from the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) over destruction caused to its land in Meethotamulla, used as a garbage dump.

Megapolis & Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told the Sunday Times that land belonging to the UDA, which the CMC had used as a garbage dump, was worth an estimated Rs 1,500 million. "They have been forcibly dumping garbage on UDA land, and we intend to take legal action to recover damages caused by the destruction,” he stated.

The Minister also claimed they had information of a large scale racket where parties profited from the garbage dump.

Minister Ranawaka further reiterated his claim that the CMC and the Western Provincial Council ( WPC) were to blame for the Meethotamulla tragedy. "The CMC managed the Meethotamulla garbage dump and the CMC is under the purview of the WPC," he pointed out.

He claimed, his Ministry publicly invited the WPC for discussions regarding the matter, as WPC Chief Minister (CM) Isura Devapriya repeatedly accused the Megapolis Ministry, in public, of obstructing a solution to the issues surrounding Meethotamulla, before the tragedy struck.

“I openly invited CM Devapriya for a dialogue, since he kept making these allegations. However, he has not responded to date, and seems to be evading the matter.”

CM Devapriya, however, said he was unaware of an invitation for a dialogue extended by the Ministry. “They have not approached us and we currently have no dialogue with them,” he insisted.

Meanwhile, speaking at the 33rd CMs’ Conference last week, President Maithripala Sirisena said he believed, institutional conflicts between line Ministries and the PCs had also contributed in part, to the Meethotamulla tragedy. He said institutions needed to decide whether they would rather engage in dialogue or a power struggle.