Prime Lands’ “The Few – Nawala” property under CIABOC scrutiny
Kotte Municipal Councillor – Ms. V. A. Harshani Sandaruvani has lodged a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) against the leading real estate company Prime Lands (Pvt) Ltd.
The complaint alleges that a state-owned land of nearly one acre, located on Koswatta Road, Nawala, which obtained on a 99-year lease in 1998 for cultivation purposes, is currently being subdivided and sold by Prime Lands.
She claimed that the land was initially leased to Tamara Dissanayake, the wife of former Minister S. B. Dissanayake.
The plan of the relevant land acquired in 1998, is shown below.
According to the complaint, the land obtained through a written lease agreement, which originally covered around one acre, has currently been expanded to around 05 acres through the reclamation of surrounding low-lying areas.
Sandaruwani further states that land reclamation work on the property had commenced in 1994 and that she had opposed the move back then as well.
She further alleged that the access road to the property, which was originally around 15 feet wide, had been expanded to about 20 feet by Prime Lands through the acquisition of sections of neighbouring properties at higher prices.
She claimed that the road was later carpeted by the current NPP-led government despite serving as an access route to 03 other properties, and that the relevant residents had not agreed to transfer ownership of the road to the Kotte Municipal Council.
The councillor had also expressed suspicion that the carpeting of the road may have been carried out due to an alleged bribery arrangement.
No municipal taxes paid for promotional boards
Sandaruwani had further alleged that large promotional boards displaying the name “THE FEW – NAWALA” had been installed by Prime Lands to market the property, and that it was revealed during a recent Kotte Municipal Council session that these boards were displayed without paying the required taxes to the Kotte MC.
Speaking to ‘Sri Lanka Mirror’, Councillor Sandaruwani said that Arosha Atapattu – Mayor of the NPP-led Kotte Municipal Council, had stated that since the property had a deed, the subplots were therefore included into the Assessment Tax register.
Meanwhile, several more parties who had previously lodged similar complaints calling for a CIABOC investigation, had also claimed that the deed for this state-owned land had been prepared only around 06 months ago.
They said several statements had already been recorded by investigators; however, no conclusive outcome of the investigation has been reported so far.
Land divided into 30 plots
Meanwhile, Prime Lands has already commenced selling the property through its official website after dividing the land into 30 plots.
The minimum listed price is Rs. 4.7 million per perch.
Ownership of Prime Lands
Brahmanage Premalal is the Chairman of Prime Group, which owns Prime Lands (Pvt) Ltd.
Sandamini Perera serves as the Co-Chairperson, while Ruminda Randeniya is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
The company’s Board of Directors also includes Nalinda Heenatigala, Anura Pathirage, Dinusha Fernando and Shehana Brahmanage.
(Video: වී News)
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