18 December 2024 07:37 am Views - 40
By Kelum Bandara
The new government led by the National People’s Power (NPP) has put on hold plans by the previous rule to relocate the President’s House, Temple Trees, the Prime Minister’s office and the Presidential Secretariat to Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, a top source said.
The previous government planned for the relocation of these offices so that their current buildings could be developed for tourism as Colombo Heritage Square. The last government planned for the allocation of funds in the 2025 budget for the execution of the project.
However, a top official of the Urban Development Ministry said this project had been kept on hold by the current government and the final decision had not yet been taken on the alternative plan for the use of them.
The last government planned for the construction of the new President’s House in Madiwela close to the parliamentary complex. It was a project first initiated during the time of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. However, the governments that succeeded her did not focus attention on it until the last rule led by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe revisited it and decided to proceed with it in a scaled-down manner.
A source familiar with the move by the current government said that the landmass identified for the project will be used for a bird park instead.
The new government has already abandoned some similar projects launched by the last government. The project for the use of the iconic post office building in Nuwara-Eliya for tourism is one of them.
The government led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake decided to retain it for the exclusive use of the Postal Department.
However, the new government has decided to use state bungalows for economic use without reserving them as official residences of ministers.