• Govt explores possibility of using them for productive purposes

By Kelum Bandara 

Thirty one government bungalows built during the colonial period and allocated to ministers as their official residences in recent times under different governments will be reserved for viable purposes in the future without assigning them to any government official or minister, an informed source said. 

 
During the time of the previous government, 28 of these state bungalows or mansions had been assigned as official residences of those who held ministerial responsibilities. As of Thursday, 22 of them had been handed back to the Public Administration Ministry.  

Once a house is handed over, it takes some time for making inventories of items in those houses.  

“We have to check whether bills for utility services have been settled. If there are pending bills, we ask them to clear them all before we take them over,” the source said.   

According to the source, the government is currently in the process of evaluating how these government’s mansion -like houses can be used for economically and socially productive purposes without allocating them to ministers in the future.   

These houses had been built mostly during the latter part of the colonial period and used by colonial officials for their official and residential purposes.   

“In an era where there were no hotel facilities, these houses were useful for large gatherings, holding receptions. Today, it is a different situation. The value of one house is more than enough even to build an apartment block for the entire Cabinet, for example,” the source said.