No moves to act against owners of unregistered properties

• Mayor apologises to city dwellers for any inconvenience caused 
• Names of individuals who visited the municipal council to make rate payments have been entered into the CMC system

By Yohan Perera  

Mayoress of Colombo Rosy Senanayake yesterday assured that there was no move to take any action against owners of unregistered properties in the city of Colombo and there will be no acquisition of properties.   

“I tender an apology to city dwellers for any inconvenience and want to assure that the CMC will not acquire any unregistered land,” Ms.Senanayake told a press conference.  
“We also regret if the Central government was adversely affected by the issue,” she added.  
“It was unethical to send information of unregistered properties with assessment numbers to the Information Department website,” she also said.  

Meanwhile Municipal Assessor D.P. Pathmakumara in a letter has said that the name of the persons who had visited the municipal council to make rate payments have been entered into the CMC system. “We decided to change the system and register the name of the owner of the property as the rate payer. Around 167,000 properties have been assessed and the names of owners of around 59,000 properties have not been entered in the assessment list.. The Mayoress should be aware of the ownership of these properties and it is essential to include the names of owners in the assessment lists. As per the law of the gazette 11479 new owners have to be included in the assessment list within three months of the change in ownership.

• The system is to be changed and the name of the owner of the property is to be reflected as the rate payer