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D.S. Old Boys want Gazette revoked

07 Jun 2021

By Buddhika Samaraweera   The D.S. Senanayake College Old Boys Association (OBA) has requested President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to revoke the Extraordinary Gazette notification in which it was stated that a part of the land belonging to the school was urgently required for the purpose of constructing a multi-storey vehicle park.  The request has been made through three letters, to the President, to Urban Development Authority (UDA) Chairman Harshan de Silva, and the school’s Principal, in which it states that necessary action must be taken to revoke the Extraordinary Gazette notification 2228/27, dated 19 May 2021.  This is despite the UDA announcing last week that these plans were suspended upon the instructions of the President. President Rajapaksa on 19 May issued an Extraordinary Gazette notification under The Urban Development Projects (Special Provisions) Act No. 2 of 1980, stating that an allotment of land, namely Sri Bauddhaloka Viharaya land (part of the land) and D.S. Senanayake College land (part of the land), was urgently required for the purpose of establishing a multi-storied vehicle park and other urban development activities. It was also mentioned in the said gazette notification that the decision was reached upon the recommendation of the Minister in charge of Urban Development and Housing.  However, after the issuance of the relevant gazette notification, the members of the school’s OBA objected to the plans to acquire a plot of land belonging to the school, and even stated that they would initiate legal action if the authorities did not take action to suspend the project. According to them, neither the School Development Committee (SDC) nor the OBA had been informed about the plans to take over the said plot of land before the relevant gazette notification was issued. In this backdrop, addressing the media through a media briefing in Colombo on 1 June, UDA Director General  Prasad Ranaweera said that the President had instructed him to suspend the project.   “Accordingly, I have instructed the officials of the UDA to take necessary steps in that regard,” he said.  A recent communication issued by the OBA President to its members stated that at one point when the President was passing by the school, he had noticed that the construction on a plot of land adjacent to the school was unsuitable for a school premises, and he had then informed an old boy of the school that there was a possibility of removing those constructions through a suitable development project and handing over a plot of land to the school.  According to the said communication, the President had also informed that if the Principal makes a written request regarding the matter, further steps could be taken. However, instead of giving land to the school in that manner, a portion of the land belonging to the school has been taken over by the UDA through this gazette notification, which cannot be approved, the OBA stated in the letters to the President, the UDA Chairman, and the Principal.  When contacted, UDA Director General Ranaweera said the relevant arrangements are currently being made to revoke the gazette notification. “Approval of the Board of Directors was obtained for it last week. Then the same will be communicated to the Ministry of Land, following which the gazette notification would be revoked,” he added.


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