- Proposed land by UDA refused
By Sarah Hannan
The Urban Development Authority (UDA) has hit a roadblock in initiating the development work they had planned out for the 2.5-acre land located at Muttiah Road which houses the hostel for women and differently abled students from the University of Colombo (UoC).
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UDA Director General N.P.K. Ranaweera[/caption]
Although in November last year, the UDA announced the planned acquisition of the land, the Arts Faculty Teachers’ Association of the Colombo University (AFTA) had protested the move and even written to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on 5 November to intervene and halt the move.
While the AFTA did not receive any response to the request they made, The Sunday Morning learnt that the hostel still stands at the Muttiah Road premises.
UDA Director General N.P.K. Ranaweera, when contacted to inquire the progress of acquiring the land in question, stated:
“We have suggested several properties for the University of Colombo to relocate their hostel premises that is currently occupying the land in Muttiah Road. We are waiting for the university to vacate the premises to commence the development work.”
It is further learnt that the UDA had suggested that the hostel could be relocated to a UDA-owned land in Orugodawatta. However, UoC officials had refused to accept the offer.
At present, the Muttiah Road hostel is said to house more than 550 female students including differently abled students, a majority of whom are from the Faculty of Arts. The hostel is one of eight student hostels allocated for UoC.
The AFTA also raised concerns indicating that the decision of acquiring the land by the UDA came as a surprise since neither the hostellers nor student and staff bodies had been consulted, and nor had they been offered an alternative facility where the student could be relocated at the time.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, AFTA President and UoC Faculty of Arts senior lecturer Thiyagaraja Waradas said:
“The UDA cannot proceed with their plans at the moment, since the Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission (UGC) are waiting on the UDA to propose a workable and acceptable solution over the relocation.”
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AFTA President and UoC Faculty of Arts senior lecturer Thiyagaraja Waradas[/caption]
The AFTA is of the view that the hostel is at present located in a convenient location and has the capacity to accommodate a large number of students. Since the hostel is occupied by many undergraduates who follow curricular in the Faculty of Arts, it is ideal for the resident students.
The Association is also of the view that the hostel had even been renovated in recent times to provide access to the differently abled students residing at the hostel premises.
In their letter to the Prime Minister, the AFTA wrote: “As a union concerned with ensuring access to education and safeguarding state education, we have serious concerns regarding this decision which has been taken without providing another hostel facility at a time when the on-site functions of the university are on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The letter further explained that UoC currently does not have adequate hostel facilities and is in the process of enhancing its hostel facilities.
“In light of the Government’s plans to increase the annual intake of students to all state universities, this action that will result in curtailing the limited resources available to the university seems counterintuitive. Any move to seize the said property immediately not only deprives the needy students of a chance to better education, but also endangers their safety amidst the pandemic, which makes finding alternative housing nearly impossible,” the letter further read.
In November 2020, the UDA Director General told The Sunday Morning that even though the university opposed the decision, the land would be acquired and a new hostel complex would be built for the university in a separate location.
On 11 November 2020, the UDA told The Sunday Morning that the decision would not be changed and the land would be acquired by the authority for development purposes, regardless of the opposition that was mounting against the move.
The land, which currently houses a women’s hostel, was acquired by the university in 1995 after the removal of the then Ceylon Salt Corporation.
The hostel has a capacity to house 550 students and also has facilities for differently abled students, and is the ideal place to house these students due to its close proximity to the university.
Although UoC was also looking into the possibilities of taking legal action against the land acquisition by the UDA in November 2020, no such move has been initiated yet.
