COPE expresses concern about NHDA performance

COPE meeting in progress

A probe by COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises) has found that Rs. 583 million was paid 3,700 persons recruited as trainees to the National Housing Development Authority without assigning them proper duties while incumbent Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa was the Housing Minister during the Yahapalana government, Parliament sources said yesterday.

Those persons had been recruited to the NHDA during the period 2017-2019, it was revealed at the probe.

At the COPE meeting, MP Premnath C Dolawatta raised questions regarding the trainees. Minister of Environment Mahinda Amaraweera said the trainees had not even been assigned proper duties.

The COPE meeting convened to examine the performance of the NHDA was attended by Ministers Mahinda Amaraweera, State Ministers Susil Premajayantha, D.V Chanaka and Indika Anuruddha, MPs Eran Wickramaratne, Harsha de Silva, Jagath Pushpakumara, Premanath C Dolawatta and S. Rasamanikkam.

It was revealed at the meeting that there had been 688 vacancies in the NHDA, as at May 31, this year and Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Charitha Herath instructed the Authority to work with the Department of Management Services to fill them as early as possible. It was found that there were 154 vacancies at the top management level of the NHDA.

Prof. Herath directed the Secretary to the State Ministry of Rural Housing and Construction and Building Material Industries Promotion Keerthi Ranjith Abeysiriwardena, to submit a report on the situation to the COPE within one month.

The COPE paid special attention to the failure to table the NHDA annual reports to Parliament properly. It also took up the failure to include the Annual Procurement Plan, the Human Resource Development Plan and the Internal Audit Plan that should be included in the Annual Action Plan of the Authority.

Although the NHDA had initially asked to submit a report on the Janasevana One Million Housing Project to the Committee within a month, its directive had not been carried out, the COPE said.

The COPE Chairman further stated that the public property as regards 1,351 housing projects had not yet been transferred to the local government institutions. It was a serious situation, he said.

Although an agreement had been reached with a private party to construct houses and develop a block of land encompassing one acre 26.5 perched at Darley Road, Colombo, it had been sold to the relevant private company in 2016 at the 2006 contracted price of Rs. 812 million without any development work being done. The NHDA informed the COPE that legal action would be taken to acquire the land expeditiously.

The COPE paid attention to the fact that the debt collection progress of NHDA was at a minimum level.

The COPE instructed Secretary to the State Ministry of Rural Housing and Construction & Building Material Industries Promotion to take appropriate action to resolve the administrative issues of the NHDA.

According to the financial statements of the year 2020, the amount due to the Sevana Media Unit of the Authority was Rs. 68 million and the COPE Chairman informed the Authority to take an immediate action in this regard.