Defence HQ building mooted by Gotabhaya gorging taxpayer money

It was a bitter pill for Sri Lankans to swallow as the controversial Pentagon-styled Defence Headquarters building complex at Akuregoda, Battaramulla has become a white elephant that has consumed millions of rupees from the country’s taxpayer money, a senior Cabinet Minister revealed.

The project was launched in 2011 at an estimated cost of LKR 8 billion to house the Army, Navy and Air Force headquarters moving from the Galle Face Green in Fort to the Battaramulla area, under a plan devised by the former Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and current presidential aspirant Gotabaya Rajapaksa which entailed the shifting of all government administrative buildings to one area.

Another white elephant!

Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, under whose purview the land belong toPatali Champika Ranawaka noted that according to the plan of the former regime, the project should have been completed in 2018.

However, the Minister said that a sum of LKR 64 billion has been spent so far on this ‘white elephant’ project while another LKR 100 billion is needed to complete the massive project.

Sources from the Treasury said that the project will resume if and when the necessary funding is raised for the project adding that there is a possibility of construction work being disrupted due to budgetary constraints.

The project commenced during the tenure of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the cost estimate went up to LKR 20 billion.

Funding for the project came from the US$ 125 million earned through the outright sale of the Galle Face land to Shnagri-La Hotel on a suggestion made by Gotabhaya to the then president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The controversy surrounding the Shangri-La deal has become a jigsaw puzzle even at present as big players in the deal are still in the local political arena eying for power again, a senior official said.

Estimated cost vs actual cost!

According to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers on 25 January 2011, it was decided to construct a building to house the Security Forces Headquarters with more than 211,500 square metres at an estimated cost of LKR 25 billion and scheduled to be completed in two stages.

However, the designs thereon had been changed subsequently and increased the size of the building up to 411,915 square metres and as a result, the estimated cost of the construction had been increased up to LKR 55.60 billion, a report from the Auditor General revealed. Further, a sum of LKR 19 billion had been spent as at 31 December 2017.

The physical progress of the construction work of the three buildings identified on priority basis had remained over 60 per cent.

However, the overall physical progress of all construction work as at 31 March 2018 had remained at 48 per cent. Furthermore, the completion date of the construction work had been extended up to 30 June 2020 according to the revised work plan.

Since 2011, the offices of the Sri Lanka Army had been located in the buildings owned by government institutions and private sector organisations within the Colombo city and suburbs after removing the Army headquarters from its Galle Face premises.

Therefore, the 10 buildings totaling 555,036 square feet had been hired for that purpose as at 31 December 2017 and rents amounting to LKR 1,293 million had been paid as at that date.

In the meantime, these forces have been provided with temporary accommodation in 15 rented buildings at an annual rent of LKR 5 billion, he said adding that the abrupt and unplanned decision taken by the previous regime to shift the Defence headquarters to Akuregoda has put future generations under a heavy debt burden.