No official residence for Opposition Leader

The Government is yet to provide an official residence to Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan despite several ministers occupying official residences while having homes in Colombo and in the suburbs, a senior Public Administration Ministry source said yesterday.

He said this was an injustice meted out to Mr. Sampanthan.

“There are dozens of large houses and mansions under private or government ownership reserved as official residences in Colombo and most of them are occupied by ministers at a monthly rental of Rs.100,000 to Rs.250,000. The irony is that many of the ministers occupying these houses also have homes in Colombo or in satellite cities from which they can travel to Parliament or their ministries within an hour,” the source told Daily Mirror.

He said many of the ministers do not even occupy these houses.

"In many cases the houses are occupied by the minister’s relatives, family members or his or her security personnel. There are even instances where some of the official residences have been rented out for a higher price," the source said.

He said currently there was no official residence for the Opposition Leader and the Public Administration Ministry had drawn the attention of the higher authorities but nothing had happened.

When asked to comment on this matter, Mr. Sampanthan who represents voters in the Trincomalee District, confirmed that he was still to receive an official residence in the City and said he was not prepared to talk about the matter because it was ‘too ugly’. (Sandun A Jayasekera)