COPE slams CIDA for harassing staff, spending Rs. 15Mn on Court Case

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana

The Committee on Public Enterprise (COPE) has found fault with the Construction Industries Development Authority (CIDA) for harassing workers on personal grounds and for incurring exorbitant expenses for lawyers appearing in a court case filed by an employee attached to the institution.

It was revealed during the COPE meeting that CIDA has spent Rs 15 million on the court case. Also, it was revealed that a sum of Rs 600,000 has been paid to the lawyer for each trial date.

The said employee has been reinstated following an order made by the court, but CIDA has appealed against the verdict.

Also, it was revealed that it has been planned to spend Rs 5.9 million for the renovation of the roof of the building where CIDA is located. CIDA has failed to check the quotation from a contractor within the organisation.

MPs Dayasiri Jayasekera, Sujeewa Senasinghe, Samanmalee Gunasinghe, Sunil Rajapaksa, Sudath Balagalla, Chandima Hettiarachchi, Tilina Samarakoon, Dharamapriya Wijesinghe, Dinesh Hemantha and Lakmali Hemachandra were present at the COPE meeting.