Row over new Sri Lankan presidential palace

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, MARCH 13. A proposed Rs.1.7 billion ``palace'' outside the capital for the Sri Lankan President promises to rid the island's only big city of its oppressive security, but the plan has come in for criticism from the Opposition.

The United National Party today demanded that construction of the complex, which is in its initial stages, be stopped immediately. ``While the country is undergoing serious economic difficulties and the Government is asking others to make sacrifices, the President is making a palace for her own sake,'' said the party spokesman, Mr Karunasena Koditawakku.

The complex, comprising a residence, the presidential secretariat and premises for security personnel, will be located 15 km outside the capital and is near Parliament. Like the parliamentary complex, it is designed by the internationally- renowned Sri Lankan architect, Mr. Geoffrey Bawa.

The residence alone will cost Rs. 600 million, the state radio announced last Saturday. Last week, the Deputy Finance Minister, Mr.G.L. Peiris, said the country would have to put up with the economic hardship for another six months.

The UNP spokesman said the construction showed that Mr. Peiris' appeal to the people to tighten their belts was only aimed at some sections, while others would continue with the spending spree.

The Government has defended the move, saying it would ensure the capital's security, thus giving a fresh lease of life for commerce, and easing traffic congestion due to the closure of several roads around the President's home.

The President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, now lives in the colonial-style palace in the Fort area, heart of the capital's commercial district. She moved there late last year from Temple Trees, the Prime Minister's official residence, which she had been occupying since her appointment in that post for a brief period in 1994. It proved convenient for her to stay there even after her election as President in November 1994 since her mother, Ms. Sirima Bandaranaike, who succeeded her, showed no inclination to move out of her private home.

Ms. Kumaratunga shifting to the presidential Palace was necessitated by the appointment of Mr. Ratnasiri Wickramanayake as Prime Minister.

The President moving to Fort resulted in the closure of several roads, and many establishments located there for years are now hunting for new premises elsewhere. The area has become a no-go zone.

It was expected that the arterial Galle Road, which was partially blocked in the daytime and closed at night where it passed Temple Trees when Ms. Kumaratunga lived there, would be reopened after she moved out. But with the threat to Mr. Wickramanayake from the LTTE almost as high as that to the President, the same arrangements continue.

It has been estimated that over 25 roads are closed for security reasons, leading to traffic problems which are nightmarishly disproportionate to the size of the capital. The closures have even inspired an art-form called Barrelism by one of Sri Lanka's leading artists, the genre named after the camouflage-coloured barrels placed across these roads.

The UNP says the President should stay where she is, and all the roads should be thrown open, because ``no VIP has been killed in their home.'' ``If the President and her Ministers are so scared, then we ask them to hand over the running of the country to our leader,'' said Mr. Koditawakku.

The Urban Development Minister, Mr. Mangala Samaraweera, has, however, charged the UNP with attempting to ``mislead'' the people.

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