Lack of houses for new MPs

70 apply, only 55 available at the Madiwala complex:

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Close to 70 newly elected parliamentarians have applied for housing facilities at the Madiwala MPs housing complex creating a dilemma of sorts for the government, as only 55 houses are available at present. This, according to parliamentary sources, is due to the failure of several former parliamentarians to vacate the official residences.

Parliamentary officials admitted that at present there were 10 former parliamentarians occupying MPs house at the complex. They also said that several houses were being occupied by re-elected MPs and that there was no possibility of evicting them.

A senior parliamentary official told the Sunday Observer on Friday that they were in a position to immediately reserve 55 houses for MPs, and added that applications would be processed on the basis of distance from the constituency to Parliament and that priority would be given to those representing North and the East and districts other than Colombo and Gampaha.

The Madiwala MPs housing complex has 120 houses in a block of 18 to 20 houses each. Five houses are permanently reserved for the Police, Fire Brigade and other official purposes, leaving 115 available for the MPs.

He said of the 70 applications received, 25 houses were already handed over to MPs on Friday (November 6), and that the remaining houses will be handed over to the MPs before the budget. He also said that steps have been taken to renovate the entire housing complex and that the house would be handed over to the MPs as soon as work on each block is completed.