Bloemendhal land dispute: Court of Appeal summons Minister and top officials

The Court of Appeal on Friday, issued summons for Tourism and Lands Minister Harin Fernando, the Urban Development Authority (UDA) Director General, and the Colombo District Secretary to appear in Court on January 10.

The decision was reached by the Appeal Court after considering the petition filed by three private firms opposing the tender offer for the Bloemendhal Garbage Dump Land, which was given by the UDA to use for commercial purposes.

The petition was filed by three private companies including Grayline Express in Wellampitiya. The petitioners claimed the particular land was given to the government in 2014 for a public purpose, but it was used for a commercial purpose instead.

Court of Appeal Judges Sobitha Rajakaruna and Dhammika Ganepola issued the summons to the respondents to appear in court, after considering the submission made by President Counsel Uditha Egalahewa.

The two newspaper advertisements asking for proposals for the "implementation of the logistic facility and associated development project on design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis at Bloemendhal in Colombo 13" were therefore illegal and outside the authority of the respondents, the Judges said.

The judges said the subject property had not been used for public purposes and all interested parties had given their written agreement for them to occupy the property as soon as the divesting order was published in the gazette.