SSP’s land poses problem to residents in the area

Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Residents on Palliyawatte Road in Wattala are reportedly faced with many problems due to the two and a half acre container yard belonging to the head of the Ampara Range, SSP Premalal Ranagala.

The land had been given to the SSP by the SLFP’s Wattala organizer, Neil Rupasinghe when Ranagala served as the OIC of the Wattala Police. The land has been illegally filled.

The SSP has now given the land out on lease to a container company to use as a container yard.

The illegal filling of the land has resulted in the blocking of drains that carry rainwater to the Hamilton canal. This results in the Palliyawatte area going under during rains. Transportation in the area comes to complete standstill when the area goes under water and only containers are able to ply on the road.

It is learnt that people residing in temporary shelters in the area are faced with many issue due to the flooding of the area and many complaints made by them to the Wattala Urban Council have been ignored due to the political patronage wielded by the SSP.