MR’s Bunker Had Tunnel Linked To Port
Nov 02, 2015
The bunker found at the President’s House in Fort when former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was in power has a half-way built tunnel running towards the Colombo Port.
An employee at the President’s House in Fort on condition of anonymity said he had been working there for the past several years and to his knowledge, Rajapaksa had visited this bunker only on two occasions, and it was fully occupied by Namal and Yoshitha Rajapaksa together with their close associates in the rugby circle.
“Since it was a risk to live at the President’s House in Fort as it is close to the LTTE’s prime targets – the Colombo Port, the Central Bank, the Navy Head Quarters and the World Trade Center which were in the close proximity, Mahinda Rajapaksa opted to stay at Temple Trees. In such a backdrop, it is questionable as to why this bunker was built in Fort,” sources alleged. The sources further alleged that the excavation work was done and the earth was removed from the premises secretly in late afternoons when the bunker was under construction.
Chairman Central Engineering Consultant Bureau (CECB) – the contractor – declined to furnish any detail of the construction, claiming that any details cannot be revealed unless their client – the Presidential Secretariat – gives instruction to release the details to the media.However, the sources said the construction cost for this underground palace is yet to be estimated, but roughly it could be around one billion rupees. The construction has two floors above the ground level and two underground floors. The walls have been constructed with solid concrete (six feet thickness) and the thickness of the concrete slab above the ground is 12 feet. The entire building is fully air-conditioned. Its monthly electricity bill is Rs. 3 million, according to the sources.
