Colombo Mayor and UNP Member A.J.M. Muzammil yesterday participated in the opening of the Mihindu Senpura housing scheme in Dematagoda, inaugurated to coincide with President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s 68th birthday celebrations.
The 500 unit housing scheme will house the residents of slums that were removed to make way for the ‘Mihidhu Senpura’ project.
Muzammil and Secretary to the Ministry of Defence,
President Rajapaksa said that his Government had not considered party affiliations in deciding the beneficiaries of the houses.
The housing units come with all basic facilities and are built in keeping with high quality standards. Each stage of the housing project was under the constant scrutiny of Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Ministry website said.
The Colombo Mayor is visible in the pictures with the President, the Defence Secretary and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and other Government figures.
When shanty dwellers were forcibly evicted from these areas in Colombo Mayor Muzammil failed to raise a voice against the move by the Secretary to the MOD run UDA. Having failed to stand up for the electorate that voted him into power the UNP mayor was now attempting to take credit for work completed by the regime, senior UNP sources said.
Party members quipped that it was ironic that while the entire opposition was against the construction of the President’s Cult of Personality, the UNP elected Mayor of Colombo was seen to be applauding the promotion of the Rajapaksa image all over the country.
Rajash / November 20, 2013
hey hey you going to build it with a 10%
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I am no muslim / November 20, 2013
Nevermind 10% or 100%, what matters is MR did it and Colombo will be free of shanties by 2016. Proof is there for everyone to see.
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Safa / November 20, 2013
Till such time as they are able to resolve their internal problems and mount a credible opposition to the regime the party members should desist from all this quiping and griping.
Mayor of Colombo needs to work with the UDA which comes under the MOD to resolve the problems of those who are being evicted. What has the UNP done to help those evicted from Glennie and Mews Street, still languishing at Grandpass? Can the quipers and gripers solve their problems?
If the Mayor does not work with the UDA, UDA can still work without him. Last time we had some tri-shaw driver as Mayor and UNP could not do anything about it for several years. CMC became a bad joke.
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Senguttuvan / November 20, 2013
500 modern houses for the poor evicted from Slave Island is good news.
And that the houses will be distributed without undue political favouritism is equally satisfying. These houses must be completed and given soon – scrupulously observing transparency under maximum verifiable publicity – to all those who lost their houses in S/Island.
Senguttuvan
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James Ingham / November 20, 2013
There is no surprise here, the Muslim leaders of this country have always worked for their personal benefit unlike the Tamil leaders. Take Muzamil, Hakeem, Azath Sally; have no patriotism, honesty, loyalty and integrity. They sold the Muslims in the north, east and now west. With all the prayers they are doing to Allah is there not a single Muslim in this country who is not self-centered and corrupt to stand up for its own people (as most of the people now being removed from Slave-island are Muslims) and be a true hero of his community? Sinhalese gave up their search for an honest Sinhalese a long time ago.
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Fathima Fukushima / November 20, 2013
Tamil leaders are all dead at the feet of Sinhala soldiers!! :)
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PalmSquirrell / November 21, 2013
Vigneswaran is neither dead nor a Rajapaksa stooge, same for Sampathan and Sumanthiran.
Now Karuna and Douglas are Rajapaksa henchmen.
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Deshapriya / November 20, 2013
so we are going to build inner-city ghetto projects?? Do these idiots learn? this was done with disastrous impacts in other parts of the world and they are now tearing them down. This solution has never worked anywhere in the world, they only result in havens for crime an social decay.
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I am no muslim / November 20, 2013
And where do you propose to build houses for the shanty dwellers
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BBS Rep / November 21, 2013
What is the alternative Deshapriya,
Keep the shanties as they are? Do you mean to say there was no crime and social decay in the shanty towns.
Any effort at a solution is better than no solution at all.
As for the UNP mayor. Well he could have boycotted. What would that have achieved? The show would have gone on anyway.
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srilal / November 20, 2013
Mayer Muzammil is a protege of RW and he used to call him self as no 1 UNPER ( nommbera ekay unp karaya ), what a joke !
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Saman / November 20, 2013
I like this mayor. He is likeable by all and he works for all. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. Good job keep it up.
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niyaz / November 20, 2013
showing small sign that he might join the government?
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I am no muslim / November 20, 2013
Why worry, you have Bahu coming-up to join the UNP
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yako / November 21, 2013
Opposition party is not supposed to be opposing every thing government does. Work with government if they do something good. If he opposes or boycots theses projects, only he and his people are going to lose any benefits.
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Saman / November 21, 2013
It really doesn’t matter who’s name is on the plaque. People have homes that’s what’s important. He is a smart mayor and he knows how to get the job done even though his party is in the opposition.
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