{"id":215251,"date":"2020-12-10T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T18:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=215251"},"modified":"2020-12-10T16:58:13","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T11:28:13","slug":"jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"JVP Slams Govt. Decision To Move Justice Ministry To WTC At Rs 400 Million Cost"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Opposition Lawmakers pitched into the Government over its decision to move the Justice Ministry to the World Trade Centre in Colombo at an astronomical cost of Rs 400 million in Parliament on Wednesday (9), saying the decision was a crime when the country was in grave economic peril.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_163315\" style=\"width: 182px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Vijitha.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-163315\" class=\"size-full wp-image-163315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Vijitha.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"172\" height=\"172\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Vijitha.jpg 172w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Vijitha-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Vijitha-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 172px) 100vw, 172px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-163315\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vijitha Herath<\/p><\/div>\n<p>JVP Parliamentarian <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Vijitha+Herath\">Vijitha Herath<\/a><\/span> accused the Government of President <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Gotabaya+Rajapaksa\">Gotabaya Rajapaksa<\/a><\/span> of double standards, reminding the ruling SLPP that they criticized a similar decision by the previous Government to rent a building for the Ministry of Agriculture at a whopping Rs 24 million per month.<\/p>\n<p>The JVP legislator said the cost to the Treasury per month to move the Ministry of Justice would be over Rs. 10.1 million.<\/p>\n<p>It will cost them Rs 2 million to transport the material from each floor of the Ministry of Justice. So that amounts to Rs 10 million for all five floors \u2013 just for transportation, Herath revealed. \u201cWas there really no other building to move the Ministry of Justice to?\u201d he demanded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur people are going hungry. A coconut is selling at Rs 120, a kilo of rice is Rs 140. The Government itself is admitting that the country is in a precarious financial position and this has worsened because of COVID-19. So how can they justify this cost?\u201d MP Herath charged.<\/p>\n<p>Interrupting Herath\u2019s speech to respond, Justice Minister <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Ali+Sabry\">Ali Sabry<\/a><\/span> said all the Ministry had done was ask permission to move which had been granted.<\/p>\n<p>Ali Sabry PC said that the rent for two years of Rs 400 million would include utilities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll we did was ask permission. That permission has been granted. One of two things have to happen, either we have to move or the courts have to move,\u201d he tried to explain.<\/p>\n<p>The JVP Lawmaker shot back that the decision had been made by cabinet, without tender procedures or other government procurement regulations being followed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStop wasting the people\u2019s money this way,\u201d Vijitha Herath charged. \u201cThis is a crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The JVP Member reminded the House that many citizens in the country were struggling to get Rs 5000 just to survive. Migrant workers come back home and have to pay Rs 16,000 for PCR tests and Rs 7500 per day for hotel costs during quarantine, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are our workers. When so much money is being fleeced from them, how is it justifiable to spend this kind of money to move the ministry? This is a huge waste,\u201d Herath said.<\/p>\n<p>He also recalled that when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa first assumed office he made a proclamation that ministries would only be housed in state buildings. The President had also claimed that family members would not be appointed, Herath recalled. \u201cAll those are forgotten and broken promises,\u201d he charged.<\/p>\n<p>The JVP Legislator also revealed that the Health Ministry would also soon be moved out from its current premises. There were several ministries in the pipeline to move, he warned.<\/p>\n<p>Herath also referenced another office at the World Trade Centre in Colombo that the Justice Ministry had constructed to house the International Arbitration Centre. \u201cInterior D\u00e9cor alone for this centre cost Rs 100 million and each chair was purchased at Rs 50,000. That Centre is yet to hear a single case,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Colombo Telegraph learns that the International Arbitration Centre was proposed in the 2010 budget under the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and construction work began at the World Trade Centre in Colombo in 2011. The Centre was opened in May 2015. The Centre heard its first arbitration case in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>To see full video click <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100054140994773\/videos\/162340875580611\/\">here<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":205905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>JVP Slams Govt. Decision To Move Justice Ministry To WTC At Rs 400 Million Cost - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JVP Slams Govt. Decision To Move Justice Ministry To WTC At Rs 400 Million Cost - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-09T18:30:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T11:28:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Mohamed-Ali-Sabry.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"637\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"566\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/\",\"name\":\"JVP Slams Govt. Decision To Move Justice Ministry To WTC At Rs 400 Million Cost - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Mohamed-Ali-Sabry.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-09T18:30:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-10T11:28:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Mohamed-Ali-Sabry.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Mohamed-Ali-Sabry.jpeg\",\"width\":637,\"height\":566},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"JVP Slams Govt. Decision To Move Justice Ministry To WTC At Rs 400 Million Cost\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"JVP Slams Govt. Decision To Move Justice Ministry To WTC At Rs 400 Million Cost - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"JVP Slams Govt. Decision To Move Justice Ministry To WTC At Rs 400 Million Cost - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2020-12-09T18:30:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-12-10T11:28:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":637,"height":566,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Mohamed-Ali-Sabry.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/","name":"JVP Slams Govt. Decision To Move Justice Ministry To WTC At Rs 400 Million Cost - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Mohamed-Ali-Sabry.jpeg","datePublished":"2020-12-09T18:30:46+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-10T11:28:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Mohamed-Ali-Sabry.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Mohamed-Ali-Sabry.jpeg","width":637,"height":566},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/jvp-slams-govt-decision-to-move-justice-ministry-to-wtc-at-rs-400-million-cost\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"JVP Slams Govt. Decision To Move Justice Ministry To WTC At Rs 400 Million Cost"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Mohamed-Ali-Sabry.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215251"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215253,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215251\/revisions\/215253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}