Rs. 15 million to overhaul FM’s house

By Dharisha Bastians
Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama allegedly spent at least Rs. 15 million to refurbish his Stanford Crescent official residence, with Rs. 3.8 million already being allocated from the cash-strapped Foreign Ministry, The Bottom Line learns.

The massive refurbishment drive included retiling the floors of the house, putting in bathtubs, new furniture and also relaying the grass in the vast gardens of the old stately residence, according to the wishes of the globe-trotting Minister, informed sources said.

According to insiders, the refurbishment was conducted through the Ministry of Construction and Engineering Services and funded entirely by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

When The Bottom Line asked Director General of Administration Saman Ekanayake whether the Foreign Ministry had paid for the renovations at the Minister’s official residence, he refused to comment. However, highly placed ministry sources confirmed that the funds were allocated from the Ministry.

Ministry sources added that while Minister Bogollagama occupies No. 20B Stanford Crescent as his official residence, he is also in the process of personalising the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies and using it to host foreign dignitaries, bypassing the original reasons for which the institute was established by a special Act of Parliament. The Minister also insists on referring to the LKIIRSS by its older name, The Lighthouse in all official invitations going out from the Ministry and internal correspondence, the sources added.

Former Minister Mangala Samaraweera who was occupying the Stanford Crescent residence previously, vacated on June 7 this year, and Minister Bogollagama moved in two weeks later.

According to insiders, during Samaraweera’s stay at the official residence, the Ports Authority undertook a massive refurbishment and it was thereafter designated by a cabinet paper as the official bungalow of the minister in charge of the Ports Ministry. By this decree, the Stanford Crescent bungalow should have passed on to Ports Minister Chamal Rajapaksa once Samaraweera vacated. However, Minister Bogollagama is reported to have requested the house first.

Former occupants of the sprawling bungalow include Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickremenayake during the tenure of President Chandrika Kumaratunga and S.B. Dissanayake during the UNF regime of 2001-2004.