Centre for Banking Studies of CBSL in Rajagiriya to be obtained as quarters for MPs

COLOMBO (News 1st): Attention has been drawn to obtain a portion of the Centre for Banking Studies of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, in Rajagiriya on a temporary basis as a solution to the shortage of official quarters for Members of Parliament. Party leaders held lengthy discussions in this regard, yesterday (Sept. 26), and during the discussion, the attention was drawn towards purchasing the dormitories at the CBSL - Centre for Banking Studies premises, for a period of three months, a high ranking officer in parliament said. There are 120 official quarters for Members of Parliament, which come under the purview of the parliament. Around 100 of these quarters have been provided for MPs' use and parliament had informed former parliamentarians who lost at the recent election to vacate the premises and hand over the quarters, However, according to the high ranking officer in parliament, close to 35 such members are yet to vacate and hand over the allocated quarters. Therefore, an issue has arisen due to the lack of quarters to be allocated for newly appointed MPs, owing to the failure of former MPs to hand over the quarters. As such, the administration is looking at other options, such as the temporary measure of obtaining a portion of the CBSL Centre for Banking Studies in Rajagiriya. The decision was reached taking into account the time required to repair certain quarters, the high-ranking officer further notes. According to the officer, the shortage of MP quarters has further worsened with certain Ministers using both the Ministerial quarters and the MP quarters. Meanwhile, the attention of the party leaders was drawn towards, publicizing the names of the former MPs who have failed to vacate the quarters allocated to them.