Sunday 1 February 2015

Sinolanka deal of Celestial Residencies opens can of worms

The deal involving the takeover of ownership of Celestial Residencies, one of the valuable and iconic properties of the failed Ceylinco Group, three years ago from the then government by Sinolanka Hotels and Spa (Pvt) Ltd has opened a can of worms, following a complaint lodged by Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs Harsha de Silva at the Bribery or Corruption Investigation Commission this week.
Dr.de Silva in his complaint made a request from the Bribery Commission to investigate the corrupt incident of the previous government taking over the massive 47 story building being constructed opposite Temple Trees from the collapsed Ceylinco Group and selling it to Sino Lanka for a bid of Rs. 375 million while Ceylinco Shriram, another failed entity of Ceylinco, had already received a bid for Rs. 7.5 billion.
(Source: Sunday Times)

Mansion tax to be revised; requires fine-tuning

The Government’s mini budget proposal to impose a ‘mansion tax’ of one million rupees on houses that are worth more than Rs. 100 million or having 5,000 square feet will be revised, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said yesterday. “There is considerable confusion over this levy. People have asked me what happens to large ancestral homes that have been coming down from family to family for generations,” he told the Sunday Times.


(Source: Sunday Times)