Housing bill exposes foundational problems View(s):Hardly has the dust settled on the Government having been forced to go back to the drawing boards on its planned education reforms; it has now agreed to do the same on the proposed Protection of Occupation Bill it hoped to introduce. The Communist Party Housing Minister Pieter Keuneman of the 1970-77 ULF Government introduced a Rent Act to have rent control. The new Housing Minister R. Premadasa began massive housing schemes, especially in Colombo and Greater Colombo, for those who couldn’t afford private housing. Since the Jayewardene-Premadasa era, there has been a visible slackening in public housing programmes. Successive governments unfortunately left it to the private sector to invest in housing, which is presently on a hectic upward trajectory.

Source: Sunday Times February 14, 2026 19:51 UTC