COPA orders closure of unauthorised funeral parlour in Borella cemetery

A probe by the parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) has found that an employee of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) ran an unauthorised funeral parlour on official municipal property within the Borella Cemetery, and engaged in fraudulent activities.

It was revealed that the CMC employee managing this funeral palour had been accused of charging Rs 600,000 for a burial during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as engaging in fraudulent issuance of receipts at the Borella Public Cemetery, Parliament sources said.

The investigation, conducted under the chairmanship of MP Aravinda Senaratne, uncovered that the employee had been operating the illegal business since 1994 using an official residence and land belonging to the CMC.

It was revealed before COPA that the person concerned had even attempted to forge documents to claim ownership of the land but without success.

COPA ordered the immediate closure of the illegal business and called for an in-depth investigation into the misuse of public property. The committee also raised concerns over how such an operation had continued for decades without environmental clearance or legal registration.

Authorities have been instructed to submit a report within two weeks, outlining actions taken to reclaim the land and prevent similar incidents in the future.