Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya has agreed to hand over the disputed Malwana land and house, currently under the Dompe Divisional Secretariat, to the University Grants Commission (UGC), prompting Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) representatives to begin vacating the property they had occupied since May 14.
The decision was conveyed after talks at the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday, IUSF Convenor Sasindu Perera told the media. Perera said Amarasuriya had promised to expedite the transfer of the property to the UGC and that the students were now making arrangements to leave the premises in response to the government’s commitment.
The IUSF had demanded that the property — reportedly once linked to former Minister Basil Rajapaksa and later without an owner — be allocated for university use. Students argued that such assets should be used to establish faculty complexes and hostels to address space shortages at state universities.
The PM’s intervention is the first formal government engagement on the standoff since the occupation began. It also resolves a public dispute over tactics that had erupted within the student left, with the FSP-aligned IUSC group publicly criticising IUSF’s takeover of the residence.
Ada Derana reported that students had been at the property since May 14 and had agreed to leave following the Monday talks. Newswire said the PM had asked the relevant authorities to expedite the property transfer to the UGC.
