• Kiriella says Sajith was cleared by CIABOC, notes COPE probe  

Anyone can submit any report, but there is no evidence to suggest that Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Sajith Premadasa is responsible, claimed Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella in response to the two audit reports tabled in Parliament in relation to alleged fraud and corruption during Premadasa’s tenure as the Minister of Housing.

Speaking to The Morning yesterday (5), Kiriella pointed out that the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) had already cleared Premadasa of such allegations. 

“Audit reports can be filed, but there is nothing in those reports to say that Premadasa is responsible. In fact, all these were sent to the CIABOC which cleared him of such allegations. These reports were sent to the CIABOC by the President’s Secretary.” 

With regard to the Auditor General’s reports on alleged fraud being raised in Parliament on 29 November by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Sanjeeva Edirimanna, Kiriella said: “When a Government MP tried to speak about Premadasa and the audit reports, I said that he has already been cleared by the CIABOC.”

Speaking in Parliament on 29 November, Edirimanna alleged that financial irregularities had occurred in 2019 as revealed by a report signed by the Auditor General on the Central Cultural Fund and claimed that within just that year, Rs. 2,005 million had been withdrawn from the fund.

In response, Kiriella said in Parliament that Premadasa was cleared of the allegations by the CIABOC and added that an investigation was being conducted by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) in this regard.

Minister of Urban Development and Housing Prasanna Ranatunga had tabled the two audit reports in Parliament on 3 December in relation to alleged incidents of fraud and corruption that purportedly took place in the Ministry of Housing during Premadasa’s tenure as the subject Minister. Accordingly, the report with regard to the alleged errors and irregularities committed in the issuance of housing loans and donations by the Weeraketiya Zonal Office of the Hambantota District and the disposal of vacant lands within the period of 2017-2019 during the tenure of Premadasa as the Minister of Housing was tabled in Parliament. 

Further, Minister Ranatunga also tabled the inspection report regarding the posters, invitations, and commemorative zones printed for housing villages between 2016 and 2019, while making the vote of thanks on the expenditure head of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing.