The Hon. D.V. Chanaka

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, on behalf of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, we give our full support—our three Members present—to this Bill to vest in the State what is derived from crime. We trust it will be used, not abused. History shows laws are more often abused than used. Even you have experienced it. You will recall how the firearms law was used against the JVP; how the Offences against Public Property Act was used against me as a youth protester of Hambantota Port privatization, jailing me for alleged arson 300 meters away and spilled tar, etc.

¶ 02 During Yahapalana, you too joined to create the FCID. Eventually even Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe complained to the Commission’s head for taking bribes. We saw how FCID was used for political witch-hunts; businessmen were harassed for confessions, extorted, and released. So using this Bill is good; abusing it is not.

¶ 03 The Justice Minister is here; the Public Security Minister has spoken; the Deputy Minister is present. We trust the Reconstruction Government will deliver justice. But whether the proceeds are in Uganda, Seychelles, Dubai, or elsewhere, what was criminally obtained must be brought back. You promised to use those to pay debt. We trust you will.

¶ 04 Briefly, I draw attention to committees being abused—for example, COPA. I met the COPA Chairman and submitted a letter from Mr. Yoshitha Rajapaksa, who is not a Member. It was claimed in COPA that he imported a vehicle on 28 January 2021 when imports were banned. That is a blatant lie. It was imported on 28 January 2014, during Yahapalana. He used it for seven years and sold it. They took the sale date and claimed it was imported during the ban. I table Mr. Yoshitha Rajapaksa’s letter dated 2025.04.07 to the COPA Chairman, and I have the registration book as well. Do not misuse privileges to spread falsehoods.

¶ 05 Also, yesterday the Governor of the Central Bank handed over the “Annual Economic Review 2024” to H.E. Anura Kumara Dissanayake. It shows the full story on reserves and growth. Yesterday, Hon. Nalin Hewage, Deputy Minister, said this Government took reserves from USD 208 million to USD 6.15 billion. That is false. The CBSL report shows that in September 2024, when H.E. Anura Kumara Dissanayake assumed office, reserves were USD 6 billion. At end-2023, reserves were USD 4.3 billion and rose by USD 1.7 billion over a year—about USD 200 million per month. If that trend continued, reserves should now be about USD 7.4 billion. But they increased only USD 150 million over seven months. I table the relevant CBSL pages. Please stop lying.

¶ 06 Thank you.