The Hon. Dewananda Suraweera
Hon. Dewananda Suraweera raised concerns about alleged large-scale theft and fraud in multi-purpose co-operative societies in Colombo District, particularly Maharagama, where he said Rs. 1 billion affecting 33,000 depositors is at issue. He said many depositors, including elderly people who used rural banks for savings, are in financial distress, and questioned the slow progress of inquiries by the Commissioner’s offices. He also argued that proposals to sell society properties would be inadequate, as the limited land available would recover only a small portion of the losses.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Co-operative Development, in the Colombo District, the Avissawella, Dehiwala and Maharagama Multi-purpose Co-operative Societies are places where massive theft and fraud occur. The best example is the Maharagama Multi-purpose Co-operative Society. There is a fraud of Rs. 1 billion (100 crores) affecting 33,000 depositors. Those who trusted the rural banks and deposited their money for their evening years are today in distress, unable even to buy medicines and are helpless.
¶ 02 Even after inquiries from the Commissioner’s offices, the process is moving slowly. On one hand, proposals are made to sell the properties of the society. But there are only 4-5 lands; even if sold, it will be a drop in the bucket, since selling two lands yielded only about 10%.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 7 January 2025 ·No. 1736487038022510 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Dewananda Suraweera. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 7 January 2025. No. 1736487038022510. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/15906