The Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I congratulate COPE Chair Dr. Nishantha Samarawira and the team for undertaking a difficult task well.

¶ 02 I will draw attention to two matters beyond the tabled report. First, a current tender by the CWE to mill paddy procured by the Rice Marketing Board and sell the rice through Lanka Sathosa. The tender conditions appear crafted to exclude small and medium millers in favor of a selected group. Today the situation worsened: the CWE GM Saman Palitha, Hector Kobbekaduwa Institute’s Duminda Priyadharshana, and an engineer from the Industrial Technology Institute have reportedly engaged with bidders, and conditions were tightened—only entities capable of milling 15,000 kg per hour may bid. This excludes SMEs. Further, paddy stocks now stored after harvests in North and South yield about 65% rice, yet the condition requires only 63% output—why undercut the state’s share? And why allow less than the due quota from the milled rice? This looks like corruption. I place this before the House before damage is done.

¶ 03 Second, following Hon. Rauff Hakeem’s statement, yesterday I wrote to the Auditor General regarding the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Report on outsourcing online visa and passport services between the Consortium and the Department of Immigration and Emigration. Harsha Ilukpitiya has been in remand for a long period and now reportedly a further two years for contempt of court; I recall the difficult path COPF took in this inquiry, including security concerns for the Chair. We submitted a 600-page report to Parliament. The primary recommendation states:

¶ 04 “The Committee recommends that the Auditor-General undertakes a comprehensive forensic audit of the entire procurement process, utilizing the findings outlined in this report. It was revealed during the COPF meeting on June 04, 2024 that the Auditor-General had already initiated such an audit. The Committee requests this audit be completed at the earliest opportunity.

¶ 05 The findings should serve as the foundation for determining necessary action. Such action could involve the abrogation of the Consortium Outsourcing Agreement or amending specific Clauses within the same.”

¶ 06 The Auditor General has the mandate to obtain data beyond what COPF saw. In response to my letter, the Acting Auditor General wrote today that a first draft report was sent to the Secretary, Ministry of Public Security & Parliamentary Affairs on 14 March 2025; a reply came on 28 May 2025; discussions were held with the Controller General of Immigration & Emigration on 17 July 2025; an amended draft was sent on 25 August 2025 with a seven-day response request; on 3 September 2025 the Controller General requested time till 17 September 2025; however, as of 24 September 2025 no reply had been received. When Parliament mandates an audit, institutions are bound to cooperate. Why the delay?

¶ 07 Thank you.