The Hon. (Dr.) Nalinda Jayatissa

¶ 01 You can write a book on that—on the alleged dual citizenship of the Secretary to the Treasury.

¶ 02 Mr. Presiding Member, imagine if from March 24—when the CID and internal inquiries began—we had told these gentlemen the details. What would have happened? This is how they behave. Hon. Ananda Wijepala, we must investigate this.

¶ 03 Remember, a section of them posted a fake claim that our State Minister Sunil Vatagala said something about this officer. Their friends shared it. The officer’s family and children saw it; it caused them serious distress. While the investigation was ongoing and duties had been interdicted, they circulated posts saying arrests are being made, etc., attributing fake statements to the State Minister. One child is at university; the wife has to work; they need to go out—yet these posts made it hard to even walk on the road. Some fake posts do not harm, but remember, you continued until today when a public officer has died. They even used the “NewsCenter” logo falsely; later “NewsCenter” itself said its logo was misused. This must be probed—who shared these posts, who caused this severe distress to the family.

¶ 04 Mr. Presiding Member, as a Government we are acting with responsibility. We will see whether officials were involved and punish if so; but no innocent official will be harmed. Remember, this is not a game. I ask Members to act responsibly. Your conduct does not help find answers; it only muddles matters. We have already set out the chronology—when it happened and what occurred. Our primary aim is to recover the USD 2.5 million. If we had told you earlier, you would have taken a cut! Therefore, we will recover the USD 2.5 million. Internationally, we will obtain assistance—even from the FBI—to trace and recover it. We will also strengthen our state institutional systems and cyber security to prevent recurrence. With that, I conclude.

¶ 05 Thank you very much.