The Hon. Chaminda Wijesiri
Hon. Chaminda Wijesiri criticized the Government over reported salt shortages and queues, alleging the existence of salt, container, and rice “mafias” and accusing ministers of failing to act after criticizing such issues while in Opposition. He urged Minister Sunil Handunnetti to hand over salt distribution or management to capable private traders, naming Raigam as an example, and questioned routing decisions involving Hambantota and Puttalam. He also called on the Minister of Justice to establish a process to investigate and act against alleged corrupt dealings, including those involving Government-aligned persons.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Thank you. Most Government members are lying shamelessly; perhaps they don’t need salt. But give people a practical plan to get salt. Admit your incompetence. Stop habitual lying.
¶ 02 There is a salt mafia, container mafia, and rice mafia out there—and here. When in Opposition you roared; in Government you cannot act. The Minister we didn’t expect to behave this way now cannot walk on the road—voters see the first-ever queues for salt.
¶ 03 I propose to Minister Handunnetti: when in Opposition you said, “If you can’t, give it to a Pettah trader.” Now you have failed. Hand over to capable traders—Raigam, for instance—rather than routing stock to Hambantota instead of Puttalam. Files will be made. Don’t flash files and then quietly release culprits. Hon. Minister of Justice, if you are truly NPP, create a process to catch real thieves doing under-the-table deals—even if they are on your side.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Thursday, 22 May 2025 ·No. 1750307293077610 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Chaminda Wijesiri. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 22 May 2025. No. 1750307293077610. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/24601