The Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva

¶ 01 First, it was said this is the first time a Government asked the IMF for a governance assessment. That request was made by the former President, not the current one.

¶ 02 As COPF Chair then, I moved for a Special Audit Report on 2022–2025 coal procurement at Norochcholai. The then Government removed me from the Chair and appointed someone else because we found the tender was unlawful. Our recommendations, and the Auditor-General’s observations, led to halting that transaction. We also recommended that members of that Tender Board not serve on tenders for at least a year to prevent recurrence.

¶ 03 I now table the Special Audit Report dated 30 September 2022 on coal procurement for 2022–2025, and the COPF Report of 4 October 2022.

¶ 04 (Placed in the Library.)

¶ 05 Suitability criteria were clear: experience supplying at least 1 million tonnes of coal at GCV ≥ 5,900 kcal/kg in the past 36 months. If you deny this, read page 22, section 5.5.1(b) of the Special Audit.

¶ 06 A report becomes binding when tabled and adopted by Parliament; that occurred on 4 October 2022. Under section 7, recommendations refer to “financial capacity, experience, and supply quality.” The detailed “experience” criterion is at 5.5.1(b). I present this in good faith; I was removed for pursuing this audit. Thank you.