The Hon. R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, our friend Minister (Dr.) Nalinda Jayatissa tried hard to cover up this theft, but could not. He argued that because 462 coal ships came before and similar things happened then, they did likewise now. I see this as boundless theft—already calculated at around Rs. 30 billion. For years the central bank bond scam was said to be the biggest; you had a year and a half to act on that. But this coal theft surpasses others. As the late Gamini Dissanayake once said about Victoria Dam, even all the water from other tanks could not fill it; likewise all the past thefts together cannot match this coal theft. This is the biggest.

¶ 02 President Anura Kumara said in Parliament: “The tender is correct.” But tenders come with quality conditions. Here, quality is bad. You cannot mislead the public with rhetoric. If quality is wrong, the tender is not valid in practice. The AG’s report says the tenderer was not properly registered at the start; bid period and quantities were cut. Your own appointee, the LCC Chairman, resigned. Why? Because he saw the theft. I appeal to MPs and Ministers here: do not protect this theft. This Minister’s past is not good. When Anura Kumara was Agriculture Minister under Mahinda Rajapaksa, for a major transaction in that institution he appointed this same Minister (then official) to a leading role. He committed wrongdoing; there is a court case.

¶ 03 In our parliamentary history, when a Minister faces a court case, the President or PM would remove him. Here, even while a case is pending, he remains the President’s favored Minister. The AG’s report and our debates clearly state this is fraud and corruption. The public will bear the burden. We also hear that when the President was in Opposition, this Minister helped with vehicles and party expenses—now he is protected.

¶ 04 Energy is where the biggest public transactions occur—fuel, coal, gas. A person who can “make hay” has been put in charge. Why did the Minister go to Russia? To talk deals? Secret negotiations? Coal is sourced from South Africa; yet samples were tested in Indonesia at a lab whose accreditation had lapsed. The theft is clear. Even when raised here, attempts were made to shut it down.

¶ 05 To Hon. Nalinda Jayatissa: during 2015–2019, when we were in government, we handled coal tenders properly—no allegation by you that our procedures were wrong then; the wrongs were in 2010–2015, which is why you were given power now, to catch those. But here, spot tenders added further losses—awarded to Dhammika Perera. You said you won’t favor friends, but you have. We hear even among the 323 containers issue there were links to the Western Province Governor’s consignments—so much for not favoring friends.

¶ 06 You came to power saying past regimes over 76 years were corrupt; if so, catch them—we will support. We even brought a private member’s Anti-Corruption Bill. But you always talk of the bond scam—then investigate, prove, and hold accountable. The people voted for you to catch thieves, not to continue stealing. You fear elections—hence delaying provincial polls. This is not one Minister’s theft; the whole government is involved in hiding it, protecting the President’s friend. Hon. Nalinda tried to save him but failed; he did not refute even a single sentence of the AG’s report. That report shows this Minister and this government committed grand corruption—the biggest in 78 years. I conclude.