The Hon. Chithral Fernando, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, I am pleased to join this debate on a topic the entire country is discussing.

¶ 02 When this no-confidence motion was brought, I saw arguments pushed by digital mercenaries paid Rs. 35–40 by the government coffers, though it was not said inside this Chamber. They say: “Why bring a no-confidence motion with 40–50 Opposition MPs when the Government has 159 MPs? If you can, show 70 or 100 votes.” We are not bringing this no-confidence motion to count Opposition heads. We brought one against Minister Keheliya Rambukwella as well, and the Opposition then had about 70 votes, while the Government had 143; only Anura Kumara Dissanayake did not sign it. If I recall, even our present Prime Minister and Minister Wijitha Herath signed it. All of you, together with us, fought that corruption. That is the issue today with this Government. So to those digital terrorists: we bring this no-confidence motion to oppose these thefts and to test whether your conscience exists.

¶ 03 We have now reached the point of accepting that the coal is substandard. Even the President had to come here and say, “the coal is substandard.” Why did it take so long to say that? Initially they denied it when we pointed out the obvious. After reports came, they shifted to, “There is no fraud.” Who knows whether tomorrow they will say, “There was only a small fraud, not a big one.” In fact, we even heard the Minister suggest, “There was no big fraud; if anything, a small one.” Still, we are glad at least this much is now accepted, because otherwise they would never have conceded. Once this is fully accepted, they will not be able to face the people.

¶ 04 Today the official line is: the coal is substandard, but there is no fraud. Then why, by the bid-calling date, was a company that had not paid the registration fee and was not registered allowed into the process? Answer that in your speeches. During the debate against former Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, the now Prime Minister Hon. A. M. A. A. (Dinesh) Gunawardena, then in Opposition, clearly stated that medicines had been procured through unregistered companies despite registered companies being available, and that about 350 medicines had been brought through unregistered businesses; and that, as per the Auditor-General’s Report, procurement had violated procedures. Back then the Auditor-General’s Report was acceptable—while she sat on that side. Now we have another Auditor-General’s Report. Are you agreeing with it or not? Minister Nalin, what is your position? The Report records, among other things, that supplier registration criteria were inappropriately relaxed; monetary thresholds were reduced from “million” to “lakhs” without legal or technical basis. If there is no fraud, answer these.

¶ 05 Next, the Load Port Report was obtained from a company whose accreditation had been revoked. When the first three vessels of substandard coal arrived, the Partial Oversight Committee flagged it. If action had been taken then to cancel, we would have avoided much of this problem. If there was no fraud, why was that not done?

¶ 06 The Ministry Secretary-approved procurement route: it was a time for a spot tender. In the past, every government cried “fraud” against both spot and term tenders, but those instruments exist to reduce risk. Did you come to office without knowing that? Not going for the correct procedure has worsened the power crisis. Coal that could have been purchased at around USD 98 ended up at about USD 142. Who bears that loss? Is that not collusion?

¶ 07 It is public knowledge the Minister went to Russia and met the Potentia company; the State Minister admitted it on TV. Why do that in the middle of a tender? When Trident Chemphar Limited was given a price of 98, Potentia was at 99 or 100—just one or two dollars more. How did that alignment occur? In the emergency tender for 300,000 MT, Trident Chemphar again got the edge, and though there was a USD 30 gap with Taranjot Resources at 142, after calling the next tender, a fresh email sought to reduce another dollar to keep the pattern going. It is clear the award was steered to the same company on a one-dollar spread.

¶ 08 Hon. Deputy Speaker: Hon. Chithral Fernando, your time is up.

¶ 09 Please grant me 30 seconds. These suppliers were not qualified. The COPE Committee is trying to sanitize this, but I doubt that will succeed. Yesterday, even the Chairman of Lanka Coal Company did not come before COPE—he is hiding. Today the Minister is trying to shield the LCC Chairman or at least the Board and escape. That will not work.

¶ 10 Finally, let me quote former Secretary-General of Parliament Ms. Priyani Wijesekera’s book “Parliamentary Practice in Sri Lanka”: “To minimize the adverse impact on the Government resulting from criticism against a Minister, prudence requires that the Minister should resign.” Hon. Deputy Speaker, given even your name carries the word “punya” (merit), do the meritorious thing—let the young MPs be spared hardship; resign.

¶ 11 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.