The Hon. (Ms.) Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Thank you very much.

¶ 02 This was done with the approval of the High-level Procurement Committee. It has been discussed there and it is in the minutes. It is recorded on page 484 of the Audit Report. The minutes of the High-level Procurement Committee state: “LCC mentioned that recently approved coal suppliers are still in the process of registering by making payment of USD 5000. SHLPC informed the LCC to inform them that any coal supplier will not be eligible for bidding without being registered by paying USD 5000 before the submission of the bid.” That means eligibility is tied to registration before bid submission, not before issuing bidding documents. This is the reason for the “unregistered” point. Much has been said about it. If you look at the primary documents and the bidding document, these matters are in order. In truth, what we are talking about here is a matter of hours and USD 20.

¶ 03 Let us also look at how this played out in 2024–2025. Until this new tender commenced and a new supplier came, the country’s coal was supplied by Potencia LLC. That company supplied coal to Sri Lanka for three years without being registered as a supplier. Potencia LLC registered on 18 August 2025. Until that date, it did not supply coal as a registered supplier in Sri Lanka; it supplied for three years as an unregistered supplier. Where were these gentlemen then? At that time, Hon. D.V. Chanaka was the State Minister of Power. How did that company get the tender as an unregistered company? By a Cabinet decision presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, terminating the contract awarded through procurement to Aditya Birla and awarding the coal supply to Potencia LLC without any procurement process, purely by Cabinet decision. That is what is called political interference. That is corruption. If the Opposition can, show where Minister Kumara Jayakody has interfered in that way. That is what matters to us and to the Government. If there was such interference, show it. I respectfully request: show where the Minister has interfered.

¶ 04 Regarding accreditation, this has been widely discussed. At the COPE Committee yesterday, we discussed accreditation at length. The supplier chooses the accreditation at the load port. The Lanka Coal Company selects accreditation at the discharge port. LCC called a tender for accreditation and selected Cotecna in India. The supplier selected Mitra SK, a South African company. The claim that Mitra SK is not accredited is false. Mitra SK has accreditation for coal quality tests and many other parameters, including ASTM accreditation. However, they do not have accreditation for ash composition analysis (not ash percentage but composition). Minister Anura Karunathilaka clearly stated this. Many countries do not check ash composition; there is no regulatory necessity. In Sri Lanka, coal cannot be rejected at the ship on the basis of ash composition; it is not a rejection condition. It is an environmental suitability check for us. Many accredited labs do not perform that test. Mitra SK South Africa is accredited for GCV, sulphur, moisture and size. They lack capability only for ash composition analysis. Therefore, they proposed to use their counterpart lab, Mitra SK – Indonesia, which has that capability. Their accreditation had expired by 29 December, which is true and was examined at COPE; however, that does not mean Mitra SK South Africa is an unaccredited lab.

¶ 05 The Secretary to the Ministry of Power explained clearly what accreditation is, which part was lacking, why it matters, and how we will proceed. As Government, and through COPE, we will intervene appropriately.

¶ 06 We are pleased to discuss the tender process in such detail. In the past, Cabinets cancelled tenders and awarded them elsewhere. Now we are discussing procurement details—whether a lab is accredited, whether USD 20 was paid, whether there was a delay of a few hours. We welcome this standard of scrutiny and will maintain it, and as Government and through COPE, we will act.

¶ 07 An audit is to establish accountability and correct processes. COPE examines many Audit Reports; we do not always conclude by saying a Minister must resign. Where specific liability is identified, accountability will be pursued. Here, no political interference by the Minister is established. This was not awarded by a Cabinet decision to a preferred supplier; it went through a procurement committee. Every decision is minuted. There was no ministerial interference to favour any supplier.

¶ 08 Much is said about Potencia LLC meeting Ministers. From what I see, Hon. D.V. Chanaka knows most about Potencia LLC’s meetings, because it was during his time that Potencia LLC received the award by Cabinet decision. We did not do that. Those were under-the-table dealings. We say with responsibility and with a clear conscience: under this Government, there is no fraud or corruption. We will maintain accountability. That is why the COPE Chairman intervenes. As Government, we will keep raising the bar of accountability. With that undertaking to the people, I conclude. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Chairperson, for the time.