The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake

¶ 01 I will come to that. So apart from moral responsibility, you have made no specific charge against Minister Jayakody.

¶ 02 Next, did negligence cause this? If the Minister has been on the job for months, were the labs checked? Was the process examined more rigorously and in depth? Did he fail to intervene? Was there an emergency decision? We understand that is not the case. He is active in the power sector, brings many Cabinet Papers; he is not negligent. Contrast with past times—after the tsunami, there were Ministers absent for months. We remember Cabinet Papers chasing signatures around the country. Now, with huge numbers scrutinized, the President actively engages and discussions are rigorous.

¶ 03 Therefore, the Minister did not change or meddle with the process, nor did he unilaterally make any of these decisions. His role was to present to Cabinet that the tender was awarded to this company.

¶ 04 What happened here is that an error occurred. We must see whether that error is due to the process, a person, or neither. We accept this process dates from your tenure; the individual did not commit wrongdoing—but errors can occur. The calorific value seems lower; such things can happen. Consider milk powder—if a box is dented, air can enter and spoil it.