The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, this is nationally important. Please do not obstruct; let me conclude.

¶ 02 Suppose you suspect wrongdoing by him. Yet there is evidence to the contrary. After failing at one lab, both parties together proposed an Indonesian lab. In addition, as the report shows, we also sent samples to an Australian lab. That is why I say there was a fourth umpire. Once the problem arose, we wanted to verify further.

¶ 03 The supplier proposed using their Indonesian lab. That is acceptable, because they are the seller and we are the buyer claiming failure. We must go to a mutually acceptable lab. That is the Indonesian lab. But what did we do? We also sent samples to a recognized Australian lab. If Minister Jayakody had an inclination to corruptly cover up, we would not have sought additional independent verification.

¶ 04 Criminals leave psychological and behavioral traces: they play games, hide things, make calls. Here the opposite is seen—additional independent checks.

¶ 05 Second, on the company: all companies, including the one mentioned, applied for registration to supply coal in February. If there was a favored company, it would have been expedited for early registration. You claim someone went to Russia to meet; if so, Minister Jayakody should have arranged their early registration. But that did not happen. All companies that bid registered around 18–19 August. That is my point.