The Hon. Sunil Handunnetti - Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, today is historic. We debate Regulations under the Anti-Corruption Act, intended to build a country free of corruption. Importantly, today a new Airbus A330-200 aircraft joined our aviation fleet; it arrived in Sri Lanka today.

¶ 02 Hon. Dayasiri and I sat in this House for years speaking about the Airbus deal. COPE even met at the Speaker’s Residence to examine how it was buried. Back then, we were to lease, not buy. Due to the mess created by Kapila Chandrasekera as CEO, deals of the Rajapaksa family, and later those appointed by Ranil Wickremesinghe, none of us imagined we would again see a new Airbus for SriLankan in our lifetimes.

¶ 03 One Opposition State Minister, Eran Wickramaratne, said SriLankan could not be sold even for one rupee. The Ranil–Rajapaksa regimes ruined it to that extent. Now, under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s people’s government, we have brought in an Airbus. That is something to be glad about.

¶ 04 They now attack the Justice Minister not because of anything else, but because the law is being enforced and thieves are being caught. The Attorney General exists so the Justice Minister can enforce the law. Those who talk of “independent law” once impeached Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, sat here till midnight to pass the 18th Amendment, and sent her home. They have no moral right to tell our Justice Minister to be silent.

¶ 05 I once complained against the then Chairman of the Bribery Commission—Jagath Balapatabendi. The complaint was never heard. That was the era we lived through. Today, we should be celebrating—SriLankan, once not worth one rupee, now brings in a new aircraft.

¶ 06 They rush to give bail to Keheliya, but none of them visited when their own were remanded. They now argue, “He only redistributed staff salaries.” Public funds are the people’s money. Whether by force or consent, it is a crime.

¶ 07 They equate that to us voluntarily contributing our salaries to party funds. Then we hear the “Dayasiri method”: make an allegation, then, when it fails, reverse it and apologise—like with the 300 containers. Fine. We welcome scrutiny—CID, courts, Parliament, our party. But do not reverse later crying foul.

¶ 08 They cannot mobilise the people; instead, with a few media channels, they manufacture weekly narratives: no milk, no coconut, no salt, no sugar. We have work to do: ministries to run; and to uncover the rackets they built.

¶ 09 Today we tabled a report on minerals. They licensed the entire Eastern Province coastline, leaving no public beach. Now even those who paid kickbacks are trapped, and come to us. We will not take bribes; we will design a transparent process so investment can come without kickbacks.

¶ 10 At the next sitting, I will present an app built by our National Gem and Jewellery Research and Training Institute. Any citizen will be able to input carat, weight, and type to get a valuation—accurate—without visiting our offices. In 76 years they could not do this because they were busy issuing mine licences and taking cuts. We will change that history.

¶ 11 There are many complaints before the Bribery Commission. Attacking its Chair or the Justice Minister is pointless. Now is the time to face the consequences—“if you ate the fish, bear the bones.” Many names will follow.

¶ 12 Minister, you are seeking an island to detain underworld figures who meet in safehouses. Find another island too—for these political thieves—so they can sit and boast how they ran their rackets.

¶ 13 On the sugar tax scam, I filed the complaint; we will not let go. On the white onion racket—there are cases. They took rice from Sathosa, knocked sacks, resold to beer companies; COPE reported it. Now they speak of “transparent” rice imports—yet they sold Sapugaskanda stocks cheap, then resold to Sathosa at a higher price.

¶ 14 On expressways, they took cuts; even former Minister Kiriella has questions. They maintained organisers using state funds by appointing “project officers” to every project, even the 100,000 Roads Programme. I gave a list of 81 such appointees to Parliament; then they reshuffled titles to hide them. A monk served as a “project officer.” Former Minister Rajitha Senaratne appointed staff to the Ayurvedic Drugs Corporation who ended up doing his housework; when probed by the Treasury representative, the Chair assaulted him. That was how public servants were treated—made to kneel, tied to trees. Do we demand anyone bow to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake or to Ministers today? We refuse perks—not because we cannot have them, but because we will not spend even a rupee of public money unnecessarily. They enjoyed all that; now, without the adoration, they slander and cry when the law is enforced. Two months ago they said we file no cases and have no power; now they complain the Justice Minister speaks about cases. Who else should speak on cases if not the Justice Minister?

¶ 15 On Assets and Liabilities, the law should be strengthened. Currently, declarations state assets as at 31 March, filed by 1 June. Many withdraw funds before 31 March and redeposit on 1–2 April. We must examine real-life assets, including those of associates—drivers, relatives, and fronts. A former Minister told me: “If you want to find Ministers’ assets, look at what’s in the names of their drivers and mistresses.” Go look at the vacant plot next to our Pelawatta head office—a massive, ownerless-looking land for years in a high-value area. Everyone knows whose it is, but it is in another’s name.

¶ 16 We are not going to take a slice for ourselves as was done historically. Not everyone is alike; there are those like Hon. Gayantha Karunathilleka who did not soil their hands. But the history of the rest will one day be read out seat by seat if we develop the technology and build the cases. This is not a problem solvable by judicial process alone.