The Hon. D.V. Chanaka

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, thank you for the opportunity.

¶ 02 First, I draw the attention of the Minister in charge of Police to the incident of September 12 at the “Charter’s Edge” hotel, where four individuals — including a woman and the son of a leading media personality — were brutally assaulted and hospitalized. No arrests have been made yet. It is reported even the hotel’s Chairman was present. We request an expedited investigation and necessary legal action.

¶ 03 I also challenge the Minister of Power, who spoke in the morning and left. The President said: “If it is the truth, go to the CID; if false, say it in Parliament.” I publicly invite him to any TV or YouTube debate to prove the coal tender is deeply corrupt.

¶ 04 The Opposition Leader, Hon. Sajith Premadasa, raised questions today; the answers were blatantly false. He asked under Standing Order 27(2) whether low-quality coal damages boilers. The straight answer given was “No.” Any engineer knows that higher ash and lower calorific value reduce efficiency, increase emissions, damage boilers, require frequent cleaning, and pollute air, water, and soil. This is basic.

¶ 05 Previously, when high-quality coal was sought, Ministers like Lal Kantha went to the Supreme Court against Sampur. Today, poor-quality coal is being burnt and we are told “no problem; we can adjust volumes.” Read Section 3.5.6 of the Agreement: if substandard coal causes damage to Norochcholai, the buyer bears responsibility — but at no point do they accept responsibility in practice. This is dangerous — respiratory diseases, eye ailments, environmental impacts — especially for people around Norochcholai.

¶ 06 Instead of answering properly, the Minister claimed the Opposition is speaking for a Russian company that failed to win the tender, suggesting ties to “Potentia.” Let me remind him: the Energy Ministry under Minister Jayakody registered Potentia in July last year. Then they quietly increased vessel allocations for this supposedly “corrupt” company in August; only after I exposed it in Parliament did they cancel. The Minister seems to have short-term memory loss.

¶ 07 This procurement is corrupt. There was no emergency. A tender due in April was pushed to August, the bid period cut from six weeks to three, and “emergency” review then took one and a half months. The process was tailored to award to preferred companies, bringing substandard coal that can damage boilers and harm public health. I again invite the Minister to a public debate.

¶ 08 Thank you.