2026-02-20 / Adjournment Motion: Coal procurement for Lakvijaya Power Plant at Norochcholai (Part 2) 2026-02-20
Hon. Dr. Samaraweera spoke in opposition to the motion, characterising it as baseless and a misuse of parliamentary time, noting that the Opposition mustered only 14 of approximately 40 MPs for a related morning protest. He challenged a specific factual claim in the motion, arguing that the cited figure of 12.32 million metric tons for Lakvijaya (Norochcholai) power plant represents a ten-year quantity rather than a seasonal requirement, with the actual tender requirement being approximately 1.5 million tons. He defended the current government's coal procurement process as the first to fully comply with Auditor-General and COPF recommendations, contrasting it with alleged procedural irregularities under the previous administration between 2010 and 2022, including invalid tenders and Cabinet-directed contract awards that he claimed caused losses of approximately Rs. 16,000 million. He also noted that Norochcholai's Unit 1 reaches its design life around 2041, contextualising historical breakdowns and cautioning against what he described as pre-emptive blame shifting by the Opposition.
Thank you for the opportunity, Madam.
Listening to Hon. Marikkar and Hon. Ajith P. Perera reminded me of village elders telling those who cry wolf to go check if the “paddy is flooded”—noise without substance. This is a baseless motion wasting the day, just as they held a protest in the morning with only 14 of the nearly 40 Opposition MPs.
Policy-making forums like Parliament should not be abused by an Opposition that spreads lies and creates panic. The motion itself is false: it refers to “12.32 million metric tons” for Lakvijaya; that is a ten-year quantity, not for a season. With previous allocations and balances, the real requirement is about 1.5 million tons—the tender’s size.
They claim that even as the COPF and Auditor-General’s recommendations were available, procurement was corrupted. In fact, since 2010/2011 the process has been aligned to recommendations of the Auditor-General and COPF. This is the first time all those recommendations have been followed in full.
Why is the Opposition really angry about coal procurement? In 2010–2015 they imported 4.58 million tons without valid tender procedures, causing losses around Rs. 16,000 million. Because contracts were invalid, the State could not even recover losses. In 2009 and 2011 they overrode tenders to hand supplies back to the same company. In 2021/2022 tender periods were arbitrarily shortened to 21 days and then changed through Cabinet approval—practices we have not followed.
They also did similar things in other sectors: for example, the Cabinet Paper directing award of the dairy cattle import to a particular company. Those who did such things now accuse us.
Please note: Norochcholai’s design life ends around 2041 for Unit 1 and 2044 for Units 2 and 3. Between 2011–2014, there were 136 days of lost production due to breakdowns. The plant has historically been down more than up. Seeking to pre-blame us if the plant trips is dishonest.
Do not bring unfair motions to consume the House’s time. Thank you.