Hon. Ajith P. Perera

Hon. Presiding Member, today, in addressing this august Assembly, the Head of State insulted this country — calling it a pawnshop — and claimed nothing good ever happened here for 76 years and that only the present Government does anything. [Expunged on the order of the Chair.] This country has shortcomings, yes, but since Independence, our leaders cultivated enough paddy to feed ourselves, built hydropower, coal power, a world-class port, the best roads and expressways, 14,000 Grama Niladhari divisions and over 10,000 schools. Leaders from D.S. Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Sir John Kotelawala, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, J.R. Jayewardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa, D.B. Wijetunga, Ranil Wickremesinghe, Chandrika Kumaratunga and others steered this country through civil strife and built it up. Two organisations obstructed our path: the LTTE and the JVP. In 1971, within a year of the 1970 election, the JVP launched an insurrection that cost 25,000 young lives and set the nation back. Later, while our forces fought separatism in the North and East, the JVP waged war in the South, murdering civilians like Daya Pathirana and many others. We accept the country is not yet fully empowered, but who incited the public to block the Sampur power plant? The JVP. They have always agitated to wreck what is good, and now they come here calling this country a pawnshop. The people expected the new team to lift our beloved motherland to the top ranks of the world — not to insult it. About the fuel queues — they were not caused by the Government but by sensitivities heightened by the Middle East situation. Even so, when the Head of State came here to speak about it, he [Expunged on the order of the Chair.] He is now the President of this country thanks to free education — the same free education launched by C.W.W. Kannangara and others that enabled many of us to be here. So to say nothing good happened in 76 years is wrong. We completely oppose those insulting remarks. Now, to a massive corruption: ten ships of low-grade coal have arrived. The supply contract was won with a low undercut bid by the Indian company Trident Chemphar Limited; its local agent is Panaurora (Pvt) Ltd of Rajagiriya. Who are its directors? Through Sayaara Holdings and Invest LK: Anuradha Oshadhi Herath, Shanika Kumari and Hakmana Nandaloka Gimi. Invest LK’s directors include Nandaloka Gimi and Sanath Jayasundara — the former Sri Lanka Cricket scorer who was banned by the ICC. The CEO of Trident Chemphar was arrested in India in the Delhi liquor licence case — a corrupt individual. Another figure is Rakhitha Rajapaksa. They cannot meet the coal quality required for Norochcholai; the direct loss already is around Rs. 8 billion. They now speak of imposing fines — but who is the local agent? It is the local agent through whom legal action must proceed. Local agents must be strong, clean and capable of paying penalties if they default. Hon. Minister in charge of Police is in the House; please have the CID investigate. The President and the Minister of Power must probe who these agents are. The name is P-a-n-a-u-r-o-r-a (Pvt) Ltd — I spell it so those searching do not err. Nadeeni Wijedasa reported this in The Sunday Times; Lasantha Ruhunage reported it in Anidda. I rely on credible journalism, not mere hearsay. We now have a key Minister of your Government already under investigation by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, even as this colossal coal tender is bleeding the country by billions daily and causing environmental damage. Yet the Head of State came here and insulted the country as a pawnshop. We are proud of our motherland — built by the sacrifices of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Malays and Burghers through the ages. We condemn those who led the armed insurrections that opposed this country’s development and still cannot abandon that insurgent mindset. Thank you.