Sajith fails to record PCOI statement

Housing and Construction Minister Sajith Premadasa failed to record a statement yesterday with the police unit of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCOI) to investigate into corruption of the current administration due to official work. Gunaratne Wanninayake PC representing the minister informed the commission that the statement would be recorded on September 23 and that the minister would testify on the same day.

Minister Premadasa will provide a statement on recruiting a large number of graduates and non-graduates to the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) on a contractual basis at the beginning of the year without a cadre requirement or proper training. In earlier proceedings, the PCOI observed that the appointment of 2,300 persons to NHDA had taken place exceeding the approved cadre requirement.

Testifying before the PCOI, Additional Human Resources Manager at NHDA Lalith Edirisinghe noted that directions to recruit these people had been received via email.

We were asked via email to prepare the appointment letters in mid-january and Minister Premadasa handed over the letters on a subsequent day

“In September 2018, the ministry appointed 32 employees to several areas in the Hambantota District.we were asked via email to prepare the appointment letters in mid-january and Minister Premadasa handed over the letters on a subsequent day,” he said.