MINISTERIAL SUB-COMMITTEE TO LOOK INTO MISSING RS. 4 BN
While stating that a huge financial fraud of over Rs. 4 billion involving the Gin- Nilwala Diversion Project (GNDP) had taken place at the tail end of the Rajapaksa regime, Cabinet spokesman and Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said a ministerial subcommittee was appointed on Tuesday to look into the missing Rs. 4 billion.
There is no doubt that a huge misappropriation of public funds had taken place
The Cabinet discussed the issue on Tuesday and decided to go to the bottom of the financial scandal and find out what happened to over Rs. 4 billion released from the project fund, he told reporters in Parliament.
The cabinet sub committee comprises Ministers Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Champika Ranawaka and Ravi Karunanayaka.
“There is no doubt that a huge misappropriation of public funds had taken place and at the moment we are not in a position to say what happened to the Rs. 4 billion, the Treasury has released in three cheques on December 30, 2014, January 06, 2015 and January 07, 2015. The total amount released on the three cheques stands at Rs. 4,011million,” Minister Senaratne said.
Interestingly, there was no one that had apparently given approval to release this money for the project implemented by the Irrigation and Water Resources Management Ministry.
An MOU was scheduled to be signed between the Irrigation and Water Resources Management Ministry and the contractor, China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd on 14.11.2014. The estimated cost of the project was US$ 4,511 million (Rs. 676 billion).
The unauthorised release of this colossal sum of money by the Treasury has been subsequently revealed after an inquiry conducted by a committee of three senior officials appointed by the Irrigation and Water Resources Management on a request made by the Treasury on 04.09.2015.
The Secretary, Irrigation and Water Resources Management Ministry has requested The Treasury Secretary to carry out an investigation on the matter relating to the payments to the GNDP. Accordingly, a Committee comprising of 3 senior officials had been appointed by the Secretary, Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management and a copy of the report of the Committee was sent to the Department of National Budget on 28.07.2016 The Ministerial Committee will look into whether the contract agreement can be implemented without any additional cost to the government, assess the negative impact and costs if one party wants to terminate the agreement unilaterally. whether those officials involved have violated any financial regulations, government procedures and circular instructions and how to recover the advance payment without any adverse implications, Minister Senaratne added.