Ex-ministers claim they didn’t get luxury vehicles imported by previous regime: Govt. urged to order probe
Posted on February 18th, 2020
By Rathindra Kuruwita Courtesy The Island
February 18, 2020, 10:41 pm
The government was yesterday urged to investigate what happened to the luxury vehicles purchased by the previous government at a cost of Rs. 2.8 billon when several MPs who were alleged to have used them while they were ministers in the previous administration claimed that they had not used them.
Minister of Power, Mahinda Amaraweera and former ministers Ranjith Aluwihare, Gayantha Karunathilaka, Lucky Jayawardena, Harin Fernando and J. C. Alawathuwala denied that they had got luxury vehicles during the previous government.
Amaraweera said: “The Chief Government Whip Minister Johnston Fernando read only the names of ministries that had purchased the vehicles. I am also accused of having purchased a Mercedes Benz because I headed a Ministry. However I didn’t use any such vehicle and I have already lodged a complaint with the CID, calling for a probe.”
Meanwhile, former minister Mano Ganesan said that 60% of the value of the imported vehicle had gone back to the Treasury. “This too must be considered when valuing these vehicles. The imported vehicles are being used by current ministers.”
JVP MP Nalinda Jayatissa, who raised the oral question that Fernando responded to, said that the government should investigate and find out what had happened to those vehicles. “We urge the Chief Government Whip to reveal the name of the ministers who have ordered these vehicles, the prices and the dates of the purchase.”