Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will appear before a Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing corruption and fraud in state institutions today to testify on the government decision to store paddy at the Mattala International Airport in 2015. The Commission had issued a notice to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to appear before it following testimony of a former official Bandara Dissanayake that the Prime Minister had personally instructed him to store paddy at the airport.
Testifying before the commission, Mr. Dissanayake said that he had held a series of meetings with the officials of the Mattala Airport in 2015 to explore the possibility of storing paddy there as the PMB stores didn’t have adequate space. He said that Minister for Primary Industries Daya Gamage had also called him frequently and said that the Cabinet has given the approval to store 4,000 metric tonnes of paddy at the airport.
It is noteworthy that the Mattala international airport was built during
Mahinda Rajapaksa regime in his district but no passenger service is operating from there at present. The current government led by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has termed it as a white elephant.
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