Leader of the House and Minister Bimal Ratnayake, in Parliament yesterday, accused former President Ranil Wickremesinghe of issuing 361 liquor licenses and bar permits to influence crossovers.

Ratnayake made the claim while responding to a question raised by Batticaloa District ITAK MP Shanikyan Rasamanickam, who earlier in the day demanded to know what action the current government has taken regarding these permits issued by the previous administration.

Responding to concerns raised by MP Rasamanickam, Chief Government Whip, Health and Mass Media Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, confirmed that the government would submit full details pertaining to the bar permits and liquor licenses issued under the previous government to Parliament later yesterday.

Minister Ratnayake detailed the breakdown of the liquor licenses issued between January 1, 2024, and September of the same year, asserting that the licenses were distributed across various provinces to facilitate political maneuvering. “During this period, 361 licenses were issued for liquor shops, including bar permits. These were issued to engineer political crossovers,” Ratnayake said.

The breakdown of the licenses by province was as follows: Western (110), Southern (48), Northern (32), Eastern (22), Central (45), North Central (14), Wayamba (30), Uva (30), and Sabaragamuwa (30).

The Minister also revealed that, during the same period, a total of 172 FL 4 licenses, which are necessary to operate, what are commonly known as wine stores, were issued. Ratnayake provided a district-wise breakdown of the FL 4 licenses, stating that Colombo (22), Gampaha (18), Kalutara (08), Galle (09), Matara (05), Hambantota (05), Jaffna (05), Kilinochchi (16), Vavuniya (02), Mannar (02), Trincomalee (04), Batticaloa (01), Amapara (05), Kandy (11), Matale (06), Nuwara Eliya (08), Anuradhapura (04), Polonnawruwa (03), Puttalam (06), Kegalle (08), Badulla (09), Monaragala (07), Ratnapura (06) and Kegalle (02) were among the districts where the permits were granted. No bar permits had been issued to the Mullaitivu District.

Minister Ratnayake further stated that, on October 22, 2024, Presidential Secretary N.S. Kumanayake issued a directive to halt the issuance of any additional bar permits.