Vijitha Herath makes another allegation, but Kanchana stands his ground

By Saman Indrajith

The JVP-led NPP alleged in Parliament, on Tuesday, that a great deal of public funds had been siphoned off through a deal to import crude oil to Sri Lanka from the United Arab Emirates from January to April this year.

JVP-led NPP MP Vijitha Herath said that the Cabinet approval had been granted for importing crude oil from United Arab Emirates-based Coral Energy DMCC Company but the delivery had been made by a different company of which the official address indicated that it was a jewellery shop in the UAE.

Herath said that the Cabinet of Ministers had granted permission on December 19, 2022, for importing crude oil from the Coral Energy DMCC for the four months from January to April 30, 2023. The first ship carrying crude oil reached the Colombo Port on March 25 and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation unloaded the consignment of 2.8 million barrels of crude oil of the brand known as Siberian Light on the following day. Later, it came to light that the delivery had been made by a different company by the name of Fontus Trading DMCC. The officials of the CPC have complained that this brand of crude oil was substandard. This is an illegal act. It is illegal for the CPC to unload oil from a company which has not been given Cabinet approval. A huge sum of public money has been spent,” Herath said.

Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera accused MP Herath of misleading the House with false information. These are groundless allegations,” the Minister said.

MP Herath then tabled the copies of Cabinet approval and tender application by the Fontus DMCC and a Cabinet paper, signed by Minister Wijesekera, seeking the approval to grant the Fontus DMCC permission to supply crude oil to Sri Lanka. “This Cabinet paper was rejected. After that the approval was granted to the Coral Energy DMCC, but the delivery has been made by the Fontus DMCC. The Attorney General’s opinion, too, has been sought to get the approval for the Fontus DMCC, however the AG has rejected the proposal. I am tabling the letter by the AG opposing this deal with the Fontus DMCC. The government needs to explain where the massive sum of money had gone through this illegal act,” the MP said.

As government members tried to disrupt MP Herath’s speech, the Deputy Chairman of Committees Angajan Ramananthan was seen trying to bring the House under control.

Minister Wijesekera accused MP Herath of misleading the House and challenged the latter to state the same outside Parliament, if possible.

“I have tabled all documentary proofs and requested that they be included in the Hansard. The Minister tried to get the Cabinet’s approval for this Fontus Company once again on April 03, this year. I table that document, too. This deal has been opposed by the Procurement Committee, the AG and even the officials of CPC have complained that the Siberian Light is substandard. This is how the government plays with public money,” the MP said.