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MP Pathirana exposes yahapalana ministers and Excise Dept. crooks

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By Saman Indrajith

SJB Matara District MP Buddhika Pathirana yesterday said that two Cabinet ministers of the yahapalana government and a group ofMinistry of Finance and Excise Department officials were behind a deal to hand over a tender to an Indian company to introduce a sticker to be affixed to liquor and beer bottles.

Addressing the media after lodging a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption in Colombo, the MP said: “The tender was awarded to Madras Security Printers company of India without following due procedure. The officials concerned lined their pockets. This deal, started during the yahapalana government has been finalised under the incumbent government. We hope that the matter would be investigated by the government, and the wrongdoers including the politicians and the officials will be exposed.”

MP Pathirana said that in addition to the complaint to the CIABPOC, he had handed over documentary proof and a copy of the complaint to the Committee on Public Accounts in

Parliament for a separate probe besides submitting a copy of the same to the Auditor General’s Department.

MP Pathirana said that following his expose of the deal in introducing fool-proof stickers to liquor and beer bottles, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had contacted him over the phone and made inquiries about it. “I met the President this morning and explained everything about this fraud that would pump people’s money to an Indian company. I pointed out to him all the irregularities of the tender process and how the officials turned down the bid of the government printer with a lower quotation to help the Indian company with a higher bid. If the sticker is printed here by the government press, the money will remain in our country. The Indian company MSP is a blacklisted venture. The President promised that he would instruct officials to look into this.”

Pathirana said that the sticker with a code is accessorised with a software to check its authenticity. “The tender for the creation of that software too has been handed over to an Indian company without following proper tender procedures. That has been done during the yahapalana government’s time.

MP Pathirana said that around 40 million bottles of hard liquor and beer were produced annually in Sri Lanka. It was to prevent counterfeits being produced the label had been introduced.

“Two ministers of the former government and some officials got together and made deals with MSP to pocket commissions from the project. The day after I exposed this in parliament, the Excise Department issued a statement, which only proved it was intent on protecting the culprits. The Excise Department officials are also disturbed by my exposures of their links to artificial toddy makers. My initial intention was to highlight the need to devise a mechanism to prevent the use of artificial toddy to produce vinegar because people including children who do not consume that rotgut toddy are exposed to carcinogenic elements via vinegar. A few days ago, the STF commandos of Gonahena camp raided an artificial toddy distillery in Kochchikade and recovered vast quantities of the contraband along with chemicals used to prepare artificial toddy. This country’s daily production of toddy is around 160,000 litres. The truth is that the capacity to produce coconut toddy even after tapping all licensed trees is around 45,000 litres a day. Producing illicit toddy is an offence under Excise Ordinance and Food and Drugs Act. I call for urgent attention to amend the Excise Act immediately to prevent the loss of tax revenue.”



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GMOA swings into action on Vithana’s disclosure of MPs’ salaries, etc.

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MP Vithana / Dr. Sugathadasa

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has sought an explanation from Parliament regarding how PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is applied to parliamentarians.

GMOA Secretary Dr. Prabath Sugathadasa has written to the Secretary General of Parliament, Kushani Rohanadeera, in terms of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Information was sought on 09 July, 2025, in the wake of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Kalutara district parliamentarian Jagath Vithana posting his pay sheets from January to May this year on his Facebook.

In addition to information on PAYE, the GMOA has posed a number of other questions to the Secretary General regarding the parliamentarians’ salary as well as pensions.

Parliament passed the RTI Act on 24 June, 2016, and it came into effect on 03 February, 2017. This act, introduced through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, in 2015, is meant to promote transparency and accountability in government.

New controversy has erupted in the wake of Nawa Janatha Peramuna lodging a complaint with the CIABOC seeking an investigation into Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickremaratne abusing public property, a claim denied by the Secretary General of Parliament.

According to Vithana’s May pay sheet, his monthly allowance is Rs. 54,285, entertainment allowance Rs 1,000, telephone allowance Rs 50,000, sitting allowance Rs 5,000, office allowance Rs 100,000, fuel allowance Rs 97,428.92 and transport allowance Rs. 15,000. His take home pay is Rs 317, 760.92 after the deduction of Rs 1,200 for catering, stamp duty Rs. 25 and Advance Personal Income Tax (APIT).

Asked whether he regretted the releasing of pay sheets, lawmaker Vithana told The Island that in the run-up to the last parliamentary elections, held in November 2024, he had promised the Kalutara electorate he wouldn’t draw his salary. The MP said that however, he later felt the salary should be accepted and used in support of public welfare projects undertaken by him. “Therefore, the money was used appropriately,” he said, adding that both the government and Opposition MPs reacted with resentment. “I feel sort of isolated in Parliament. Hardly anyone talks to me,” MP Vithana said.

Dr. Sugathadasa said that having perused the pay sheets posted online, the GMOA had felt the urgent need to seek a clarification from Parliament as the lawmakers appeared to have received special status. The top GMOA official emphasised they wanted to establish the truth and used the RTI law to obtain information regarding the MPs’ salaries, pensions and other related information. “The GMOA made the request on 09 July, 2025. We are confident the Parliament will answer our queries,” Dr. Sugathadasa said.

Parliament meets only eight days a month. Attendance is not compulsory and there is no fixed time for lawmakers to attend sittings. Over the years, sittings have been suspended for lack of quorum.

The Island asked the GMOA official whether they would seek the intervention of the RTI Commission in case the Parliament declined to reveal the information sought by them. Dr. Sugathadasa said that the Executive Committee of the GMOA would decide the course of action if Parliament withheld information.

A few years ago Chamara Sampath, of Wijeya Newspapers, successfully moved the Court of Appeal against the Parliament after the latter refused to disclose names of Members of Parliament (MPs) who had handed over their respective declarations of assets and liabilities in 2018 and list of names of MPs who have handed over their Declarations from 2010 to the time he made the request (21 June, 2018).

The Court on 28 February, 2023, reaffirmed the RTI Commission’s stand that Declarations of Assets and Liabilities Law of 1975 (DALL) didn’t prevail over the Right to Information Act no. 12 of 2016 (RTI Act).

According to the Parliament website, an MP is paid Rs. 54,285, entertainment allowance Rs 1,000, driver’s allowance Rs 3,500 (only if driver is not provided by government). Fuel allowances are paid based on the distance from Parliament to the electoral district which each MP was elected and the approved market price of one litre of diesel on the first day of every month, telephone allowance Rs 50,000, transport allowance for personal staff Rs 10,000, and stamps worth Rs 350,000 issued to each MP annually.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

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Udaya alleges Prez hasn’t given up efforts to bring in outsider as AG

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Sri Lanka Educator Service Lecturers’ Trade Union yesterday (14) protested outside the Education Ministry, demanding that the government address their grievances. (Pic by Nishan S. Priyantha)

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader and former Minister Udaya Gammanpila says President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has delayed making a permanent appointment to the post of Auditor General in a bid to bring in an outsider early next year.

Addressing the media yesterday (14), Attorney-at-Law Gammanpila said that three civil society members of the Constitutional Council, who opposed the President’s move, would be completing their term in early January next year. Instead of appointing Dharmapala Gammanpila as the Auditor General, the President had given him only an extension in service so as to get rid of him at the first available opportunity and bring in his crony from the Kelaniya University.

The former lawmaker said that the success of the President’s plan depended on the appointment of pliant civil society members to the CC, ready to help advance the NPP’s agenda.

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Poaching: 24 boats, 181 Indians taken into custody so far this year

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Fishermen taken into custody

In spite of specific warnings issued by fisheries minister Ramalingam Chandrasekar to Indian poachers, trawlers are continuously crossing the Indo-Lanka maritime boundary.

Navy headquarters yesterday (14) said that so far this year they have detained 24 Indian fishing boats and taken into custody 181 fishermen for poaching in Sri Lankan waters. The arrested included seven taken off the Delft Island, Jaffna in the early hours of Sunday.

Navy headquarters spokesman said that operations were conducted taking into account the harmful impact of prohibited fishing practices such as bottom trawling resorted to by Indian poachers, on the livelihood of local fishermen.

Having observed Indian fishing boats off Delft, the Northern Naval Command deployed its craft to drive away those Indian fishing boats from island waters, off the Delft Island.

The detained boat and Indian fishermen were brought to the Kankasanthurai Harbour and handed over to the Fisheries Inspector of Mailadi, Jaffna for legal proceedings.

Sailor disinfecting Indian boat (Pix courtesy Navy)

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