CIABOC urged to deal with NPP the way it dealt with Mahindananda, Nalin

Declaring that large-scale premeditated coal import fraud had caused massive losses, ex-Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka has urged the CIABOC (Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption) to deal with it, the way former Ministers Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Nalin Fernando were dealt with.

The Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar sentenced Aluthgamage and former Sathosa Chairman Fernando on 29th May, 2025, for 20 and 25 years RI, respectively, for committing the offence of corruption by procuring 14,000 carrom boards and 11,000 checkers boards, through Sathosa, to distribute to schools and sports clubs selected by the Sports Ministry, and distributing them to party offices of the government during the 2015 Presidential Election, thus causing a loss of over Rs. 53 mn to the government.

Ranawaka, in a statement posted over the weekend on social media, based on documents furnished to Parliament by the CEB recently, declared that the procurement of substandard coal through an Indian company, faulted for money laundering, has so far resulted in a staggering loss of Rs 1,759 mn.

According to the former Colombo District lawmaker, the losses had been brought down to Rs 1,759 mn after the supplier compensated the government to the tune of Rs 1,037. Pointing out that the losses had been estimated at Rs. 2,796 before the supplier was fined, Ranawaka emphasised that the losses mentioned in CEB documents pertained to four shipments of inferior quality coal.

Ranawaka who had been at the forefront of anti-corruption campaigns over the years said that the government reached an agreement with the controversial supplier and so far only six of the 25 coal shipments were received. Based on the losses so far accrued due to the use of inferior quality coal at the Norochcholai Lakvijaya coal-fired power plant, Ranawaka pointed out gravity of the situation.

Commenting on the penalties imposed on the supplier, Ranawaka said that as he had secured shipments at a much lower cost-perhaps USD 30 to 40 per ton less than the usual rate, paying compensation wouldn’t have been an issue.

The former parliamentarian flayed the CIABOC for its failure to investigate the coal fraud in spite of several complaints lodged with it. Ranawaka warned that the country would have to face the consequences of using what he called low-grade coal. The damages to the plant would have to be estimated later, Ranawaka said, while underscoring the importance of using coal aligned with the plant design.

The Island received a copy of letter CEB General Manager Engineer K.S.I. Kumara sent to the Secretary to the Energy Ministry that exposed the procurement of low-quality coal.

Alleging that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the entire cabinet of ministers should be held responsible for the procurement of low-quality products knowing the consequences, Ranawaka underscored the need to identify all those who benefited from the coal deal. The ex-lawmaker questioned the possibility of the coal deal being part of a money laundering project.

Ranawaka said that the powers that be wanted 7.5 mn electricity consumers to bear the losses resulting from the corrupt deal. Having repeatedly promised to slash electricity tariffs substantially, the government was now aiming to crease tariffs by 13.5 percent. Hapless Sri Lankans were charged higher rates at a time crude oil and gas were low in the international market, he claimed.

Ranawaka urged the public to protest while calling for an organized campaign to highlight the corruption at the highest levels of the incumbent dispensation. Ranawaka said that slapping of fines proved that coal shipments hadn’t met the stipulated specifications and all attempts by the current dispensation to shield those responsible failed.

At the onset of his statement, Ranawaka said that the government entered into this corrupt coal deal in spite of the Attorney General’s Office advising them to do away with slack procedures in place during the economic crisis.

Following a recent visit to the power stations, former UNP Deputy Minister Ajith P. Perera, who is also a member of the Constitutional Council eclared that the coal scam had been confirmed. “The biggest tender under the NPP government is corrupt,” the attorney-at-law alleged.

By Shamindra Ferdinando