Basil and Priyath Bandu return to PRECIFAC

Wednesday, 21 September 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shanika Sriyananda

The anti-corruption commission will have two sessions of public hearings on Friday to expedite its ongoing investigations into the alleged misuse of public funds through the water filling ceremony and opening of the Hambantota port and the misuse of Air Force flights by former Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

The former Chairman of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Dr. Priyath Bandu Wickrama and the then Board of Directors of the SLPA will be questioned at the public hearing.

The former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa will also be questioned about his alleged involvement in the misuse of SLAF helicopters during his ministerial tenure, at the public hearing to be held in the afternoon on the same day.

They will be questioned by a five-member commission which will include High Court Judges Padman Surasena, Piyasena Ranasinghe and Gihan Kulatunga and former Auditor General B.A. Premathilake of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption and Abuse of Power (PRECIFAC).

The first phase of the Hambantota port was ceremonially opened by then President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 18 November 2010. With a total estimated cost of $ 361 million for the first phase, 85% of the total cost was funded by the ExIm Bank of China.

Several top officials of the previous Government were grilled by PRECIFAC police investigators who found that a loss of Rs. 138 million was incurred by the Government by holding the two ceremonies – the water-filling ceremony and the opening of the Magampura Port in 2010.

Preliminary investigations were carried out by a team of police investigators led by ASP Lalith Abeysekara and assisted by Chief Inspector Geethika Bodhipaksa.