Rs.9 mn owed to SLAF by 10 public institutions

It was revealed in parliament that Rs.9 million was owed to the Sri Lanka Air Force from ten public institutions including the presidential secretariat and the prime minister's office for providing aviation services from 2003 to 2018.

State Minister of Defence Chamal Rajapaksa said this in Parliament in response to a question asked by JVP MP Nalinda Jayatissa about the 10 public institutions that owed money and the steps taken to recover them.

He said Rs.2.3 million was due from the Presidential Secretariat from May 31, 2014 to January 2, 2015 while Rs.541,778 was due from the Prime Minister’s Office from December 20, 2018.

The minister said Rs.595,670 was due from Public Administration, Disaster Management and Livestock ministry from 2003, Rs.836, 165 from Housing and Construction Ministry from 2004, Rs. 542,454 from Megapolis and Western Development ministry from 2005 while Rs.720,225 from Labour and Trade Union Relations Ministry from 2005 and Rs. 75,690 from Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ministry from 2013.

He said Rs.416,000 was due from Ports and Aviation Ministry from 2013, Rs. 1.6 million from the Foreign Ministry from 2013 and 2014 while Rs. 1.3 million from National Policies,Economic Affairs, Resettlement & Rehabilitation, Nothern Province Development, Vocational Training & Skills Development and Youth Affairs ministry from 2018.

The minister said the SLAF has informed the relevant institutions in writing to settle the arrears and added that the officials of the ministries and public institutions have informed the air force about their difficulties in settling the arrears.

He said the air force has taken action to seek directions from the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) by the Department of National Budget regarding these difficulties.  (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)