Statement on storing paddy at Mattala Airport

By Yoshitha Perera 

  
Former SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ajith Dias has been issued a notice to appear before the CID unit attached to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) to investigate corruption of the current administration on August 9. 

 Mr. Dias will provide a statement on the decision to store paddy at the Mattala Airport in 2015.

Mr. Dias had sent a letter using SriLankan Airlines letterhead to Charitha Ratwatta, Senior Advisor to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, stating that they are willing to permit the Paddy Marketing Board (PMD) to use the Mattala Airport as a paddy store according to a request by the government.   

Police officers attached to the PCoI visited Mattala Airport last month and observed the premises. They observed that storing of paddy inside the buildings had caused damaged of around Rs. 5 million approximately.   

These include the damages caused by rats and they had caused damages mainly to the panel rooms which attached the main switches of the airport.  The PMD had paid Airport and Aviation Services Ltd, Rs.835,132 per month as rent for storing paddy for a period of six months.