Bond scam no fault of mine, says Ranil

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana   
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in Parliament yesterday said that those who question him about the bond scam should read the report of the Presidential Commission which probed the issue as it had not faulted him for anything.

The Prime Minister said this while winding up the debate on his expenditure head in Parliament last evening. He was actually responding to a question raised by UPFA MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara earlier during the day. “Has Mr. Nanayakkara read the bond commission report yet?” he asked.   

Responding to another question raised by Mr. Nanayakkara, whether Mr. Wickremesinghe was aware that he was the third respondent of the case he filed in the Supreme Courts against the privatization of Lanka Marine Services Ltd, Mr. Wickremesinghe said the transaction was done in 2000 and therefore it was not relevant as neither he nor Mr. Nanayakkara were ministers in that government.  

The Prime Minister said Sri Lanka’s apparel export earnings were US$ 2800 million in 2004 and rose to US$4600 million in 2015. In Vietnam he said the apparel exports earnings rose to US$ 27,500 million in 2015 from US$ 4900 in 2004. He said the situation in Bangladesh was the same as apparel exports in that country rose to US$25,500 million in 2015 from US$5700 million in 2004. “Sri Lanka has actually conceded the market in the golden era,” he said.   

He said the oil refinery in Hambantota would be commissioned in a few weeks together with the industrial zone there. “More zones will come up in Milleniya and Trincomalee while we have already launched another zone in Bingiriya.”