18 May 2016 10:14 pm
Joint Cabinet Spokesman Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne told the weekly Cabinet news briefing that not only the members of the Joint Opposition, the Mahinda Rajapaksa camp and public sector officials and senior Police officers, who benefitted from the Rajapaksa Government, certain Ministers also would do everything to scuttle the ongoing investigations against corruption, money laundering, frauds, and embezzlement that allegedly took place under the Rajapaksa regime.
“Four Ministers including Minister Champika Ranawaka and I discussed the ongoing investigations by the Financial Crime Investigation Division (FCID) the other day and decided to make a request to the FCID to submit a report on the investigations completed.
“But one Minister has put our efforts in ex-President Rajapaksa’s ear and the following morning he disclosed the contents in the Cabinet paper in Kandy and added that there was a move by the Government to arrest him and Namal, Basil and some other family members.
“This is treachery on the part of this Minister,” Minister Senaratne said.
He said President Maithripala Sirisena was fully supportive to their move and instructed not to obtain the FCID reports through the Cabinet, when the relevant Cabinet paper was submitted on Tuesday.
“President Sirisena is aware of the double dealing of this particular minister and few others. They will be removed from the Cabinet shortly with a couple of other Ministers whose performance is nil,” Minister Senaratne added.
Responding to a journalist on the mediocre publicity given to the last week’s exposure of the alleged transfer of money amounting to Rs. 12.6 billion on January 9, 2015, by the Chief of Staff of former President Rajapaksa, Minister Senaratne said a large section of the media was still with members of the previous regime and did not support the anti-corruption drive of the Consensual Government.
“In other countries, the media takes the lead of the fight corruption. In our country many journalists and media institutions do the very opposite of it,” Dr. Senaratne charged.
He added that he wondered whether they get paid from those agencies and politicians.
Minister Senaratne revealed that when the FCID first questioned the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) of the Central Bank about the money transfer, the head of the unit, an ASP of the Rajapaksa Camp, had said there was no such transaction taken place on that day.
“But during the inquiries it has been revealed that the money has been delivered in bags from the BoC City Branch to the residence of Mr. Senarat from nine in the morning to 4 p.m. by the driver, who has changed three cheque leaves given to him.
Minister Senaratne said the VAT increase was the result of massive scale frauds, money laundering and embezzlement under the Rajapaksa regime and therefore the blame must go to it
He added that the people must punish those who still rally around that clique. (Sandun A Jayasekera)
Video by Rishan