Nimal, Welgama clash over SLTB EPF

9 December 2015 01:55 pm

The Minister of Transport Nimal Siripala De Silva and his predecessor Kumara Welgama had a showdown over the payment of EPF to Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) employees in Parliament today.

Welgama who spoke earlier during the Committee Stage debate of the budget criticised the present regime saying the EPF had not been paid to the SLTB employees. He said the payments made by the previous regime had been stopped by the present government.

Also, he said plans are afoot to sell a land belonging to the ministry in Colombo by the present regime.

Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva, who spoke later said the previous government had failed to pay EPF and had not paid the same to the employees for five years, while he had taken initial steps to resolve the issue once he took over the ministry.

The Minister denied that a land was to be sold and said the plot of land was looked at to construct a depot.

"Don’t make false statements," Minister De Siva told Welgama.

Minister De Siva ultimately challenged Welgama saying he will do what his predecessor could not do during his tenure as the Transport Minister. (Yohan Perera)