21 July 2011 08:31 am
Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s vehicle was among the thousands of vehicles that had stalled due to substandard petrol imported by the CPC, UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake said today.
MP Karunanayake displayed the damaged parts of the vehicle of the Opposition Leader to the journalists at the UNP media centre yesterday.
He said even though substandard fuel had been imported in previous instances, the problem did not affect the public in a major way.
Mr. Karunanayake added that the issue did not surface as the chemical ‘Emulsifier’ used in petrol which had caused problems to the vehicles had been used to a lesser extent during earlier instances.
“The vehicle which belongs to Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and UNP acting treasurer Senarath Kapukotuwa had also been among the 10,000 vehicles that had been ruined by substandard petrol;” he added.
UNP MP also charged that the fuel that had been imported does not meet the conditions laid out in the cabinet paper. Therefore he said the cabinet approval was given for a government transaction but the CPC had actually purchased the fuel from a private company.
He said no one could put the blame on the Ministry secretary as nothing can be purchased without the approval of the high officials of the government.
Mr. Karunanayake said a request has been made to Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee to probe into the issue.