10 September 2019 12:01 am
By Yoshitha Perera
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been summoned to appear before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) to investigate corruption of the current administration on September 12 to provide a statement on the Cabinet paper approved in 2016 in connection with the lease of D.P.A. Jayasinghe building which houses the Agriculture Ministry.
It was earlier reported to the commission that the Cabinet paper was submitted by the premier to lease out the building situated in Rajagiriya to relocate the Agriculture Ministry.
However, providing a five-hour long statement to the commission, Secretary to the Prime Minister Saman Ekanayake informed that the building was leased on an exorbitant monthly rental due to the inefficiency of the ministry officials. He also informed the commission that the lease agreement with D.P.A. Jayasinghe & Company and the Agriculture Ministry was inked in 2016 sans the approval of the Attorney General (AG).
As the agreement had been signed without a termination clause, the ministry has to pay the rental until 2021.