Credibility of govt’s answers to parliamentary oral questions compromised: Opposition

• SupremeSAT confirms that the satellite  launched in 2013 remains in orbit at 87.5° East
• Minister alleges BOI officers provided inaccurate statistics

By Yohan Perera  

The credibility of answers provided by the government to oral  questions in Parliament is now compromised with two contradictory answers provided to the query regarding Supreme SAT investments in Sri Lanka.  

Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, who responded to a  question raised by D. V. Chanaka on SupremeSAT Ltd, stated that the company has paid dividends  to the government totalling an average of Rs 20 billion annually  from 2015 to mid-2023. She said the communications satellite launched in  2013 has provided communication services to the Sri Lankan public. 

Trade Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe later contradicted  Prime Minister Amarasuriya, stating that the Prime Minister had been fed  inaccurate statistics for her answer by the Board of Investment. Later,  the Minister told a talk show telecast over a private TV channel that  the relevant officers had failed to convert the decimals of the figures  involved. He therefore said SupremeSAT has earned only Rs 19,617,000  during its operations in Sri Lanka. “These officers at BOI are  responsible for the error. This has damaged the Prime Minister’s  reputation,” the Minister said. 

The Minister added that the company has failed to pay  royalties to the Sri Lankan government for using its airspace to launch  the satellite. The “CID is currently conducting a probe on this and on the disappearance of SupremeSAT’s assets and liabilities from its financial  records,” he also said. 

Commenting on the matter, Chief Opposition Whip Gayantha  Karunatilleka said the credibility of the answers provided by the  government in response to oral questions is now compromised.   

“Minister Samarasinghe somewhat contradicted the answer  given by Prime Minister Amarasuriya on SupremeSAT investments in Sri  Lanka. The Prime Minister did not clarify the situation in the House  after the remarks made by Minister Samarasinghe. Therefore, there seems  to be no credibility in the answers provided by the government in  response to various questions raised by the opposition. We can no longer  rely on the answers that are given by the government in response to  questions raised in the House,” Mr. Karunatilleka told Daily Mirror.  

“One wonders whether there is a division within the government on this matter and otherwise,” he added.  

In the meantime, SupremeSAT confirmed that the satellite  launched in 2013 remains in orbit at 87.5° East, precisely where it was  positioned upon launch.   

It said in a statement that SupremeSAT welcomes the long-awaited public acknowledgement, after 13 years, that the SupremeSAT  satellite was successfully launched and no government funds were used  for the project.  

“Discussions about our private company accounts, conducted  without our participation, are both inappropriate and misleading,  especially when driven by those lacking the technical understanding and  operational insight necessary to comment on a complex, globally  integrated business such as ours.  

SupremeSAT operates under stringent contractual, regulatory  and technical obligations across multiple jurisdictions. Our operations  meet and exceed internationally recognised standards in performance,  compliance and transparency, consistent with the practices of leading  global satellite operators.  

“While we remain unaffected by baseless claims, we are firm  in expressing our dissatisfaction with the continued misrepresentation  of our work. SupremeSAT will remain focused on delivering its projects,  honouring its commitments and upholding its reputation as a trusted,  world-class operator in the space sector.  

“For accurate information about our company, its history  and the scope of our operations, we encourage all interested parties to  visit www.supremesat.com,” the statement further said.