Heated exchange over keeping two choppers at President’s disposal

Ministries, Prez Secretariat owed SLAF nearly Rs 1 bn

By Saman Indrajith

The government and the Opposition had a heated exchange yesterday in Parliament over the state-owned helicopters placed at the disposal of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and an allegation that the Presidential Secretariat had not paid the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) for chopper rides.

SJB MP Hesha Withanage asked why the Air Force continued to provide chopper rides to the President and his office at a time it has not been able to recover as much as Rs. 1 billion from several state institutions. He asked what those institutions were and how much they owed the SLAF.

 Minister Chamal Rajapaksa said that the 10 state institutions were Ministry of Upcountry New Villages, Estate Infrastructure & Community Development (Rs 595,570), Housing and Construction Ministry (Rs 836,165), Megapolis and Western Development Ministry (Rs 542,454), Ministry of Labour and Labour Relations (Rs 720,225), Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ministry (Rs 75,690), Ports and Civil Aviation Ministry (Rs 416,002), Foreign Affairs Ministry (Rs 1,621,254), Presidential Secretariat (Rs 2,398,099), National Policies and Economic Affairs Ministry (Rs 1,314,166) and Prime Minister’s Office (Rs 541,777).

Some of the dues could not be recovered as their documents do not exist in ministries because the statutory bodies had been shifted and changed from ministry to ministry several times. Therefore an investigation conducted into those expenses had recommended that some of them be written off from the books.

The SJB MP questioned why two helicopters had been placed at the disposal of the President.

He said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised during the Presidential election to curtail the use of state properties, and questioned if the President had made any such changes during his tenure thus far.

 MP Withanage inquired if this practice would continue in the future, at the expense of the SLAF.

Minister Chamal Rajapaksa said the President had been provided with two helicopters for security reasons. “The President has actually pruned down many expenses. He lives in his own home and used only three vehicles in his escort, the Minister said.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena then called on MP Vithanage to wear his face mask when addressing Parliament.

SJB MP Manusha Nanayakara, raising a point of order, thereafter called out the Speaker for acting in a partial manner.

He said the speaker allowed MP Chamal Rajapaksa to respond to questions without a mask and had at the same time instructed the Opposition MP to wear a mask.

MP Nanayakkara said it was the responsibility of the Speaker to remain impartial during Parliament sessions.