25 September 2024 09:49 pm Views - 10578
Colombo, September 25 (Daily Mirror) - Hundreds of vehicles used by former secretaries of various ministries were found abandoned at Galle Face in Colombo soon after the dissolution of parliament last night.
National Peoples’ Power (NPP) member Wasantha Samarasinghe yesterday visited the area and said if Anura Kumara Dissanayaka had not been elected as President, the vehicles parked at Galle Face would still be running on tax payers money.
On Tuesday (24) former ministry secretaries had parked their official vehicles at the Galle Face ground in-front of the President Secretariat.
While inspecting the yard he said this is not the correct place to park these vehicles, but these vehicles have been parked here. This shows how public assets have been misused during the past years.
"Information of 833 vehicles belonging to the Presidential Secretariat were recorded. 29 vehicles have gone missing by 2022. Therefore, we need to question all the former presidents if they swallowed those vehicles when they resigned from their posts. There are 253 belonging to the Presidential Secretariat which are being used for unofficial work. These are the vehicles that were parked at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute and near Laksala," he said.
"This is a clear example of how the NPP government is working to stop the waste of public funds. It marks the beginning of ending fraud, corruption, and the misuse of public assets and money," he said.
"We have already requested details regarding the vehicles issued by the Presidential Secretariat, including information on who used them and who is responsible for them."
He pointed out that while officials may have done their duties, these vehicles were abandoned without any accountability.
"This is just the start under the NPP government. These are clear signs that public assets were previously misused. Now, those responsible are forming alliances and parties to regain power and continue wasting public resources."
"More details will come to light before the general election. We're receiving lists of those accountable for the Easter attacks, the Bond Scam, and the Bar License scandals," he further said.
He also highlighted that bar licenses were reportedly sold for Rs. 30-40 million during the previous government.
"At the same time, if we could recover the Rs.10 to Rs.18 Billion allegedly belonging to the Rajapaksas, supposedly hidden in Uganda, we wouldn't need to depend on loans."
He also said that the abandoned vehicles are the property of the people, and their misuse shows a lack of responsibility within the Presidential Secretariat. The president has instructed investigators to trace those persons responsible for the misuse of these vehicles.
Pix by Kithsiri de Mel