29 March 2022 12:00 am Views - 321
By Yohan Perera
Chief Government Whip and Highways Minister Johnston Fernando has demanded one billion rupees as damages from former JVP MP Wasantha Samarasinghe, who recently alleged that a fraud to the tune of Rs 164.4 billion took place in constructing the Second Phase of the Central Expressway.
Minister Fernando, in a letter of demand sent through his lawyer, stated that Samarasinghe made false allegations at a press conference on Feb 20 and that the latter continued to repeat the same false, malicious and defamatory allegations through various media platforms.
The letter of demand by Attorney-at-Law Kasun Weerasekera said: “I am instructed that you convened a press conference on or about 20th February 2022 under the banner of ‘Voice Against Corruption Organization’ whereby you intentionally, falsely, wrongfully, and maliciously prejudiced and defamed my client by stating that my client is in the process of committing a financial fraud amounting to Rs. 164.4 Billion during the construction of the 20km stretch of the Central Expressway from Galagedara to Rambukkana.
“Details of the said defamatory statements levelled against my client by you at the aforesaid press conference dated 20th February 2022 are inter-alia as follows; i. That tenders had been called for the construction of the aforesaid 20km stretch of the Central Expressway from Galagedara to Rambukkana, ii. That approval of tenders for the aforesaid project are under the purview of a Cabinet Appointed Negotiating Committee designated as CANC, iii. That bids were submitted by two companies, namely a Chinese Company named Metallurgical Corporation (MCC) and a Sri Lankan Company named Lanka Infrastructure Development Consortium (LIDC), iv. That the lower bid submitted by MCC amounting to USD $ 1,050 million (Rs. 210 Billion) had been rejected by the said Committee in favour of the higher bid submitted by LIDC amounting to USD $ 1,872 million (Rs. 374.4 Billion).”
While vehemently denying the false, wrongful malicious and defamatory allegations levelled by Samarasinghe, the Minister states that the Second Phase project of the Central Expressway was still in the procurement stage and tenders have yet to be even called for the said project. Only four companies have so far subjected themselves to be assessed at the procurement stage of this project, and no such Chinese Company by the name referred to by you has submitted a proposal for the same.
The lawyer’s letter said: “In the said circumstances, I am instructed that the contents of the aforesaid statements uttered by you and given wide publicity in the print and electronic media as well as on your official Youtube and Facebook page/channel are patently false, and have been deliberately and maliciously stated by you without any evidence to shock the conscience of the public at large and cause public outrage and hatred towards my client by falsely alleging that a such colossal and unprecedented sum of Rs. 164.4 Billion has been defrauded by my client, a figure that is purportedly over ten times more than the purported loss suffered by the State due to the infamous Bond Scam of 2015- 2017 period which in itself caused significant public outrage at the time.