• He had made the statement at a Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday

Media have misquoted my statement 

Media Minister and Cabinet Spokesman Bandula Gunawardena said his statement with regard to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s expenses to fly to Thailand from Singapore in a chartered flight had been misquoted in certain media.

He had made the statement in response to a question raised by a journalist at a Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday, he responded that former and incumbent Presidents are entitled to certain privileges by law.  
He said he never mentioned anything regarding Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s visit to Thailand from Singapore. Media have misquoted my statement that I mentioned that the government has footed the bill for Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s visit to Thailand from Singapore,” he said.  

Media yesterday reported that responding to a journalist at Tuesday’s post-cabinet news briefing, Minister Gunawardana had said that the Sri Lanka government paid the bill as it was the responsibility of the government and few hours later the government refuted the statement.