• The government had no moral right to make the payment from public funds,  as members of the general public were not involved in the transaction

By Ajith Siriwardana  

Claiming that the payment of US$ 6.7 million to the Chinese fertiliser company should not be made from the taxpayers’ money, JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said yesterday that it should be paid by the two Agriculture Ministers and the Chairpersons of the two Fertiliser Companies.   

He told a news conference that the government had no moral right to make the payment from public funds, as members of the general public were not involved in the transaction whatsoever.  
“It is the Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, State Minister Shashindra Rajapaksa and Chairpersons of Ceylon Fertiliser Company and Colombo Commercial Fertiliser Ltd. who should make the payment,” he said.  
The JVP Parliamentarian said samples of the said fertiliser should have been tested before opening the Letter of Credit (LC) and added that it should be investigated as to who opened the LCs and who had given instructions to do so.  

“Opening an LC is the final step of the importing process and the buyer is bound to make the payment once the shipment arrives at the port. Samples should have been tested before opening the LC. It should be investigated as to who had opened the LCs and who had given instructions to do so before testing the samples,” he said. 

• Samples of the said fertiliser should have been tested before opening the Letter of Credit