No vehicle abandoned near Presidential Secretariat will be auctioned: PMD

• Complaint to be lodged with CID regarding 29 missing vehicles

By Ajith Siriwardana

Clarifying the abandoned luxury vehicles in front of the Presidential Secretariat, President’s private secretary Ananda Wijepala said yesterday 107 vehicles have been parked in three locations and that none of the vehicles will be auctioned.   

Speaking to media, he said these vehicles had been given by the previous government after creating various positions such as advisory positions merely for the purpose of giving perks to their cronies.   

 “People like Akila Viraj, Ruwan Wijewardene, Ashu Marasinghe, Rosy Senanayake, Saman Ratnapriya and Ranjith Keerthi Tennakoon are among those who have returned vehicles,’ he said.    He said the Presidential Secretariat have received the keys of the vehicles and they have been inventoried.    “We will review the vehicle inventory and provide them to essential services such as hospitals, police and the Education Ministry based on their requirements. Some 59 vehicles have been obtained from other state institutions to the Presidential Secretariat. We will hand them back to the respective institutions,” he said.    Wijepala said according to the vehicle inventory, 29 vehicles including motorbikes have gone missing out of the 833 vehicle fleet in the Presidential Secretariat.   

“We will lodge a complaint with the CID regarding the missing vehicles. Some 16 vehicles have been purchased for the Presidential Secretariat in 2022 despite the ban on vehicle import,” he said.