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Government to probe controversial PA deals

by Ravi Ladduwahetty

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has directed Defence Minister Tilak Marapana to probe a series of controversial deals which were contracted by the previous PA regime, authoritative official sources told the Daily News yesterday.

The deals which the Prime Minister had wanted probed were: the purchase of French locomotives, the SriLankan Airlines privatisation, the Evans International deal, the divestiture of Puttalam Cement to Thawakkal, transactions of Sri Lanka Customs and Channel 9, the sources said.

Defence Minister Marapana will appoint three committees today to conduct these probes and each committee will comprise an attorney-at- law, a senior Police Officer and an accountant, the sources said. The three committees have been required to submit reports to their respective Ministers, the sources said.

The three Committees will be headed by Attorneys: Aritha Wickremanayake (a former Director- General of the Securities Commission), Champaka Ladduwahetty and Ravi Algama.

Therefore, reports on the French locomotives deal and the SriLankan Airlines privatisation will go to Minister Marapana as he holds the Transport portfolio as well. The report on the Evans International Deal and the Customs will go to Finance Minister K.N. Choksy. The report on the Channel 9 scandal will go to Mass Communications Minister Imtiasz Bakeer Markar. The report on the privatisation and divestiture of Puttalam Cement Ltd will go to Minister of Economic Reforms, Science and Technology Milinda Moragoda, they said.

The appointments of the Committees will be made today through the Prime Minister's office by the respective Ministers, the sources said. 

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