Rs 1.3 B Samurdhi funds misappropriated by government – JVP
By Ravi Ladduwahetty-Thursday, 05 Dec 2013
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), charged in Parliament yesterday that the government has misappropriated Samurdhi funds to the tune of Rs 1,387 million, which should have gone to the savings accounts of Samurdhi beneficiaries but had instead used them for Divi Neguma projects.
Participating in the Third Reading stage on the Budget 2014, under the Expenditure Heads of the Ministries of Economic Development and Investment Promotion, JVP Parliamentary Group Leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, charged in Parliament that this was an absurd situation where the government has spent the interest on the deposits on Divi Neguma projects instead of rightfully crediting them to Samurdhi recipients' accounts.
He also claimed that a portion of the funds had been transferred to the Divi Neguma bank account for promotion and advertising with Rs 10 million already spent on the President's investiture ceremony.
Divi Neguma Authority funds had also been used for Diriya Matha and children's fund projects which are a flagrant contravention of the laws governing the Samurdi Authority, and this was at a time when the Divi Neguma Authority had not even been launched, Dissanayake charged.
He also said that the government had not registered some of the associations providing these funds with the Central Bank, which was a mandatory requirement, and which had been listed in the COPE report as well.
Further, Dissanayake proposed a parliamentary debate on James Packer and his proposed investments, and how sweeping tax concessions had been afforded to him when the masses were not afforded any benefit or tax concessions.
"This is an absurd situation where the government gave tax concessions to Packer and Crown Investments, then cancelled the Gazette, and said it was bringing in a new one," he said.
Dissanayake also showed a report to the House of Packer's proposals and asked the House how Packer could produce a report to the government without the government having submitted the second Gazette. "What is this amazing power that James Packer has in this country, and is James Packer more powerful than the Parliament of Sri Lanka?" Dissanayake queried.
"This is the first time that the Casino mogul is a part of Sri Lanka's economic policy, which the government has not declared in the 2014 Budget," Dissanayake stated.
By Ravi Ladduwahetty-Thursday, 05 Dec 2013The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), charged in Parliament yesterday that the government has misappropriated Samurdhi funds to the tune of Rs 1,387 million, which should have gone to the savings accounts of Samurdhi beneficiaries but had instead used them for Divi Neguma projects.
Participating in the Third Reading stage on the Budget 2014, under the Expenditure Heads of the Ministries of Economic Development and Investment Promotion, JVP Parliamentary Group Leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, charged in Parliament that this was an absurd situation where the government has spent the interest on the deposits on Divi Neguma projects instead of rightfully crediting them to Samurdhi recipients' accounts.
He also claimed that a portion of the funds had been transferred to the Divi Neguma bank account for promotion and advertising with Rs 10 million already spent on the President's investiture ceremony.
Divi Neguma Authority funds had also been used for Diriya Matha and children's fund projects which are a flagrant contravention of the laws governing the Samurdi Authority, and this was at a time when the Divi Neguma Authority had not even been launched, Dissanayake charged.
He also said that the government had not registered some of the associations providing these funds with the Central Bank, which was a mandatory requirement, and which had been listed in the COPE report as well.
Further, Dissanayake proposed a parliamentary debate on James Packer and his proposed investments, and how sweeping tax concessions had been afforded to him when the masses were not afforded any benefit or tax concessions.
"This is an absurd situation where the government gave tax concessions to Packer and Crown Investments, then cancelled the Gazette, and said it was bringing in a new one," he said.
Dissanayake also showed a report to the House of Packer's proposals and asked the House how Packer could produce a report to the government without the government having submitted the second Gazette. "What is this amazing power that James Packer has in this country, and is James Packer more powerful than the Parliament of Sri Lanka?" Dissanayake queried.
"This is the first time that the Casino mogul is a part of Sri Lanka's economic policy, which the government has not declared in the 2014 Budget," Dissanayake stated.
