Fourty acres of land located in the Chandrika Wewa Division of the Walawa System was wrongfully leased to a foreign private company during the Yahapalana regime, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Hesha Vithanage yesterday (24) said in Parliament.
MP Vithanage requested the Minister of Irrigation and State Minister of National Security, Home Affairs and Disaster Management Chamal Rajapaksa to rectify this wrongful act stating that the said lands should be at least utilised by local companies the least. In reply Minister Rajapaksa stated that he shall look into the matter and lest the said company fails to fulfill the conditions in the agreement, the Government shall be able to terminate it after 30 years as the law permits.
MP Vithanage explaining the matter said, “I am not trying to white wash the Yahapalana Government. Whoever did it, it is wrong. These are resources that should be kept within the country. I personally believe that the very officer, who provided you the information on this agreement, is trying to mislead you. To the best of my knowledge the only relevant document that is available in the file relating to the said agreement, is a letter issued by a then Yahapalana Minister. We don’t know what kind of a commission was given to a deal as such.
I would like to request Minister Chamal Rajapaksa to look into the matter and rectify it.”