-Written by Shantha Jayaratne
(Lanka-e-News -12.Nov.2024, 11.00 pm) According to the Mahavamsa, the responsibility of protecting Buddhism and the land of Sri Lanka was entrusted to Lord Vishnu upon Prince Vijaya’s arrival. Ancient texts mention that Lord Vishnu descends at various times to protect the righteous and punish the wicked. Yet, how many corrupt politicians exist in this land? Why has Lord Vishnu not punished them so far? Did he not see them? Or did he choose to ignore them?
The greatest injustice to the nation over the last five decades has come particularly from a handful of political families who have ruled Sri Lanka. These families continue to live comfortably on the tax money of impoverished citizens without shame. During their rule, they took massive loans at high interest from foreign countries, leading the nation to a debt crisis.
In October 2022, MP Dayasiri Jayasekara revealed at a media briefing that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) awarded a direct contract (unsolicited tender) to Coral Energy DMCC, a company registered in Dubai, to supply 99,673 metric tons of Russian crude oil at a price of $51.2 per barrel (FOB price) to be delivered to the Colombo Port. However, the CPC ended up paying Coral Energy $82.09 per barrel, the market price of Brent crude oil at that time. According to Dayasiri, Coral Energy profited $100 million (approximately 36 billion LKR at that time) from this single tender alone, which took place in October 2022. The minister responsible at that time was Kanchana Wijesekera.
On December 19, 2022, Minister Wijesekera submitted a proposal to purchase 2.1 million metric tons of Murban-Siberian crude oil from Coral Energy for the next four months (from Jan. 1 to Apr. 30, 2023), with three shipments of 700,000 metric tons each. Despite the attorney general advising that the contract with Coral Energy breached contract law, Wijesekera sought Cabinet approval on April 3, 2023, to transfer this contract to another Dubai-registered company, Prontus Trading DMCC, and make all payments to this new company.
While some suppliers offered bids with a premium fee of around $5 per barrel for transportation costs, Coral Energy was paid an unusually high premium of $20-$34 per barrel. All these transactions were made via unsolicited proposals outside the established tender process, allowing Coral Energy to make excessive profits.
Trade union leader Ananda Palitha stated on August 15, 2022, that CPC paid Coral Energy significant demurrage fees due to delays, amounting to $600,000 for a diesel ship on July 16, 2023, and $120,000 per day for a crude oil ship for 34 days from April 25.
It is unacceptable to allow such corrupt politicians to continue their freedom. Every government that comes to power should prevent these figures from looting public wealth. Even if Lord Vishnu has not punished them yet, the upcoming people’s government will ensure that all these corrupt politicians are brought to justice. Their hidden wealth and assets, both locally and internationally, will be reclaimed for the public. It is our duty as voters to elect a government with a powerful majority on November 14, which can enforce stricter laws if necessary. Let’s take the lead in ending this corrupt, vulgar political culture once and for all.
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by (2024-11-12 18:16:44)
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