Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara has rejected claims that the committee report on the 323 containers released from Colombo Port has gone missing, saying all relevant documents and records remain securely held in Parliament.
The committee was appointed by the Speaker, and all official records — including statements from around ten witnesses — are safely maintained, Nanayakkara said, according to the Daily Mirror.
The minister, who chairs the committee, said he was completing the final stages of preparing its report.
Why it has taken this long
Explaining the delay, Nanayakkara said the committee had to work through a substantial volume of evidence — roughly 15 files of transcripts and related documents.
Parliament approved a three-month extension of the committee’s term, with a final deadline of 21 December.
The drafting is finished and the report is in final typing, he said, expressing confidence it would be completed by the end of next week.
The underlying case
The inquiry concerns the release of 323 containers from Colombo Harbour without the mandatory physical inspection — one of the accountability files that has run through Parliament this year alongside the coal tender allegations and the Central Bank hacking incident.
The committee has previously rejected an opposition request to summon four witnesses the opposition said were central to the matter, a decision that drew criticism at the time.
Nanayakkara reiterated that nothing had been lost or misplaced and that all committee records remained intact within Parliament.