The parliamentary special committee investigating the release of 323 containers from the Colombo Port without mandatory physical inspection has rejected an opposition request to summon four key witnesses, opposition MP Ajith P. Perera said on Wednesday.
In a statement on social media, Perera said committee members had proposed that Finance and Economic Development Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake, former Ports Minister Bimal Ratnayake, former Deputy Minister Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku and the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance be called to give evidence. The request was voted down by the government-representing members of the committee, he said.
The 12-member panel comprises eight government MPs and four opposition MPs, giving the ruling side a decisive majority on all procedural motions.
The opposition argued the four officials’ evidence was essential to clarify the decision-making chain that allowed the containers to leave the port without mandatory physical checks. In a letter dated 7 April addressed to Committee Chairman Harshana Nanayakkara, opposition MPs had formally requested the summoning of these witnesses.
The outcome closes off — at least for now — the accountability route opposition members had pressed for when they first submitted the proposal earlier this month. It also concentrates the committee’s remaining inquiry on officials further down the chain.
The 323-container investigation is a distinct parliamentary track running alongside the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the coal scandal and the broader customs and ports accountability debate.
NPP response. Government MP Najith Indika (NPP) told Newswire on Thursday that the opposition had failed to establish why the four individuals needed to be summoned. “At yesterday’s meeting we did not oppose the summoning of any witness. This is an investigative committee, and it has been conducting a systematic probe into the matter. New witnesses cannot simply be added outside of the procedure we have followed thus far. There must be clear relevance for summoning a witness,” Indika said. The government side had offered to consent if the opposition could submit the witnesses’ relevance “in the coming days or weeks, but they failed to establish the relevance.” Indika acknowledged a vote had taken place but disputed the opposition’s framing, calling Ajith P. Perera’s claim that the committee had defeated a request to summon key witnesses “completely wrong.”
Sources: Newswire — opposition statement · Newswire — NPP MP response
