Health and Mass Media Minister Nalinda Jayatissa has defended the government’s decision to appoint a Presidential Commission to investigate coal procurement, arguing that administrations since 2010 had systematically failed to follow proper procedures when purchasing coal for the Norochcholai Lakvijaya Power Plant.
Speaking to The Island a day after the no-confidence motion against Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody was defeated 153-49, Jayatissa said 462 coal shipments had been imported since 2010 at a cost of billions of rupees, with successive Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe-era governments all falling short on quality controls.
The minister said the current NPP government is introducing stricter quality standards and pursuing approximately USD 17 million in penalties from suppliers who delivered substandard coal. He also assured there would be no power cuts and no electricity tariff increases under the current government — a politically significant pledge given the 53% tariff hike request submitted by the National System Operator to PUCSL.
Jayatissa’s remarks frame the NCM defeat as a vindication of the government’s approach: rather than shielding the Energy Minister from accountability, the NPP is positioning the Presidential Commission — staffed by Supreme Court judges and covering all coal procurement from 2009 to the present — as evidence of institutional reform.
The opposition SJB and SLPP bloc led by G.L. Peiris had argued the commission was a deflection tactic announced mid-debate to secure government votes.
