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By Rathindra Kuruwita
Parliamentarians Mangala Samaraweera, Sripathi Sooriyarachchi and Dilip Wedaarachchi yesterday presented a no confidence motion to speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara against tourism minister Milinda Moragoda over the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) findings.
The three MPs noted that the COPE report reveals that Mercantile Credit Ltd has avoided the re-payment of the loan obtained from the Central Bank.

Mercantile Credit Ltd had utilized the loan in 13 companies operating under its name of which Moragoda is a director. The objective of obtaining the loan was to pay its depositors.

“It has been revealed that Mercantile Credit Ltd has to pay Rs. 5 billion to the Central bank and Mr. Moragoda and several family members have misused the finances of Mercantile Credit Ltd,” the letter addressed to the speaker states.

Samaraweera, Sooriyarachchi and Wedaarachchi accuse that under Moragoda’s leadership Mercantile Credit Ltd has also obtained a loan of Rs. 120 million from Bank of Ceylon and defaulted re-payment. In addition they claim that Moragoda, as Minister of Economic reforms, has been the cause Lanka Marine Services making a massive loss of Rs 1.7 billion after the institute was privatised. They also claim in the letter that Moragoda illegally interfered with the sale of 90% at the time of privatising Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation.

The three MPs demanded why the Central Bank had not taken any action against Moragoda and the board of directors in connection with this financial fraud in the similar manner when action was filed against the directors of finance companies such as HPT and Hideki who were punished, although the funds they had obtained were far less.

They went on to state in the letter that the fact that Mr. Moragoda is a minister should not prevent legal action from being taken against him. They added that such a person should not be given the opportunity to hold an important position in the government and immediate action should be taken against Mr. Moragoda.

In reply Minister of Tourism asked the speaker to take the no confidence motion into debate at the earliest. Mr. Moragoda said “I want the truth to be revealed. So I want this to be debated in parliament at the earliest.”