Former Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera has refuted recent media reports claiming that the previous Government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe failed to recover due revenue from Petroleum Dealers.
Taking to ‘X’, the former minister rejected the ‘misleading and false headline’, stating that they are being circulated on social media in a false manner.
“In April 2022 when I assumed duties at the Ministry of Power and Energy, instructions were given to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to recover due revenue from lease agreements, rentals and dealer margins from the decisions which were approved by the CPC board in 2006 and not implemented until 2014.
“The Ministry instructed the CPC in 2022 to recover the revenue that was due from 2014. When the CPC started recovering in 2022, the Petroleum Dealers Association prevented the CPC recovery with an interim order against the decision,” he said.
Providing further details, Kanchana Wijesekera said after two years of legal battles, on the 30th of August 2024 the High Court of Civil Appeals dismissed the order and the appeal and paved the way for the CPC to recover lost revenue.
“In the meantime, the CPC appointed a committee to probe the officials who had failed to recover dues over the last 10 years. The investigation report with the recommendations was handed over to the CPC on the 11th of September 2024.
“Accordingly the CPC has taken necessary steps to interdict officials named and steps to file legal action against the rest. Since the interdiction took place during the election period, the approval was required from the election commission to interdict the officials,” he said.
The former minister added that it was now up to the current Government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to follow through with the process, recover the lost revenue, and pass down the benefit of the court decision to the consumers. (Newswire)