Two former Deputy Chief Secretaries attached to the Southern Province Chief Secretary’s Office were arrested by investigating officers from the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over corruption allegations.
The arrested individuals are former Deputy Chief Secretary (Finance) Poddiwala Kankanamge Sunil and former Deputy Chief Secretary (Planning and Operations) Samaraweera Gamage Vidura Prasanna.
The charges relate to the procurement of armless plastic chairs in 2019 by the Southern Province Development Authority. Utilizing Rs. 16.5 million from Provincial Council Members' provisions, chairs were purchased from a private company to be distributed to the residential offices of Southern Provincial Council Members. This was allegedly done in violation of the procurement limits specified in the Southern Province Chief Secretary Circular (Finance) 3/2016. During this distribution process, a Provincial Council Member from the Galle District had refused to accept the 305 chairs allocated to them.
Following the dissolution of the Southern Provincial Council on April 10, 2019, the aforementioned Member requested that the chairs be purchased and provided again (despite an advance payment of Rs. 300,000 from the Member's allocated provisions having already been settled). It is alleged that the accused reinitiated the procurement process without obtaining the necessary approval from the Governor. They are charged with causing a financial loss to the government by purchasing 408 armless plastic chairs from another private institution in Galle and arranging for them to be transported and delivered to the Member's residence.
After being taken into custody, both suspects were produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court, where they were subsequently released on bail.
