Rajapaksa Museum Established Without Approval Neither From Cabinet Nor From the Weerakatiya Pradeshiya Sabha

The Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) has informed the Colombo Magistrate’s Court yesterday, which required approvals, had not been obtained from relevant institutions in establishing D.A.Rajapaksa Memorial Museum. Filing a report in the court, the FCID stated approvals from the Cabinet and relevant local authority, Weerakatiya Pradeshiya Sabha had not been obtained. The Weerakatiya Pradeshiya Sabha development officer had informed FCID that approval had not been obtained for this Museum.Further, Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (LRDC) has violated financial regulations in payments made for the project without obtaining cabinet and LRDC board approval and signing a legal agreement.

Manpower for the construction was provided by the Srilanka Navy on the verbal instructions of former Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and on the written instructions of then Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (LRDC) Chairman, Harshana de Silva. Chairman Harshana de Silva had inspected the premises with engineer Eshana Ranawake and former Speaker Chamal Rajapakse, who had come to inspect construction work. The BOQ was done on September 13, 2013 on the instructions of LRDC Chairman Harshan de Silva. LRDC legal officers acknowledged the fact that they had not monitored the project properly, since no one responsible from the project came for supervision.