Deputy Minister Nalin Hewage today (20) strongly denied claims made by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa in Parliament that he had stated a Vitz car was sold for Rs. 1.2 million.

“I am asking the Opposition Leader to prove if I had made a statement that a Vitz car is sold for Rs. 1.2 million. I will resign. If he cannot prove so, then the Opposition Leader must resign,” Hewage said, addressing the House. 

He accused the Opposition of spreading falsehoods and insisted that no such statement had been made. (Newswire)

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Deputy Minister of Vocational Education Nalin Hewage has come under criticism following his claim that Sri Lanka’s Treasury held only US$20 million when the National People’s Power (NPP) Government assumed office.

Speaking at a public meeting in Galle ahead of the Local Government Elections, Hewage said the current administration had increased Treasury reserves to US$6.19 billion.

“The applause doesn’t seem enough. When we have raised 6,190 million dollars to an account which only had 20 million dollars, there should be more applause,” he said.

The statement has drawn backlash, with critics pointing out that Treasury reserves were closer to US$6 billion at the time the previous government left office. 

Social media users also challenged Hewage’s separate claim that there were no gas or fuel supplies when the NPP took over. (Newswire)

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Deputy Minister Nalin Hewage has refuted claims of using unparliamentary language against opposition MP Rohini Kaviratne in Parliament recently.

A clash erupted in Parliament when the Deputy Minister referred to Rohini Kaviratne as Rohini Lama Kaviratne.

Providing a clarification, Deputy Minister Nalin Hewage told the media that MP Kaviratne had claimed that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was paying special attention to his home town Tambuttegama.

“MP Kaviratne said, like Mahinda Rajapaksa developed Hambantota and Maithripala Sirisena developed Polonnaruwa, the President was taking special care of Tambuttegama. She also claimed that compared to the funds allocated to railway stations across the country, a large sum has been allocated to the Tambuttegama Railway Station. These are all false allegations,” he said. 

Stating that the government has been given serious responsibility, the Deputy Minister explained that the government intends to use the railway network to transport essential goods instead of the roads, with the aim of reducing the prices of goods and that the Tambuttegama Railway Station is the closest to the biggest economic centre. 

Deputy Minister Nalin Hewage said MP Kaviratne had made a false statement against the government’s efforts, claiming that the President was developing his home town. 

“Therefore, I said she was behaving like a child and referred to her as Lama Kaviratne. Only children don’t understand major political decisions. That is why I referred to her as Lama Kaviratne. I had no other intentions. However, she is diverting it into another issue. I would like to say the public cannot be misled by such incidents,” he added. 

Soon after the Deputy Minister’s remarks in Parliament, Chief Government Whip Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the comment would be expunged from the Parliament’s Hansard. 

Several Parliamentarians, including Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, also condemned the comment by the NPP Deputy Minister. (Newswire)

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