A cabinet paper to re-acquire SLIIT, which was privatized through a 'ploy'

The government confirmed in Parliament that a cabinet paper has been submitted to re-transfer the management of the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) in Malabe back to the Mahapola Trust Fund. Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development, Wasantha Samarasinghe, revealed this yesterday (05) while responding to several controversial issues that have arisen regarding SLIIT.

Responding to an oral question raised by Samagi Jana Balawegaya's Ratnapura District MP Hesha Withanage, the Minister pointed out that a comprehensive investigation into SLIIT had been conducted over the past two years since the government came to power. Accordingly, he further stated that complaints regarding the relevant incidents have already been lodged with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Explaining the background of the change in SLIIT's management, the Minister severely criticized the 'fraudulent agreement' signed in this regard during the 2015 'Yahapalana' government. He recalled that Mr. Sajith served as the Deputy Leader of that government and revealed to Parliament that due to this erroneous agreement, former Chief Justice Sripavan, who was then the Chairman of the Mahapola Trust Fund, even resigned from his post. Subsequently, the Mahapola Trust Fund did not make any calls for a period of two years, and later steps were taken to reconvene it under a former Chief Justice or Auditor General.

The Minister explained the financial issue behind this transaction with numerical data. From 2005 to 2015, SLIIT had retained a profit of Rs. 1,068 million. However, he pointed out that only Rs. 408 million had been given to the Mahapola Fund at the time of the transfer under the fraudulent agreement.

Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe emphasized that SLIIT was established not merely to provide funds to the Mahapola Trust Fund, but also to support children pursuing higher education, stating that the misuse of its funds is a serious offense.

Concurrently, he also commented on the steps taken by the government for the welfare of students. The Minister emphasized to Parliament that when this government came to power, the Mahapola scholarship allowance given to a student was Rs. 5,000, but it has now been increased by one hundred percent to Rs. 10,000 and arrangements have been made to provide it continuously to students.