Prabath Nanayakkara cripples Central Expressway progress
A secret report has been released highlighting certain acts of deliberate sabotage by Prabath Nanayakkara of Asset Holdings Pvt Ltd to cripple the progress of the Central Expressway. The report has elucidated instances where Nanayakkara has threatened, intimidated and caused obstacles to the Chinese company working at the Central Expressway.
Prabath Nanayakkara secured a sub-contract for the construction of the Second Phase of the Central Expressway from Kadawatha to Mirigama on a cabinet approval received within three months of the establishment of the Yahapalana government. There had been many cabinet approvals for sub-contracting companies but Prabath Nanayakkara’s Asset Holdings Pvt Ltd bribed several ministers of the Yahapalana cabinet to secure sub contracts from the Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) posing as the local agent.
The report indicated that in securing the sub-contract for Nanayakkara there had been many instances of pulling and pushing over the phone between R Paskaralingam and Yahapalana cabinet ministers Vajira Abeywardena and Kabir Hashim. Nanayakkara had been given Rs 1,500 million per km more than the estimated cost for the expressway. In 2014, it was estimated that the cost per one km of the expressway would be Rs 3,000 million but it was later adjusted to Rs 4,500 million per km to help Nanayakkara. Owing to deliberate delays by Nanayakkara, the current cost per km of the Expressway First Phase from Kadawatha to Mirigama now increased to Rs 5,800 million. The increase of cost has also been attributed to the increases of prices of goods and the value of the US Dollars. Since Prabath Nanayakkara delayed the project for four years, he would get Rs 2,800 million additional profit from each kilometer. The distance of the first phase of the Central Expressway from Kadawatha to Mirigama is 37 km and the sum total of fraudulent earnings by Prabath Nanayakkara from the entire project would be around Rs 103,600 million.
Construction work of the First Phase of the Central Expressway started during the Yahapalana government time and it was delayed with the view of enabling the flow of additional profits to the wallet of Prabath Nanayakkara. The MCC commenced its work on the Kadawatha – Mirigama section in 2020 after the incumbent government paid an advance payment of Rs 16.7 billion. After coming to know that an advancement has been made the Asset Holdings Pvt Ltd threatened to MCC that they too should be paid out of that sum. When the MCC asked for what purpose that they should be paying the Asset Holdings Pvt Ltd, they responded that the Asset Holdings Pvt Ltd would have to pay some ministers who had been in the Yahapalana cabinet, said the report.
Prabath Nanayakkara has threatened the Chinese Company that the latter’s sub-contractors would not be permitted to work on the Kadawatha-Mirigama Section of the expressway until he receives money. The work of the expressway is now progressing at snail-pace since subcontractors have not received their payments owing to this imbroglio. Although the yahapalana government intended to give the construction work for several sub-contractors, Prabath Nanayakkara had been able to convince the Chinese companies that he was the local agent recognized by the government and prevented other subcontractors obtaining contracts.
After the incumbent government made an advance-payment to commence the project, USD 51 million worth of work has been completed. However, China Exim Bank refused to pay that sum citing the reason that Prabath Nanayakkara had entered into an agreement with MCC using his clout and political backers but without informing the Chinese Embassy in Colombo or the Chinese government.
After the refusal by the Chinese Exim Bank, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa met with the Chinese Embassy and to discuss with the China Exim Bank and Commercial Attache in the Chinese Embassy. As a result of the discussion, the China Exim Bank has agreed to pay the due sum after explaining the fraudulent and heavy-handed manner Prabath Nanayakkara got involved in the project with the blessings of some Yahapalana cabinet members to bypass the Chinese Embassy to enter into an agreement with the MCC. Representatives of the Bank and Embassy pointed out that timely intervention by Finance Minister Rajapaksa averted a financial catastrophe. The Commercial Attache of the Embassy pledged that the funds for the First Phase of the Central Expressway from Kadawatha to Mirigama would be released without further delay. The Commercial Attache made a request to the Minister of Finance to conduct an investigation on the process of signing an agreement between Asset Holdings Pvt Ltd and MCC without the concurrence of the Chinese Embassy. It has been also pointed out that Prabath Nanayakkara had boasted that he had journalists, judges, members of Maha Sangha, Attorney General, members of the Diplomatic Corps, political leaders and Crime Investigations Division of police in his pocket.
Following the exposure and the request by the Commercial Attache of the Chinese Embassy to conduct an inquiry, enraged Nanayakkara has funded launching a mudslinging campaign distorting facts to the effect that the Commercial Attache had blamed Finance Minister Rajapaksa associating the names of Ministers Johnston Fernando, Nimal Lanza and Prasanna Ranatunga. It has been revealed that Prabath Nanayakkara boasted in public that his money had the power to get newspapers including the Sunday Times to report his version of the story.
The Ministry of Highways has commenced a separate investigation to probe the delay in the construction of the First Phase of the Central Expressway from Kadawatha to Mirigama and on agreements that had been signed with Chinese companies without informing the Chinese Embassy in Colombo. Legal action is to be taken against those who sabotaged the progress of the Central Expressway and misappropriated the public funds.
