The Auditor General told the Committee that Rs. 498 million has been spent on snacks alone.

It was also revealed that there are 914 excess employees in the Ports Authority and that overtime allowances have been paid to the employees despite the excess employees.

The Committee questioned the officials present regarding the non-payment of Rs. 4.975 million of the profits earned by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority from 2016 to 2021 which was to be credited to the Consolidated Fund.

The officials who were present stated that they will take measures to pay this amount within two months.

It was revealed that there are 914 excess employees in the Ports Authority and that overtime allowances have been paid to the employees despite this situation.

Accordingly, COPE also instructed the Department of Management Services to pay attention to the excess number of employees and take necessary action. The Committee instructed them to resolve the issue related to the number of employees before being summoned again by the Committee.

(Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)