MP Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera yesterday expressed displeasure over the delay in hearing the case filed by the FCID against former Governor M.L.A.M Hizbullah and said the President and the Prime Minister should make a statement on the matter.
The Thera told a news conference that the FCID filed a case with regard to allegations that Hizbullah had misused billions of rupees violating financial regulations following a complaint lodged by them at the Batticaloa Police.
“We lodged a complaint at the Batticaloa Police over Hisbullah using foreign funds violating financial regulations. They referred it to FCID as the transaction was over Rs. 1 million. The FCID then filed a case. But the case is not being investigated. No date is fixed as yet. We doubt as to why the case is being dragged,” he said.
The Thera said there was an adjournment debate in parliament over the Batticaloa Campus and everyone in parliament admitted that Mr. Hisbullah was at fault but none of them revealed as to how he received the funds.
He said the Foreign Exchange Act brought in by the government in 2017 had allowed people like Hisbullah to misappropriate foreign funds and added that the government including the President should take responsibility for the matter.
He said it was the responsibility of a future government to abolish this detrimental act and prevent foreigners from acquiring land in Sri Lanka and obtaining funds for extremist ideologies. The Thera said construction of the Batticaloa Campus should be suspended and Hisbullah should be arrested until a case against him was instituted.
