It has been revealed that the government has yet to receive the deposit of 660 million rupees held by the owners of a building in Rajagiriya, controversially acquired during the Yahapalana government for the Ministry of Agriculture.

Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, M.P.N.M. Wickramasinghe, disclosed that despite the building being returned years ago, the deposit has not been received by the government.

The building, leased under a rental agreement, incurred a monthly cost exceeding 24 million rupees for the Ministry of Agriculture.

This issue of public fund mismanagement was highlighted by both the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and the Presidential Commission investigating fraud and corruption of the previous government.

According to findings presented to the commission, the total expenditure by the government for the building was approximately 2.1 billion rupees. 

The lease agreements were signed for five years, although financial regulations stipulate that such agreements for state institutions should not exceed three years.

Furthermore, it was revealed that the lease agreements did not receive approval from the Attorney General. 

The disclosure of the missing deposit funds comes against this backdrop.