Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that former president Mahinda Rajapaksa used money obtained for road development works for other purposes.

Speaking at an event this morning, he said that Rajapaksa used his other ministerial portfolios to get funds transferred. Rajapaksa, as Road Development Minister, requested credit of Rs 55,000 million from the Finance Ministry, which was also headed by him. Wickremesinghe claimed that Rs. 28,000 million was transferred by the Road Development Ministry for other purposes. The remaining amount is insufficient for the road projects, he added.

The road development projects of the former government were severely criticized by the Maithripala Sirisena camp during and after the presidential election campaign. It was alleged that serious corruption took place in these projects. The Cabinet this week approved a proposal to establish a separate investigation unit to probe these projects.