Petroleum Minister given wrong info by his officials

By Saman Indrajith-November 26, 2013, 9:25 pm 

Petroleum Industries Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa was disappointed with his own officials who had provided him with a wrong answer to a query raised by JVP Parliamentary Group Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, during the question time in parliament yesterday.

MP Dissanayake asked a question listed on the Order Paper, demanding to know the average import price (CIF Value) per MT, at which petrol had been imported in February 2013. The minister, armed with a file, provided to him by his officials, responded that it was Rs. 149.50.

Then, the MP pointed out the cost the minister mentioned contained taxes.

Dissanayake pointed out that the officials had taken the minister for a ride and given him the wrong details, but the minister insisted that he was reading out the official figures and details given to him by responsible officers in his ministry.

The minister said that the price value of Rs. 149.50 had been recorded as the average price of a litre of petrol at the time of unloading the fuel at the port in February 2013.

As the MP continued to maintain that the minister was reading out wrong information, the minister promised to give a detailed response in the future.

The Minister said that to import a metric ton of petrol it cost Rs. 144,578.11 in February 2013 and each metric ton contained 1,377.438 litres.

The minister also added that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation suffered a loss of Rs. 3.14 from each litre of petrol it sells.